r/Invincible • u/mwthecool Omni-Mod • Nov 24 '23

Invincible [Episode Discussion] - S02E04 - It's Been a While EPISODE DISCUSSION

Episode 4 - It's Been a While!

Mark answers the call to save an alien species, but the mission has unexpected personal consequences.

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256

u/styuone Nov 24 '23

So will Marks brother get viltrumite powers?

223

u/Sailingboar Nov 24 '23

Consider what we know so far. Mark got Viltrumite powers. And Mark's brother looks very much like a Human/Viltrumite.

If it weren't for the skincolor Mark's brother would look just like a younger Mark.

And we know that Mark got Viltrumite powers because of that same DNA.

23

u/PerfectMix877 Nov 24 '23

I thought the reason nolan had a human kid was the humans were compatible, does that mean all aliens are?

60

u/willy410 Amber Bennett Nov 24 '23

Think it’s more of a relative thing, like human DNA is comparatively more compatible, which is why Mark looks like a normal viltrumite and his brother is purple.

40

u/Bodega_Bandit Nov 24 '23

extremely minor comic spoilers: I haven't read the comics but from what I've read online, Viltrumite DNA breeds true and will overtake other species DNA as they get older. So they're compatible with most things but the offspring will always be more viltrumite than anything else

7

u/SEND-MARS-ROVER-PICS Nov 28 '23

Something quite similar is said in season 1 (so I don't think I ened to spoiler tag it), that Viltrumite DNA is so pure Mark is basically a full Viltrumite. I noticed this season has more talk about "half-breeds" so maybe there is a sliding scale of being a Viltrumite?

35

u/AspirationalChoker The Viltrumites Nov 24 '23

Viltrumite dna always like 99% overtakes anything else

23

u/pielover928 Nov 25 '23

From what Nolan said this episode, it seems like it's more about Viltrumwhite supremacy than compatibility. Humans look like viltrumites

8

u/PerfectMix877 Nov 25 '23

Maybe I'm misremembering but i thought nolan had mark because he finally found a race with good compatibility. Did he just mean compatibility like they look like viltrumites? I'm confused tbh because humans would be considered insects to viltrumites as well no? Like they're just as weak as those bugs are.

13

u/immaownyou Nov 25 '23

Comic spoilers but he pretty much says as much in this episode....

Species that are close to resembling viltrumites are okay to breed with, any offspring just need to prove themselves to be accepted into the empire, just like Mark was this episode as General Kregg says at the end. Any inferior races too different would be killed right away like Marks brother though.

4

u/pielover928 Nov 25 '23

I haven't read the comics, but in this episode he has a kid with a bug

5

u/PerfectMix877 Nov 25 '23

Oh really I didn't notice

9

u/Sailingboar Nov 24 '23

It's Mass Effect but even weirder.

So yes.

7

u/Thrallov Nov 24 '23

how i understood Viltrum gene overwrites other part, in bug brother it will take lot longer than with Human

5

u/Pixie1001 Nov 26 '23

It's probably possible for him to get Viltrumite powers, but we also know from S1 that even Mark wasn't guaranteed to inherit them, so it probably isn't guaranteed.

I think it would fit into the whole nazi analogue if the specifics of what species you breed with has literally no baring on the likelihood of getting powers though - eugenics is all about creating ethnic group scapegoats, not actually making the gene-pool any stronger.

2

u/Sailingboar Nov 26 '23

I don't think the Viltrumites were designed with this analogy in mind. Mostly because they are in fact a race of super-powered beings.

It's more just a criticism of the ideology that might makes right.

Not going into comic spoilers but Nolan did expect Mark to get powers it was just taking longer than he'd like. That's where the issue came from. The new kid also looks a lot like Mark he just has a weird skin color. That could only happen if this new kid has the DNA of a Viltrumite. Which would mean the kid would inherit the powers.

26

u/FrostedPixel47 Nov 24 '23

In S1 Nolan told Mark that Viltrumite DNA is incredibly powerful and will takeover their mate's original DNA and produce offsprings 99.99% Viltrumite

5

u/Wolf6120 Cecil Stedman Nov 24 '23 edited Nov 25 '23

... Alright so am I gonna be the only speciest asshole to ask how a white dude and a blue praying mantis make a purple humanoid baby? Like I get that Nolan's DNA is built different and just kinda overpowers the mother's genes to make a baby that's as much Viltrumite as possible (though fwiw Mark looks way more like Debbie than he does Nolan, even if internally his physiology is Viltrumite), so I would understand if the baby brother just fully resembled Nolan, or if he looked like Nolan with a bit of blue bug vibes mixed in but... purple? Where did that come from lol?

9

u/FrostedPixel47 Nov 25 '23 edited Nov 25 '23

Comic Spoiler

The baby loses his skin colour and turns into the same colour as Nolan as he reaches adulthood

3

u/Wolf6120 Cecil Stedman Nov 25 '23

Thanks, it’s nice to know that there is an actual answer to my silly question lol - before I click on that, is it like a major spoiler or just some worldbuilding lore that the show hasn’t told us yet?

2

u/FrostedPixel47 Nov 25 '23

Nah it's pretty minor, you'd be like "huh that makes sense", and the spoiler isn't about the plot, it's literally just about what you asked

2

u/Wolf6120 Cecil Stedman Nov 25 '23 edited Nov 25 '23

Perfect, thanks! Though it still kinda leaves me wondering where the purple came from in the first place, even if it goes away again lol

2

u/Zealousideal_Mix_935 Burger Mart Trash Bag Nov 26 '23

This is just speculation but maybe it has to do with their blood? I mean Thraxans seem to have blue blood and Viltrumites have red blood. Maybe that produces a mix in the kid that makes his skin appear purple as a side effect of a mixed blood?

2

u/Wolf6120 Cecil Stedman Nov 26 '23

You know that's a pretty good theory honestly. Probably what I'm gonna go with in terms of head-canon, absent of the show providing any other kind of explanation lol.

3

u/Butt-Licker1776 Nov 25 '23

That .01% are the skin color genes apparently

5

u/YoSonDevin Tech Jacket Nov 24 '23

As he gets older he will nearly be full blooded.

-1

u/[deleted] Nov 24 '23

[deleted]

22

u/King_Khoma Battle Beast Nov 24 '23

isnt the whole thing that viltrumite genes overpower them though? thats why mark isnt half human half viltrumite, hes 99% viltrumite. so his brother is only 1% bug

4

u/[deleted] Nov 24 '23

Yes

5

u/FORGOTTENLEGIONS Nov 24 '23

His brother has gotta be dead, right? That one Viltrumite was still alive, so surely he would kill the kid first wouldn't he?

2

u/lafindestase Nov 28 '23

Presumably she ran deeper into the caves, and the viltrumite wouldn’t have wanted to spend 5 minutes looking around with his guts hanging out while the fight was going on outside.

2

u/Downtown-Item-6597 Nov 25 '23

Not just him, the Viltrumites "won". They had a whole as ship there with a crew. Steve Harvey could have done it or told the others Vs he didn't and they take care of it.

7

u/Gotisdabest Nov 24 '23

Wait, he's still alive? I thought Mr Frenktestine would have killed him and Nolan's wife before heading out.

30

u/CaptainRonDiablo Nov 24 '23

I wondered the same, but Nolan did send the wife and kid deeper into the cave. Assuming Steve Harvey gathered up his guts and went straight for Nolan and Mark.

11

u/[deleted] Nov 24 '23

Lol Steve Harvey, holy shit. I can't unsee that now.

5

u/HumanitySurpassed Nov 24 '23

The character actually was directly based off Steve Harvey's appearance.

6

u/karateema Abraham Lincoln Nov 24 '23

Steve Harvey barely managed to get there, I don't think he looked for the family

2

u/Wolf6120 Cecil Stedman Nov 24 '23

I don't think he looked for the family

You could say he was too focused on the feud

33

u/HippieDogeSmokes Nov 24 '23

They wouldn’t just introduce Mark’s brother only to kill him off instantly

8

u/Gotisdabest Nov 24 '23

I can see them doing that to push both Nolan and Mark further to the edge and potentially to build upon the idea that nolan is just falling deeper and deeper into depression, but yeah, doing it offscreen would be weird.

3

u/Jamies_awesome_rack Nov 24 '23

I was fully ready for it with the reveal that he doesn’t even have a name yet.

2

u/Downtown-Item-6597 Nov 25 '23

The viltrumites wouldn't come to the planet to kill that baby, win, then not kill the baby.

3

u/futuredoctororwhatev Nov 27 '23

They didn’t know about the baby

2

u/HippieDogeSmokes Nov 25 '23

They could’ve just forgotten

1

u/Downtown-Item-6597 Nov 25 '23

As interesting as it would be, I'll be extremely disappointed if that baby isn't dead. It's so stupid to have them "forget" their primary reason for being there. And even if they did, at any point, one can remember, fly over and kill him in a second now that Omniman is gone. Same for virtually any "Mark sneaks the baby away to earth" plan, it's simply not doable.

2

u/HippieDogeSmokes Nov 25 '23

They didn’t know the baby existed until they saw it though, they were only there for Nolan and left when they got Nolan

3

u/HippieDogeSmokes Nov 25 '23

the only Viltrumite who knows about it is the one who got slashed and he’s currently passed out in recovery

2

u/samtherat6 Nov 24 '23

He’ll probably age like a human lol

2

u/MrTT3 Nov 24 '23

yes but he is way weaker pure blood, age faster too

1

u/RollTideYall47 Nov 27 '23

From what Nolan said, if a kid gets powers, basically they become almost completely Viltrimite. Like their other DNA just doesn't matter