The Unstoppable Season 2 Episode 4 Review: A Forceful Encounter

Whether you dread it or run from it, the Viltrum Empire still arrives in Invincible Season 2 Episode 4 - a violent, shocking, and infuriating midseason finale that leaves us unable to look away. When it comes to superhero fights, Doc Ock vs Spider-Man, Captain America vs the Winter Soldier, Batman's warehouse rampage in BvS, and Homelander vs Butcher are all memorable, but the chilling showdown between Omni-Man and Invincible in the Season 1 finale surpasses them all.

The fight’s pacing, choreography, and escalation were unrivaled, emphasizing the power in every blow that brought Mark to the brink of death. Nolan's attempt to quell his humanity and embody the Viltrumite conqueror was palpable as he prepared to strike his son for the final time. However, he ultimately couldn't bring himself to do it, a moment that evoked both applause and unease. In Episode 4, a skillfully crafted, deeply satisfying reunion soothes the heart before delivering a devastating blow.

Spoilers for Invincible Season 2 Episode 4 to follow…

Invincible Season 2 Episode 4 finally catches up with Omni-Man

Confronted with the horror of his violence, and torn by the guilt and compulsion to go further, Omni-Man was last seen rocketing into space, shedding the blood from his skin as he left Earth’s atmosphere. Episode 4 begins with him mere seconds after, as Nolan soars through the stars and other galaxies on a journey of self-discovery, set to the haunting melody of Leonard Cohen’s Avalanche – except it’s the cosmos that envelopes his soul.

Bearded and disoriented, he sits on distant moons, attempting to come to terms with everything he has done (and lost) in service of the Viltrum empire. He ultimately succumbs to his guilt, allowing himself to drift towards certain death in a black hole - but a shooting star catches his attention. Except it's not a star, it's a Thraxan ship being pulled towards its inevitable fate in the singularity. Amidst screams, tears, and preparations for the end, their ship suddenly halts - for reasons unknown, whether it's a final attempt at redemption or a glimmer of mercy in the darkness of his soul, Nolan not only rescues them but also brings them back home.

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Having set them down, he returns to the sky, but the Thraxans insist on repaying him for saving their lives. He extends his hand, and in a chilling shift to the present, we find Nolan greeting his son, Mark. Their tense standoff is diffused by Mark angrily embracing his father.

"I missed you," Nolan says, but Mark isn't ready for pleasantries. He questions why Nolan would lie to the Thraxans and force them to shepherd him all this way, especially after a lifetime of deceit (and he's still bitter about his mom being called a pet). "I made a mistake... son," Nolan admits, but Mark tells him he doesn't get to call him that anymore. "I guess they don't know you like I do... f**k you," he says before storming off.

Nolan pursues him into the sky, cautioning him that he won't be able to return on his own. Mark's teenage arrogance might be powerful, but it pales in comparison to the constant danger of deep space. "Nuolzot was telling the truth," he insists, informing Mark that the Thraxans genuinely need his assistance, but not against a meteor shower. Mark maintains his stubborn detachment before reluctantly agreeing to listen to him for five minutes, "for them, not you."

They land. "So you took over this place instead of Earth, great," Mark remarks, but Nolan clarifies that he didn't conquer Thraxa - they invited him to be their emperor. That's not all: he has a new partner, Andressa, who is also the mother of his second child and Mark's half-brother. "You've got to be," he responds, prompting the once-again-shaken title card, before finishing his sentence: "... kidding me!"

Debbie asks: “Why me?”

Debbie is still reeling from the chaotic therapy session and the rejection from a new friend who condemned her for not being a true widow of Omni-Man. As she wanders through Chicago, life goes on around her, leaving her feeling unseen and insignificant in the midst of everyone else's struggles. With Mark out of reach and everyone else preoccupied, who would even notice if she disappeared?

She goes to Nolan’s grave, even though he’s still alive, and angrily questions his motives. “Why me? You could have taken over Earth at any time…why marry me? Was it just to be cruel, to hurt someone? Everything we built, 20 years… and none of it was real. You weren’t real, none of it…only Mark… I never really knew you. Why me?” she asks, showcasing Sandra Oh’s exceptional voice-acting abilities. Debbie’s story remains one of the most emotional in the series.

Later, Debbie looks at old photos of Nolan teaching Mark how to ride a bike – but it turns out Nolan wasn’t there. He had to leave for a mission, so Debbie stepped in. Art, the supersuit-maker, comes by to offer her support. She wants answers about Nolan’s actions, but Art tells her she’s never needed anything from him.

“I can't understand why I miss Nolan so much... he was hardly ever here," Debbie remarks, to which Art counters: "I always thought you were the strong one, handling your life the way you did... Nolan is like a superhero, he's invincible. That's not strength, that's just having things easy."

Donald hunts for the truth as Atom Eve battles fate

The episode does not unfold in sequential order, but for the sake of coherence in recapping events, we have rearranged and connected relevant parts of the plot. We will return to Omni-Man and Mark on Thraxa shortly.

First, let's focus on Donald. Left to contemplate his confusing and unsettling position in the GDA and the world after Debbie's reaction to seeing him alive. He knocks on Debbie's door, but she's not home, so he walks over to the cratered land across the street where a house once stood. He has no recollection of the events that occurred there, including Nolan's violent actions and sacrifice.

The security camera footage leaves him understandably troubled. How could he be dead, blown to smithereens, if he's alive now? In a daze of confusion, he stabs a knife into his arm. To his relief, blood drips into the sink. "Thank god," he reacts... until he notices a bend in the knife's tip. It looks like Donald is indeed a robot, likely cloned by Cecil and co. after his death - but is he the first, or the umpteenth in a long line of replicant Donalds?

In the second season, Atom Eve has had a rough time. Determined to leave her superhero days behind to help the people of Chicago after the Omni-Man fight, her good deeds have backfired. An impromptu playpark nearly led to the deaths of several families due to city red tape, and her father holds the convenience of her powers against her, even when she gives him a solid gold apple to help them out of debt.

Meeting Amber and William at college, she learned that Mark has been away on another space mission for a week. "Perils of dating a superhero, good thing he's cute," Amber jokes. They suggest skipping class for coffee, but she declines. Instead, she agrees to meet them for breakfast the next morning before heading back to her "place in the city" - a couch in Guardians HQ after dark.

Killcannon's clattering in a nearby room interrupts her sleep, prompting a confrontation in which he pulls out Robot’s power supply just as Eve walks in. “You want this back… come and get it!” he taunts, leading to a much-needed fight scene on a bridge. Despite the lack of action in Season 2, Eve's arc is quietly engrossing as a superhero dying to do good, only to have her efforts result in unintended consequences. Throughout most of the fight, Eve has the upper hand against Killcannon, but when she gives the villain an opportunity to power up his gun, a huge blast is deflected straight into a couple’s car, sending them plunging into the river. Though she quickly dispatches Killcannon and rescues them, it’s left unclear if they're alive or already dead. Sitting next to them on the ground, Eve desperately calls out for paramedics, pleading for help.

In the concluding scene of Episode 4, she retreats to her parents’ home. Her father informs her that her powers do not make her a hero - they make her a threat, and after her attempts at heroism nearly resulted in tragedy for those around her, he may have been right all along.

As a side note, the Mauler twins have returned! The one whose body was partially charred by an unsuccessful procedure performed by Angstrom Levy now knows who the original is and who is the "inferior" twin. This leads to a comical payoff in the post-credits scene, so be sure not to miss it.

Nolan and Mark need to team up

Mark is still disturbed on Thraxa by his father's apparent preference for bugs over his family and his strange relationship with a grasshopper, while Debbie is struggling back at home. Adding to the confusion is the fact that Nolan claims his child is six months old, but the child is already the size of a toddler.

Nolan does his best to elucidate everything, asserting that he was once “lost” until he discovered a renewed sense of purpose (and seemingly, morality) on this planet. However, a storm is brewing in the form of the Viltrum empire; not only has Omni-Man abandoned his duties and mission, but he has also fathered two children, one of whom is a hybrid with a genetically different species. It’s not a matter of if they will come, but when, and everyone on Thraxa is in jeopardy.

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Nolan confesses to Mark that what he did on Earth was unforgivable. Mark struggles to find the right words, instead telling him that he's the reason they're in danger and signed their death warrant. Nolan tries to appeal to Mark's better nature by promising that his brother will be murdered if he doesn't help protect the people from the empire.

Just as Nolan offers to train Mark, three Viltrumite soldiers (Lucan, Thula, and Vidor) burst through the atmosphere. Mark takes Andressa and her child to safety while Omni-Man readies for the fight of a lifetime. He leads them to the Caves of Roclaine, where Andressa insists she didn't know about Debbie or Nolan's horrific actions on Earth until she was "head over feet" for him.

Viltrumites vs Viltrumites

Additionally, she provides insight into Thraxan biology, revealing that their entire lifespan is equivalent to just one year in human time. This means that they experience growth, learning, and love at a much faster pace than Mark is used to. Despite his frustration with his father, Andressa assures him that she still loves and misses him, even if she struggles to express it directly to him.

At that moment, Lucan breaks through the ice and confronts Mark about rumors of his fathering a child. He offers to spare Mark's life if he fights well. The intense fight showcases Mark's struggle against Lucan's overwhelming strength and defense. Despite being overpowered and pushed to the ground, Mark is saved by Nolan, who intervenes and impales Lucan against the cave walls.

Mark rescues Andressa and the boy from danger, while Omni-Man defeats Lucan in combat by slicing open his abdomen with his hand. Lucan acknowledges his deserving of death as Nolan impales him with a sharpened boulder, to which he simply replies, "I know."

Outside, two Viltrumites hover in anticipation as Thraxa lies decimated, with thousands slaughtered. Nolan, unable to process his grief, grabs Mark by the neck. Tears rushing down his cheeks, he asks, "Why do I care about them? They were weak, short-lived, barely a species... I'm not supposed to feel this way." Mark tells him, "This is how you were supposed to feel on Earth."

Thula and Vidor fly over to them, spitefully observing the feeble anatomy of the Thraxans. "We barely touch them, and they die," Vidor says. Nolan takes control of him while Thula promises to make Mark's death quick. She seems to be overpowering him at every turn, wrapping her braided spear around his neck and dragging him wherever she flies.

Nolan urges Mark to stop holding back and to fight like a Viltrumite, warning him that if he doesn't, he will die. Thula continues to attack Mark relentlessly until he finally fights back, causing her to draw blood and sending her hurling into a pillar. Nolan easily defeats Vidor by crushing his head with a powerful double punch. Mark hesitates at the crucial moment when he should have killed Thula, and as a result, she slices his stomach open with her blade. Mark cries out for Nolan's help, and Nolan swoops in to give Thula a brutal death, throwing her to the side and yanking her back by her hair so fast that her mouth rips apart upon collision with his elbow.

“Don’t worry, it’s over,” Nolan tells Mark – but this time, it’s Nolan who didn’t go far enough. Lucan crashes in like a mortar strike, breaking Omni-Man’s back before passing away on the ground next to him. “It’s done,” he tells someone, leaving the three men battered and/or dead.

The Empire arrives in Invincible Season 2 Episode 4

Mark's consciousness comes and goes as he watches Lucan being taken away on a stretcher and his dad strapped into one. "Mark, remember the good I did, my deeds, my books...read my books, Mark," he instructs before Mark loses consciousness again. Back home, Debbie tells Cecil that she doesn't want the royalties from Nolan's book sales anymore, and dumps them in the front yard, hinting at a potential plot point in the second half of the season.

When Mark wakes up again, he finds an eye-patched Viltrumite, General Kregg, standing over him. "Good, you're alive," the general says before introducing himself. Mark tries to ask about his dad, but Kregg silences him and delivers a powerful punch when Mark refuses to comply.

Invincible Season 2 Episode 4 review score: 5/5

Kregg leaves Mark alone on Thraxa with a chilling order: “You’ve survived your first true battle and proven yourself worthy of your Viltrumite heritage. Your father will be executed, and you will return to Earth. You will assume his mission and prepare the planet for our rule. I know this may not appeal to you, given your sympathies, so I’ll put it like this: you can kill a few humans to convince them to capitulate, or we will kill millions if arrive to find you or your planet still defiant against us. We will check on your progress soon, and unlike your father, we do not change our minds. Good luck on your mission.”

Stream Episode 4 of Invincible Season 2 on Prime Video now for a jaw-dropping, intense superhero experience. Sign up for Prime Video to catch up on Episodes 1-4 and don't miss out on our other coverage.

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Editor's P/S

Invincible Season 2 Episode 4: A Forceful Encounter Review

The midseason finale of Invincible Season 2, "A Forceful Encounter," is a thrilling and intense episode that leaves viewers on the edge of their seats. The episode delivers on the promise of the previous episodes, with high-stakes action, shocking reveals, and complex character development.

One of the standout moments of the episode is the highly anticipated showdown between Omni-Man and Invincible. The fight is brutal and emotional, with both characters pushing themselves to their limits. The animation is top-notch, and the fight choreography is some of the best in the series. The outcome of the fight has significant implications for the rest of the season and leaves viewers eager to see what happens next.

Another highlight of the episode is the exploration of Omni-Man's character. After the events of the previous season, Omni-Man is a deeply conflicted character, struggling with his Viltrumite heritage and his love for his family. The episode delves into his motivations and inner turmoil, providing a nuanced and compelling portrayal of a complex character.

Overall, "A Forceful Encounter" is a thrilling and satisfying episode that lives up to the high standards set by the previous episodes of Invincible. The episode features intense action, shocking reveals, and complex character development, leaving viewers eager for more.