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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693

u/quantummufasa Nov 24 '23

I always thought the clone being lesser was a joke.

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u/timdr18 Nov 24 '23

It was when they didn’t know who was the clone.

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u/Jefrejtor Nov 24 '23

I like that this one scene has given a whole new sinister meaning to what I assumed was just banter.

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u/brigandr Nov 24 '23

The Maulers bring it up when the newly awakened Rudy says that he didn't expect the feeling of continuity.

We had to make it seamless, otherwise one of us knows he's the clone, and that never ends well.

I suspect this episode isn't the first instance of King Mauler's regicide.

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u/GrimResistance Nov 24 '23

You'd think he would've seen that coming. Like, he should've known what he would do in his own shoes.

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u/DMking Nov 24 '23

He thinks he's too superior to the clone to ever think the clone would do nore than obey

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u/Carbuyrator Adam Wilkens Nov 27 '23

Also the blast that disfigured him probably concussed him pretty good too.

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u/Dreamwash Nov 24 '23

The Maulers are shown to be arrogant and that's their blind spot in intelligence. They've consistently been shown to be easily tricked because they always assume they're better than whoever they're dealing with; including each other.

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u/Xochtil1 Dec 04 '23

It's from a different piece of fiction altogether, but a line that really stuck in my mind, because it perfectly represents characters like Maulers is "her personality gets in the way of her intelligence".

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u/Thrallov Nov 24 '23

they 100% delete memories when one tried go off path, pretty sure clone copied memories to clone 2 and deleted memories of "superior freak" from himself

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u/TerraSollus Nov 24 '23

I assume it’s more of a “if you clone something it can never be perfect ergo the more you do it the worse it gets” the original mauler probably died decades ago. The Mauler Twins don’t know who the clone is, both of em, so they treat each other roughly equally. If one realizes he’s older then he treats the other as a slave until the younger one gets fed up and kills him. Which I imagine only takes a few days

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u/PerfectMix877 Nov 24 '23

Aand you answered what happened to the original lol.

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u/macedonianmoper Nov 24 '23

The original probably did it, then the clone realized the same would happen to him and so he made it so you can't know who the original was, maybe it took a few iteration to get there tho.

11

u/Professional-Cow7023 Nov 24 '23

The Maulers never made it so tthat they wouldn't know. Not knowing just seems to be a consequence of cloning in this universe.

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u/macedonianmoper Nov 24 '23

Always assumed it was intentional, otherwise you'd know simply because the original was laying on the left bed or something

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u/Vexho Nov 24 '23

It is intentional, they said in S1 when cloning Rudy that it's important for the clones to be indistinguishable cuz if that's not the case things usually get messy, seems like mutilated Mauler forgot about that bit in the meantime and got bit in the ass for it.

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u/OtakuAttacku Nov 24 '23

but also I think it's specific to the Mauler's personality. He needs to be superior and the inferior will always conspire to become superior. In Rudy's case it was impossible not to see who lost the coin flip but the original knew this was always gonna be the outcome.

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u/Vexho Nov 24 '23 edited Nov 24 '23

Yeah it's definitely an integral part of their personality EDIT: during the conversation with Rudy they at least seem aware of this flaw and so they designed the process in a way that would avoid the doom that would follow knowing which one is which

1

u/xRyozuo Jan 10 '24

imo it showed the inherent differences in character between rudy and the maulers. Youre on point about the maulers personality, they need the balance. OG Rudy understood that he wouldnt get to live his second life, that wasnt the point. The point was for his clone to have a life, and it would be him in every way except being able to experience it.

I found it very touching that despite being the same being, the moment the well off clone realised he was the lucky one, he wanted to help preserve the old one out of survivors guilt. Both the maulers and rudy end up killing the old versions but its also so different.

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u/someguyfromtheuk Nov 24 '23

I assumed the cloning process wipes the last minute or two of their memory so they don't remember lying down and activating the machine.

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u/macedonianmoper Nov 24 '23

Yeah but that would still leave you with ways to prepare to know you're the real one, like taking a while before setting down, or writing a note, or wearing different clothes, too me it seemed like a way to ensure neither "the original" nor the clone would slack off, in this case "the original" had no way to hide his defects proving himself to be original, which lets him slack off, a sort of Ulysses pact

10

u/Thrallov Nov 24 '23

they don't want to know truth it becomes messy, they willingly delete memories before cloning

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u/macedonianmoper Nov 24 '23

Exactly, this is why I'm arguing it's an intended consequence, if the Maulers truly wanted to know who the original is all they need is a marker.

3

u/Professional-Cow7023 Nov 24 '23

Apparently I was wrong. Didn't mean to lead you astray.

15

u/Cletus1085 Nov 24 '23

Rewatched the first season recently, and they mention it's intentional, precisely to avoid what happened in today's episode.

4

u/Professional-Cow7023 Nov 24 '23

Damn. I stand corrected. I should re-watch s1.

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u/red_deed_redemption Nov 24 '23

Pretty sure they did, in season one they say that one of them knowing which the clone is never turns out well

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u/theCroc Nov 24 '23

Yupp he probably didn't survive the first generation. It's been clones ever since.

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u/Sirenkai The Mauler Twins Nov 25 '23

That’s a pretty clone thing of you to say

10

u/WinterH-e-ater Nov 24 '23

It's certainly how the first Mauler died, then the clone made the process like it is today

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u/The_SystemError Nov 24 '23

Didn't they literally tell that to robot in S1?

The moment I saw the Mauler making a clone I knew what was going to happen.

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u/Calm-Tree-1369 Nov 24 '23

Yeah, I dunno why people theorize over this when it's explicitly been stated. Mauler Twins keep their system going for that very reason.

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u/Wolf6120 Cecil Stedman Nov 24 '23

It's honestly a miracle they've managed to make it this far without accidentally getting into a situation where they both try to backstab and kill each other at the same time before either of them has the chance to set up another clone.

Also interesting that they always stop at just the one/two clones, though it looked like the two-face Mauler was talking about making more before he got poisoned.

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u/watashi_ga_kita Nov 25 '23

They mention in season 1 that they made it seamless on purpose because it would get messy otherwise.

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u/dcwspike Nov 25 '23

Which is why he said not to fuck with a system that works after killing the disfigured one, there ego won't allow them to be better then 1 another

3

u/-Rapier Allen the Alien Nov 25 '23

"Always two Maulers, there is. The original, and the clone"

"But who died? The original, or the clone?"

[Original Mauler grins closeby]

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u/RunningNumbers Nov 24 '23

Which makes me wonder if they know they why they still choose to treat the other like shit?

11

u/TerraSollus Nov 24 '23

Mauler is a narcissist, he wants to be the best and in control. Like when the twins got pissed at Armstrong for using other versions of the twins, they were mad because they weren’t uniquely special in making the machine work. So both maulers want to be the best mauler, i.e. the original, which means that when one is “chosen” the other gets angry that he isn’t the original and will thus kill the “original” to become him lol

10

u/numbr87 Nov 24 '23

I noticed that the clone brain on the screen was smaller than the scarred one. Assuming that's not just a visual thing, if they always make the clone a lesser version, how smart and skilled was the first Mauler?

17

u/Concernedplayers Nov 24 '23

Considering the maulers are one of the smartest characters in the serie, prime mauler must’ve been on the level of Mr.Fantastic

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u/[deleted] Nov 24 '23

[deleted]

4

u/Concernedplayers Nov 24 '23

Long dead

1

u/watashi_ga_kita Nov 25 '23

Wait, so do they actually get more imperfect each time? I thought the entire point of cloning was to get a perfect copy.

1

u/Concernedplayers Nov 25 '23

That’s the assumption but from what’s hinted at in the shows and comics the Maulers always got a little dumber each clone. Although they don’t make it super obvious and it’s just in the little details.

1

u/PermeusCosgrove Apr 19 '24

I just assumed the actual “original” died ages ago and it’s been clones cloning clones for some time.

1

u/Petersaber Nov 26 '23

always thought the clone being lesser was a joke.

It's not, and it's weird. That implies their cloning is imperfect (which points out a flaw in the original), and the more they do it, they get worse.

1

u/The_Quackening Nov 27 '23

Its a feature not a bug!

The Maulers seem to be acutely aware that their constant competing to prove they are the original is what makes them work as well as they do. When 1 knows they are the original, they get lazy, arrogant, and over confident.

1

u/Precedens Jan 13 '24

It is, he clones himself completely, there is no difference between "original" and clone, since original was cloned multiple times before as well.