Invincible S2 Ep 4 Review
On the surface, the Viltrumites of the Invincible series seem like an Expy of Kryptonians. They can fly, have inhuman strength, and are extremely hard to kill. However, they have more in common with another famous alien race: the Saiyans from the Dragon Ball franchise. Like the Saiyans, the Viltrumites are among the strongest in their universe, can survive in almost any environment, and have an innate need to fight. Yet, much like Goku and Vegeta, the Viltrumites are capable of learning love, empathy, and compassion. Why mention all of this, though? Because this week’s episode of Invincible sees the return of Omni-Man, and he’s not the same ruthless warrior that Mark knew when he left Earth.
His people, on the other hand…not so much.
The Other Sub-Plots
Firstly, though, there are the sub-plots of the episode.
Ever since leaving the Teen Team, Atom Eve’s been semi-retired as a superhero, living alone and using her powers for things besides crime-fighting. Unfortunately, her good intentions have only backfired on her showing how having superpowers might not someone qualified to do a job. Her torment only gets worse this week when, while trying to stop a villain, a couple’s car falls off a bridge, and she comes close to losing them. From there, her sense of self worth takes a nosedive as she ends up returning to her parents for support. Her toxic, enabling parents. See how that’s a problem?
Similarly, Donald, assistant to Cecil Steadman, has his own crisis. He realizes that Omni-Man killed him at the end of season, and he starts spiraling over this realization. People coming back from the dead is nothing new in comics. However, this is one example that plays it for all the psychological trauma something like this would affect a person. The episode doesn’t explicitly explain how Donald came back, but it’s either cloning, a life-model decoy, or he’s a cyborg.
Lastly, there’s Debbie, still reeling from what her husband did. She has no support system beyond Cecil, whom she rightly can’t trust, and Art, who can’t really do much. Even Mark isn’t there to help her at the moment. Thankfully, she does start the healing process by getting rid of all of Nolan’s stuff and refusing the money from them.
That could end up coming back to haunt Earth, though.
Oh, and the remaining Mauler proves why it’s important he never knows who’s the original and whose the clone.
A Tense Father-Son Reunion
Now, for the meat if the episode and what people were excited about: the reunion of Mark and Nolan. Unlike Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, though, Mark reacts to seeing Omni-Man again with less understanding and more like ‘are you kidding me?” Things only get worse before they get better as Mark tears into his dad for all his wrongdoings:
- He killed the Guardians of the Globe and countless others.
- Lied to his wife and son.
- Called the former a “pet,” because he’ll outlive her by centuries.
- Beat the snot out of Mark
- Had the Thraxans lie to him to get him there.
To top it off and infuriate Mark even further, he’s married to one of the Thraxans… and has another son.
Learning that his Dad had another wife and kid since leaving Earth disgusts Mark even more, and for a good reason. His Dad could now add unfaithful to his wife to his list of sins! For most of the rest of the episode, Mark remains angry at his Dad for everything. However, his anger begins to lessen as he learns what his Dad’s done since leaving Earth.
Nolan is Basically Vegeta
Just as the Viltrumites are expies of the Saiyans, Nolan seems to be a bit of an expy for one major Saiyan: Prince Vegeta. Both come to Earth as ruthless killers ready to conquer the planet, only to get driven off/leave. Both wind up taking a human wife and having a half-human child that softens their hearts. And both reacted to the realization they’re opening up to others by backsliding. The difference is that, unlike Vegeta, who grew to accept his newfound empathy quickly (by Dragon Ball standards), Nolan didn’t. He bailed because he knew he couldn’t stay on Earth.
The episode’s opening reveals that after leaving Earth, Nolan considered flying into a black hole and ending it all. By chance, he saved a Thraxan ship and brought it back to their planet. The next thing he knows, they willingly made him their leader, and he married one of them, Andressa.
Andressa is, for all intents and purposes, Nolan’s Bulma, AKA the woman whose unconditional love for him helps complete his growth into a better person. Even after knowing what he did in his past, she still loves him, leading to the birth of their son. Furthermore, she didn’t mean to replace Debbie. By a cruel twist of fate, Thraxan lifespans are less than a year. Not enough time to raise her son, and not enough time to spend with Nolan. Hence why they brought Mark there: to protect their son when the Viltrumites come for Nolan.
The point to this entire story: Nolan has started to change. He doesn’t quite like it, but he is changing.
Viltrumites are Scarier than Saiyans
Inevitably, the Viltrumites do show up before the epsiode’s even a third of the way through. What follows is the kind of fight that fans of Invincible have been waiting for: guts strewn across the battlefield; combatants getting impaled and beaten bloody. All that’s needed are ki blasts, and they would be Saiyans in all but name.
Despite Mark and Nolan’s best efforts, though, they can’t win. For Mark, in particular, the fight is a wake-up call. Whereas most heroes avoid killing their opponents, Mark learns the hard way that that won’t work with Viltrumites. It’s kill or be killed, and he barely avoids being killed.
Ultimately, Nolan’s taken prisoner by his people to be executed for going AWOL. Worse, they unwillingly assign Mark his dad’s duties of conquering Earth. In other words, the next time they come to Earth, Mark’s going to have to fight them. And he’s far from ready. Or is he?
A Mid-Season Cliffhanger
Unfortunately, this is the last episode of Invincible for 2023. The series is going on break for the Holidays, and it won’t come back until January 2024. However, they do leave off on an interesting cliffhanger. Mark has a younger half-brother to look after, his Dad’s taken away as a traitor, and he’s got another major enemy waiting for him back home. He might not be totally hopeless, though.
The last thing that Nolan tells Mark is for him to read his books. Those who read the comics will know where this is going, but for those who don’t, this isn’t just a father asking his son to remember him. Nolan has a plan in mind.
As sad as it is to go for a month without Invincible, it will be worth the wait. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens next in January and see if this show can live up to the hype it’s established for itself. That, and if it can come up with a meme worthy of “Think, Mark, think!”
I Give “It’s Been a While” a 4/5
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