The largest strengths and weaknesses of Invincible season 3 collide in “What Have I Done?” Thus far, it’s had to decide on between plot momentum and character growth, and nowhere is that extra obvious than when a staff of alt-universe Invincibles invade Chicago, wreaking havoc and forcing the Mark we all know to struggle them off. It’s a significant flip, leading to a handful of highly effective moments, however it doesn’t have the required grounding to completely join.
“What Have I Done?”’s predominant challenge is its lopsided setups and payoffs. Angstrom Levy unleashing a multiversal squadron of evil Marks is a big conceit, however it’s one which’s been relegated to a handful of post-credit stingers up to now. To defend in opposition to these invading villains, the GDA and the Guardians search the assistance of some basic, Silver Age-style heroes who play a significant half within the episode (and even die alongside the best way, in scenes meant to generate sympathy), however these are characters we’ve by no means seen earlier than, whose names and personalities we by no means study.
Rank these previous and present members of the Guardians of the Globe
Rank these previous and present members of the Guardians of the Globe
Still, a lot occurs in “What Have I Done?” (and a lot of it’s downright vicious and intense) that it’s exhausting to low cost it, regardless of all of the missteps. A flashback reveals us how Angstrom survived regardless of being overwhelmed to a literal pulp by Invincible – he had a legion of tech-savvy surgeons on the prepared in a pocket dimension, and simply sufficient life in him to conjure a portal – resulting in his multi-Mark incursion all these months later.
While the Mark we all know (let’s name him Mark Prime) has an ungainly chat with Eve about assembly her superhero-averse dad and mom, all hell breaks unfastened throughout the globe, as as much as 18 Invincible variants wreak havoc on suburbs and metropolitan landmarks alike (in addition to one pesky Mummy’s tomb, a gag whose refusal to repay after three seasons is definitely absurdly humorous). Each invading Invincible has a barely totally different design – a Mohawk, an old-school bandit masks, a extra Omni-Man-like costume – however every remains to be recognizably Invincible, and Steven Yeun gives simply sufficient variation in every vocal efficiency to promote the phantasm.
Mark Prime being so vastly outgunned is a enjoyable setup within the vein of Dragon Ball Z. However, the best way this plot unfolds is much less thrilling, provided that the three major Guardians killed by the evil Invincibles are Dupli-Kate (of whom there are a number of copies, so she will’t actually die), Immortal (whose identify says all of it), and Shapesmith (whose survival, regardless of being torn in two, has a handy rationalization). There’s loads of onscreen carnage this week, however it’s exhausting to get invested in most of it, since a reversal at all times appears to be proper across the nook. Rex seems to spontaneously explode to be able to take out one of many Invincibles, however whether or not or not he’s actually lifeless – and thus, whether or not or not his romantic arc with Rae has concluded – stays unsure. Similarly, Donald seems to have reconciled his standing as a resurrected android fully offscreen, however who is aware of how lengthy this acceptance will final. It typically looks like “What Have I Done?” pulls at current threads with an excessive amount of pressure, if just for the sake of comfort, and having supporting gamers be a part of the struggle.
Eve, then again, is gravely injured (it’s uncommon to see such a visceral fracture on the present, so kudos on that entrance), forcing Mark Prime to decide on between taking care of her and monitoring down his quite a few variants. Lucky for him, this debate is well resolved when the evil Marks all activate Levy and the genius supervillain merely sends all of them packing to a different dimension. It’s a bit too expedient, given the quite a few all-is-lost moments within the episode’s second act, and too simply clears the trail for Mark’s confrontation with Levy, which feels truncated too.
Despite Oliver’s insistence that Mark kill Levy – it appears his arc about rejecting homicide hasn’t been resolved in any case – our hero hesitates, letting him escape within the course of. At the very least, this poses an extra complication for Mark if Levy returns, since that might be a direct final result of Mark avoiding deadly pressure. He’s damned if he does (by means of Powerplex exhibiting up once more to hunt revenge for his previous destruction), and it could appear he’s additionally going to be damned if or when he doesn’t.
However, we might not have to attend all that lengthy to seek out out the reply, not solely as a result of subsequent week’s episode is the season finale, however due to the be aware on which “What Have I Done?” ends. For all its structural wonkiness and wheel-spinning, it ends with Mark in a extra sophisticated place, torn between a rock and a tough place as a brand new Viltrumite envoy named Conquest reveals as much as confront him. In that second, he’s so emotionally overwhelmed down that it places him in a combating temper, and poised to make rash selections. That’s one hell of a hook for subsequent week.
