Invincible is a show that genuinely works fantastically weekly, but Prime Video has the pleasure of teasing us with three episodes in one week. Robert Kirkman leaving us on a cliffhanger last week with Mark putting an end to Rus Livingston (Ben Schwartz) and the Sequids by putting a fist-sized hole through his face and forcing us to take the story for this week’s episode should be illegal and get him jail time. But the first 15 minutes of this episode are some of the best I’ve seen from Invincible since its first season, and for that alone, I forgive you, Kirkman.
At the start of the episode, we follow an asteroid entering at first what I was to believe was Earth’s atmosphere before it’s revealed that we’ve actually entered Viltrium. The asteroid then begins to split apart, revealing a hidden device inside that lands and begins to release this green gas (we’ll come back to that). We’ve known how ruthless the Viltrumites can be from Nolan’s (J. K. Simmons) previous behaviour and also their visits to Mark (Steven Yeun) on Earth, but this backstory on their planet really highlights the cruelty that runs through their veins.
We get to witness the rigorous training that the Viltrumites go through at a young age, being quizzed on their previous emperor Argall, who’s the only Viltrumite to have a statue of themselves on the planet. There’s a lot to learn about him this episode as we discover his death is what eventually led to the Great Purge, which is said to have made them stronger. Watching Viltrumite kids is an eerie sight because not even they’re safe from the brutal ways of Viltrum and are taught from a young age that they’re superior to everyone else. Very similar to the Hitler Youth back in Nazi Germany.
We very much get an insight into Viltrumite culture as we see this teacher get absolutely pulverised by two Viltrumites who are later revealed to be his parents, and this is all part of a sick and twisted ritual of becoming an adult. If it wasn’t clear from the teacher’s apparent looks, we’ve been following a young Nolan (Talon Warburton), who clearly has strong genes, as Mark is just a spitting image of him. After the battle with his parents, his mother leaves, disappointed that his father didn’t go through and not accepting Nolan’s victory.
What follows is an absolutely horrifying and haunting look at the Viltrumites succumbing to their deaths, blood gushing from every orifice. They soon discover that the asteroid we saw enter their atmosphere at the start of the episode was a biological weapon in disguise that was engineered to attack Viltrumite DNA. Even when the Viltrumites are at their lowest, they’re still running a totalitarian government, slaughtering anyone and highlighting that they’ll always have control. The score as billions of Viltrumites are being thrown out into space, forming the ring around their planet, is one of the best scores that John Paesano has produced for the series.
Everything we’ve ever known about Viltrumites begins to fit into place. Why do they continue to conquer other planets? Why do they go to other planets with the goal of creating offspring? It’s because with 50 of them remaining after the virus almost made them extinct, any offspring they would create amongst themselves would be inbred and inefficient and would mean the end of their race. Like Grand Regent Thragg says, “We are Viltrumites. We are without end.”
I’m one to agree with Allen (Seth Rogen); despite this story being quite a depressing one, in no way does it make what the Viltrumites are subjecting the rest of the universe to okay. It has been a while, but we’re finally back with both Allen and Nolan, who are currently making their way back to Talescria. Nolan still seems to be getting his redemption act going, and J. K. Simmons does a fantastic job of portraying him, as everything that comes from his mouth comes with a level of sincerity that makes you want to forgive Nolan for his crimes.
Back at Talescria, we learn of Thaedus (Peter Cullen) having been the one to reject Argall and create the Scourge Virus. Despite him wanting to help change the ways of the Viltrumite, all he did in that process was anger them and force them to double down on their beliefs. Nolan doesn’t want any part in the war that’s about to take place because he wants no involvement with his sons and intends to keep them protected, but later in the episode, we see Nolan angered at Thaedus for almost causing a mass extinction with his race.
He’s changed for the better but deep down is still a Viltrumite, and having the truth finally being revealed to him is still something that’s going to hurt. Despite their ideals, it did take out his family. At the end they come to an agreement that they’ll only use the virus once more as a last resort to defeat the Viltrumites.
This is only the first stage of the Viltrumite war, and the first thing the Coalition of Planets has to do is gather a team that’s worthy of joining their war and fighting alongside them in hopes that they’ll be able to defeat the Viltrumites once and for all. Their first course of action is to find the Infinity Ray, for which Nolan hid the coordinates in one of his novels. The only issue is that it belongs to Space Racer (Winston Duke), and despite it being 100 years since Nolan buried him alive in hopes that would kill him in case of any killswitch on his weapon, Space Racer is very much alive and breathing.
We get a brief fight, but what a lot of this episode showcases is that the Nolan that existed in the past and the one that exists now are very much two different people. He’s learning to apologise for his actions, and we get that here with Space Racer, who struggles to trust a Viltrumite. While Space Racer hasn’t agreed yet to join their cause, he’s headed to Talescria, and Nolan has a strong belief that he’ll join them.
We then move over to another planet where Nolan and Allen go to retrieve Sinlak beetles, which have a compound in their shells which makes Viltrumites weak to physical injury. The plan is to extract the compound, refine it and put it into darts so that they can neutralise their enemies. The entire process of retrieving the Sinlak beetles is messy, but Nolan forces Allen to deal with it as a get-back for the loud sexual noises he has to listen to back on the ship with Allen and Telia.
Their search takes them to a sand planet where all intelligent and deadly life has succumbed due to all their water being evaporated in space, thanks to none other than Nolan. They continue their search for one of the best warriors in the entirety of Invincible, and that’s Battle Beast, but he’s currently nowhere to be found since he was seen last season.
The final thing that they go hunt for is Ragnars, creatures that terrified even the Viltrumites. Nolan had previously put a disc in front of their sun to freeze them solid. While Nolan tries to extract them carefully to the ship, Captain Pikell (Scott Aukerman), holding a grudge against Nolan for an earlier inconvenience (which is completely Pikell’s fault), prematurely fires a proton missile at the disc, destroying it. The Ragnar begin to break out, and both Nolan and Allen begin to fight for their lives. Although both Allen and Nolan are giving everything in their power to fight back, this proves that the Ragnar are a formidable foe.
Luckily, the Venture arrives with Telia having taken command, and she covers the sun, freezing the Ragnar once more. They failed this time but the engineering team at Talescria are working at reconstructing the solar disc so that once the planet is refrozen, they’ll be able to capture the Ragnar safely.
Throughout all this time, Space Racer has pledged his allegiance, and they learn from the Geldarians that Earth’s hero Tech Jacket might also join their cause.
Returning back to that conversation with Nolan and Thaedus as Nolan learns the truth behind who created the virus, we also learn that deep down inside, Thaedus is suffering from what he has had to do in hopes of freeing the universe from the reign of Viltrum. With the improved Scourge virus as a last resort, Nolan finally realises that he must get help from his son if they want a chance at winning this war.
The reunion between Mark and Nolan is going to be a lot to take in, but most importantly, with Nolan back on Earth, there are other people who he’s wronged that he hasn’t seen since the incident in Season 1, which will make for an interesting conversation point when that time comes around.
As the episode reaches its end, we see that Conquest has reached Thragg, expecting to be punished for failing him and losing against Mark, but Thragg doesn’t reward failure, and Conquest still has a lot of work to do.
Invincible Season 4, Episode 2 is a phenomenal episode from its start and stands on its own confidently. Robert Kirkman provides us with an original moment that wasn’t seen in the comics with a young Nolan and how the scourge virus took effect on both him and the entire planet. It’s refreshing to see the world further explored outside of the comics and get perspectives that we usually wouldn’t get.
Usually we’d step away from a cliffhanger, and the following episode wouldn’t justify the change of scenery, but this second one provides more than just an update on Allen and Nolan; it progresses the story and provides context to a culture that has suffered more than we initially thought.
