Invincible – I Thought You Were Stronger review S2 E8

The worst part about I Thought You Were Stronger is easily that’s the final episode of an excellent second season. Maybe the months long break softened some of the momentum of Invincible’s sophomore outing, but it doesn’t detract from another stellar run. At this point, Invincible is a third season as consistent as the first two to being one of the all-time great cartoon comic book series.

A trope that has gotten frustrating with comic books and comic book movies/shows is the villain isn’t all bad. They have some legit reason that at least makes sense to them as to why they’re doing terrible things. The best villains are the ones that aren’t sympathetic — just evil.

Angstrom Levy is one of the better exceptions. He has a legit reason for threatening Debbie and Oliver and demanding Invincible face him. Thanks to his multiverse traveling, he’s seen nothing but multiple versions of Mark terrorizing and callously slaughtering millions of people. The mind meld with all the other surviving Levys has traumatized him to the point it makes sense for him to try and kill Invincible.

This leads to comic writer Robert Kirkman having some fun in writing I Thought You Were Stronger. Angstrom continually sends Mark to various worlds. Some with some not-so subtle nods to other comic and movie characters. The longest one features a team-up that couldn’t be possible in this format — complete with another multiverse-focused IP. Some others seem very familiar to fans of Kirkman’s other properties.

However mistakenly justified Angstrom might be, he is being a complete heel in threatening Debbie and Oliver. He keeps getting increasingly closer to the line he shouldn’t cross. When Angstrom does and Mark is ported back, he unleashes a savage, no-holds barred beatdown. How savage? Well….Mark kinda beats him so bloody, he’s coated in Angstrom’s blood. And also, he’s dead.

Yes, the blood is brutal and kinda channels those vicious and cruel Multiverse Invincibles Angstrom saw in his world hopping. The biggest difference is Mark is extremely remorseful. He’s in a state of shock as he utters “I Thought You Were Stronger.” While some heroes in this universe have killed without a second thought, that’s not Mark. Kirkman lets Mark actually process what happened. From trying to justify his actions, blaming Angstrom to finally facing the truth — he lost control in a way his father did. It’s a unique full-circle moment considering where Mark was at last year’s season finale.

The other problem is how will Mark get home now that he’s killed Angstrom? Help unexpectedly arrives with an older version of the Guardians of the Globe including two fan-favorites who haven’t shown up in the standard timeline yet.

This Atom Eve, Robot and Bulletproof explain that their Mark already experienced this moment. And it took them a long time to find him. They don’t screw up the timeline and potential futures too much. Except for Eve telling Mark she has feelings for him, and he should tell his present-day Eve his feelings one way or another.

Back home, Mark checks on Debbie in the hospital. It’s touching how this immensely powerful hero can still find solace in his mother’s arms. No, this doesn’t make Mark weak. It gives him depth and more of a relatable character.

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Much of the rest of the episode was tying up (for now) some of the various subplots.

The grieving Immortal is in isolation at his cabin — check out some of the gear and wardrobe pieces on display. He’s not alone in the cabin though as Dupli-Kate — an older, original version apologizes for keeping her secret from him. This subplot didn’t get a long time to play out, but it still felt meaningful with the payoff.

Robot and Monster Girl reach an understanding about him not needing to fix her. She’s not broken, but if he does want to try and stop her from aging that would be awesome.

Mark tells Debbie he’s bailing on college, which seems like a sensible thing to do. It’s not like having a secret civilian identity would make a lot of sense. Not with the terrors Mark and the Guardians faced this season alone. If he’s going to enhance his knowledge with anything it’s going to be his abilities. Especially with the Viltrumites still out there.

Allen’s plan to get captured by the Viltrumites in hopes of finding Nolan is successful. But time is running out since Krieg wants to make Nolan suffer before executing him. Nolan is also remorseful for his actions and just when Allen thinks he’s going to have to do some long-winded pep talk, Nolan says he misses his wife. But does Debbie miss him?

I Thought You Were Stronger put a nice bow on what’s been a fantastic stretch of episodes adapting some of the early defining arcs of the Invincible comic run. Yes, some changes were made but in the service of making for a stronger story. With the saga really starting to heat up, hopefully it won’t be too long before Season 3 arrives.

Rating: 10 out of 10

Photo Credit: Amazon

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