Talk:Black Companion, Bephegol/@comment-26268634-20160802204029/@comment-27282915-20160802212457

Took a look at the detailed rules. It seems that Penetrate goes first before the destruction effect, but the Rule Resolution that checks for when a player's life is 0 is after the play timing for the destruction effect.

Because of that, the Penetrate damage will hit, then Bephegol's ability will activate which will leave the player controlling Bephegol at 1 life according to your scenario.