S02.E01: A Lesson For Your Next Life

[AnimeMania]

In the aftermath of his father's betrayal, Mark struggles with his responsibilities as Invincible and encounters an unexpected enemy.

Premiere Date: November 3, 2023     Prime Video  

[thuganomics85]

Damn, it's been a while!  As usual, I am thankfully for the recap.

So, it looks like we are diving into some good old-fashioned "multiverse" shenanigans this season.  Looks like the main antagonist is this Angstrom Levy fellow, who initially was trying to create a utopia by absorbing all of the knowledge from his counterparts from the different universes, but now everything is jumbled together and he wants revenge on Invincible.  Because it turns out that in a lot of the universes, Mark actually joins Nolan and ends up taking over Earth.  Even get a glimpse of that in the opening act, which is definitely disturbing.  Good to know Omni-Man is a sociopath no matter what and J.K. Simmons knows how to bring it!

Imagine that the Immortal is going to end up being a problem since he seems suspicious of Mark still.  I also got the sense that there will be a lot of pushback from the rest of the Guardians due to how he runs things.  I wonder what is going to come of Bulletproof as well?

Poor Debbie really does need help.  Hope she takes Olga's advice.

Cecil might not have actual ice powers, but he is always the chillest person in the room.

Voice acting was great as always.  Sterling K. Brown will definitely be a great addition here!

So, is there only one Mauler left? 

[Chicago Redshirt]

Presumably only one Mauler of the 10-20ish that were beating down Mark survived. But there's a whole multiverse of Maulers out there, plus the surviving Mauler could always create a clone. If he does, the running argument over which is the clone will be finally settled, presumably! 

[ribboninthesky1]

I binged the first season over the past week, so it's still pretty fresh.  I was a bit bored by this episode, and I realized why: I was interested in the Nolan/Mark dynamic and the reveal of his true motivations from the first season, but I'm not that interested in Mark as a standalone character. Maybe that will change as the season progresses. 

[Chicago Redshirt]

It's been a while since S1 for me, so I don't remember if we were told: after beating the crap out of Mark, where did Nolan go? It seems like there would be a lot more dread over Nolan's whereabouts, the potential that there's a whole bunch of aliens with similar powers that are going to swoop in and enslave us all.

[ribboninthesky1]

They tracked him flying out of the solar system, but didn't know where he was going.  I assumed he was returning to Viltrum. 

But yeah, given that this episode was a month after the end of season 1, it didn't really feel like Cecil and team were worried about Nolan's return. Mark is certainly in no condition to take him on again, physically or otherwise.  Maybe they'll show other superhero teams?  Because the current Guardians are either teenagers or adults stuck in kid bodies and they are still struggling as a team.  If they are supposed to be the tip of the spear...yikes. 

Also, Cecil's man with the glasses is back (too lazy to look up his name) - I'm pretty sure he died in the house across the street when it exploded.  Unless he's a clone? Or maybe since it's been 2 years since the 1st season, no one was supposed to remember that. 

[mac123x]

Ironic this episode coming out so soon after South Park called out the laziness of multiverse stories.  Hopefully that was a one-time thing and Angstrom / Brainiac will stick to using portals for travel.

I'm curious what the card was that Olga gave Mark's mom.  

[Morrigan2575]

Not enough Eve for me but, they made up for it with her very own Origin Episode.  

I like that they didn't just gloss over the Omni-man beat down and, that Mark is trying to deal with PTSD.

Amber still comes off as emotionally manipulative. I hope that relationship ends soon. 

I'm interested in Angstrum but, he really did cause his own destruction.  Felt really bad for Eve in the AU but, she should be able to heal from the paralysis. I wonder if we'll ever see/visit that universe again.