Invincible season 2 episode 1 recap & review: A Lesson for your Next Life

In season 2 of Invincible, Mark Grayson deals with the trauma of his big fight against his father, while a new threat emerges to him and the people of Earth. The episode is streaming on Prime Video.

Recap

Invincible is locked in combat with Immortal when Omni-Man arrives to assist his son. Together, they kill Immortal and discuss how he was trying to lead them away from something.

Before them is a city in ruins, and a message from Invincible plays repeatedly on a big screen talking about conceding to the incoming Viltrumite invasion and not fighting back.

A man named Angstrom Levy walks through the ruins and makes his way to a secret underground bunker where several refugees are staying. Angstrom meets Robot, Rudy, and Atom Eve, with the latter two looking considerably different.

He hands them a canister of “null energy” which is supposed to affect Omni-Man, but they are suddenly attacked by the Omni-Man and Invincible. Invincible engages Atom Eve and snaps her neck, paralyzing her body.

Omni-Man takes out Robot and Rudy, and the two of them address the remaining rebels, stating that they have to kill them. Angstrom stands up for the others but before Invincible can kill him, Angstrom is dropped into a portal that suddenly appears.

It has been a few months since Mark Grayson fought his father and he has been going around trying to do his bit as a superhero. He revisits the scene of his beatdown where some of his blood remains.

He returns home and gets ready to go back to school for the first time since the fight. His mother is also returning to work and the mother-son duo share a moment where they try to ready themselves for the day.

The Mauler Twins are in cells across from each other, arguing with the guard about the food they receive when a portal opens up behind them. They both go through it and find themselves in the ruins of the facility they were just in.

They see a man in the distance and when they get closer, the man introduces himself as Angstrom Levy. Angstrom says that he has the ability to open portals to different dimensions, and he requires the twin’s specific intellect for a personal project.

He adds that in most dimensions, Invincible joined forces with Omni-Man and took over the Earth rather than the fight between them that took place in their own dimension.

Everyone at school believes that Mark’s father was killed, and Todd is the first to walk up to him and embrace him while sharing his condolences. Amber pulls him away and asks Mark how he’s really feeling. Sam also sits down with him for a talk.

Mark blames himself for all the people who died and sets up a meeting with Cecil to ask him if he can work for the GDA again. Cecil tells Mark that he isn’t ready yet and insists that he focus on his mental health or else end up like his father.

Cecil heads back to the GDA where a resurrected Donald gives him an update on the ongoing fight between the Guardians and a giant. They make heavy work of it and Rudy even freezes during combat out of fear.

Angstrom takes the Mauler twins back to his warehouse where he has a machine that will connect his consciousness with that of his alternate versions. He then reveals a room with other versions of himself, and claims to have many more.

He wants the twins to fix up the machine with the necessary modifications so that he can take in all the knowledge from his alternate selves and use it for the benefit of his dimension.

Olga visits Debbie and gives her a card for something that should help her with how she is feeling. Cecil criticizes the Guardians for their below-par performances lately and announces that there will be some changes.

Immortal flies in and is installed as the new leader. He tells the team that he’s going to have them on new training schedules to tighten them up. Cecil also introduces a new team member named Bulletproof.

Cecil and Donald are watching the twins’ movements when Mark shows up asking for another chance. He insists that he’ll play by the rules, and that is when they get an alert from the warehouse.

Mark is sent out to take care of things, and he orders the twins to stop. They immediately start fighting while Angstrom pleads with Invincible to stop. When the hero refuses, he opens up portals to bring in alternate versions of the Maulers.

They quickly gain the upper hand but Angstrom begs them not to kill him. When they do not listen, he tries to disconnect himself from the device even though he was advised not to.

A huge explosion rings out with only Invincible left standing. The other Guardians arrive and survey the scene while Cecil assures Invincible that the deaths were not his fault.

He returns home to find his mother passed out next to a bottle of wine. He heads over to Amber’s house and they both find out that they got into the same college.

On his way back, he runs into Immortal, who says that he doesn’t trust Mark and will keep an eye on him. One Mauler survives and he finds someone in the rubble, who turns out to be Angstrom.

Angstrom is heavily disfigured and his memories are warped. He blames Invincible for this even though it was his own fault, and he vows to get revenge before opening a portal and disappearing into it.

Review

• This season puts a heavy focus on Mark’s mental state and his struggle to convince himself and everyone else that he is not his father. This inner turmoil will add a lot of depth and that is already evident from the first episode.
• The writing is clever and the adaptation from book to screen is fantastic. There is enough of the source material to please die-hard fans while still keeping new viewers in the loop.
• The title card gag was so well placed throughout the first season and it is teased so perfectly this time until the eventual reveal.

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