Does a hero have a right to kill someone if that someone has committed horrific acts? That is a question that superhero comics have been asking for decades without success. On the one hand, it would keep awful people from taking more innocent lives. On the other hand, doing so would rob the deceased of the ability to change, which is a big theme surrounding Invincible. Mark has long since learned that the world operates on a gray-and-grey morality, but he remains reluctant to change his views on killing. He didn’t kill Angstrom, but thinking he did is sending him down a darker path. And in this episode, he’s once again forced to confront his stance on killing when he gets dragged into a conflict he wanted nothing to do with. Meanwhile, his father seems to cement his change in worldview as he drops a massive bombshell that changes everything.

Mark Gets Kidnapped Back to the Future

It all starts back during the season premiere when Invincible and Rexsplode fought two time-traveling brothers. These visitors from the future managed to steal the Declaration of Independence thanks to some outside interference, and haven’t been seen since. Then, just as Mark and Eve are enjoying their first real date in Paris, the thieves show up again. These two brothers, Dropkick and Fightmaster, say they come from a point in the future where a power-mad tyrant rules Earth. People have tried to stand up to him, only to be slaughtered for it. So they stole what is essentially America’s birth certificate due to a legend that its ink could be used to kill the king. When that doesn’t work, they essentially drag Invincible back to the future against his will to fight for them.

Getting dragged away from his dare isn’t the worst part, though. The worst part is when Mark finds out who this mad king is. It’s the Immortal!!

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Mark is floored to discover that the Immortal, the world’s first hero, has turned into an unstable tyrant. However, it gets even worse as Immortal starts going on about how Mark left with his family and put him in charge, and how he just wants out. He begs for Mark to end his life so he can finally be with all the people he’s known and loved. At first, Mark refuses, but when he starts threatening the brothers, he gives in and gives Immortal what he wants.

Immortality isn’t Always Worth it

The entire experience leaves Mark incredibly shaken. For the second (really the first) time, he’s ended someone’s life. What makes it worse is that this was a man he considered a hero. The brothers only saw the mad king, but Mark knew the good the Immortal did, and can’t understand what made him change like this. However, the show does a good job of explaining it to the viewers.

Immortality might seem like a sweet power to have, but the Immortal is a good example of its drawbacks. The man lived for so long, all the people he’s known and lost blurs together to the point where he can’t remember them all. Case in point, when Mark brings up Kate, he visibly struggles to remember who she was. At that point, many people would long to join our loved ones in the afterlife and look for a way out. And while Mark continues to hold onto his belief that he has no right to take a life, that mindset might need to change.

Prison Break of the Year!

At any rate, the entire experience is one Mark tries his best to forget about as he and Eve enjoy some quality time together. Which is when the episode changes gears to another setting.

At the end of last season, Allen had allowed himself to be captured by the Viltrumites so he could wind up in the same prison as Omni-Man. His whole plan is to convince Nolan to join the Coalition of Planets and bring down the Viltrumite Empire, but Nolan stubbornly refuses. He knows he’s changed, but he still thinks he deserves death for what he did to Earth and his family. Thus, he no longer sees the value in his own life.

Fortunately, like any good friend, Allen ignores Nolan’s self-deprecating nonsense and decides to free him anyway. And he manages to get some help in the form of Battle Beast.

A Worthy Fight

After making his last appearance in season one, Battle Beast returns, once again voiced by Michael Dorn. And he quickly becomes the major highlight of the episode’s second half. Michael must have been channeling his inner Worf, because he milked BB’s love for battle for all it was worth. What was most surprising, though, is how his motivations contrast with those of the Future Immortal. Both seek to die but are unable to since almost no one can kill them. Whereas Immortal sees death as a mercy, Battle Beast sees it as a reward for finding a worthy fight. Sadly, the last we see of Battle Beast, he’s floating in the vacuum of space punching out a Viltrumite and having the time of his life. Hopefully, he’ll return soon.

As for Nolan, while he may not hold any value in his life, he does value the lives of others. Thus, seeing Allen almost die is enough to motivate him to get up and fight, and the two actually manage to kill one of the Viltrumites. They can beat them!

That’s when Nolan drops the biggest bombshell of the series to date.

Yeah, I knew about this

Full disclosure: I already knew about this beforehand thanks to researching the comics. However, having prior knowledge did not change the excitement the moment gave me. Instead of being this army of countless, Saiyan-like warriors, the Viltrumites were stuck below triple digits. No matter how strong they might be, they can’t fight off the entire universe!

The third season of Invincible is now at its halfway point, and more changes are sure to come. Mark and Eve are going steady, Oliver still has to understand the value of life, and a mad scientist with a grudge is plotting to ruin their lives. And that’s not even including what all the other characters are going through. Here’s hoping the next episode keeps up the momentum, because it could be leading to something big.

I Give “You Were My Hero” a 4/5