Full spoilers follow for Invincible season 3 episode 8.
It only feels like yesterday that Invincible season 3 made its Prime Video debut. So, it feels weird to be writing that the critically-acclaimed animated series’ latest chapter has just ended, albeit in typically explosive fashion.
As the dust settles on another jaw-dropping season finale, I’m here to answer your biggest questions about this season’s eighth episode, titled ‘I Thought You’d Never Shut Up’. I’ll also talk about where Amazon‘s TV adaptation might go next.
Full spoilers immediately follow for Invincible‘s latest episode and the graphic novel series it’s based on. Make sure you’ve streamed it before you proceed!
Does Atom Eve die in Invincible season 3 episode 8?
Thankfully not. If you’ve watched episode 8 in its entirety, you’ll know that’s the case. If you somehow missed how she survived being mutilated and skewered by Conquest, though, allow me to explain.
Atom Eve actually plays a bigger part in the battle against Conquest (more on him later) than she does in the source material. Indeed, she actively tries to stop him from beating Mark to a pulp, and even uses her matter-transmutation abilities to go toe-to-toe with the Viltrum Empire’s second-most powerful warrior.
But, as you’ll remember from Invincible season 3 episode 7, Eve was seriously injured during the Invincible War event that was hinted at all the way back in season 3’s premiere, then later teased in season 3 episode 6’s mid-credits scene, and eventually depicted in this season’s seventh chapter. She would struggle to take on Conquest when fully fit, let alone having just awoken from a week-long coma and still recovering from the wounds she sustained one episode earlier.
Despite putting up a brave fight, Eve begins to tire and starts making mistakes. That allows Conquest to gain the upper hand, smash Eve’s jaw, and appear to murder Mark’s girlfriend by disemboweling her right in front of him.
Equal parts furious and distressed over Eve’s apparent demise, Mark takes his anger out on his seemingly superior foe, but even his rage-fueled attacks aren’t enough to help the series’ superhuman protagonist beat Conquest. Eventually, after one last courageous effort on the eponymous hero’s part, Conquest overpowers Mark and starts strangling him almost to death.
Cue Eve’s death-defying return. Revived by her own superhuman abilities, Eve miraculously self-heals before dealing significant damage to Conquest by firing a giant pink laser that incinerates his costume and burns the skin right off his body. Exhausted, a now-naked Eve collapses, but her intervention proves to be enough to help Mark finally defeat Conquest (don’t worry, we’re getting to him).
So, how does Eve come back from the dead in one of the best Prime Video shows? As Mark recovers from the injuries he sustained during his battle with Conquest, Eve reminds him (and us) that, when her biological mother was pregnant with Eve, scientists experimented on Eve in the womb and imbued her with superpowers.
What we didn’t know is that, while those experiments were ongoing, the researchers installed a failsafe to prevent Eve using her abilities on sentient matter. Essentially, she can’t hurt anyone enough to seriously injure or kill them.
However, those mental blocks are overridden when Eve suffers a traumatic event like, you know, almost dying. That allows her to use her abilities without limitations, which is why she was able to self-heal, thereby saving herself from certain death. Oh, and it’s why she was able to do so much damage to Conquest with her laser blast.
Is Conquest dead following his battle with Invincible?
Initially, it would appear so, but Invincible fans know that nobody really stays dead in this universe (I’m looking at you, Angstrom Levy and Mister Liu…).
After Eve’s laser blast attack, Conquest is severely weakened, which allows Mark to inflict as much punishment as he can muster on his adversary.
After an exhausting and brutal duel, Mark finally gains the upper hand. However, both of his arms have been smashed to pieces by the bout that’s just ensued, so Mark uses his head – literally – to head-butt Conquest to death.
Or so it would seem. After Mark wakes from the coma he fell into after seemingly killing Conquest, he demands to see his fallen foe’s body. Global Defence Agency (GDA) chief Cecil Stedman agrees to let Mark see it and, after viewing Conquest’s remains, Mark seems content that there’s one less Viltrumite warrior for him to worry about.
The problem is that it’s not Conquest’s body. We later learn that Cecil has lied to Mark – again! – and that the corpse he showed Mark is nothing more than a dummy. Indeed, it was created so that Mark would walk away convinced that Conquest was no more.
Okay, so where is Conquest’s real body? The Viltrumite, voiced by Jeffrey Dean Morgan, is being held in a secure, secret GDA facility six miles below the Earth’s surface. As Cecil tells his second-in-command Donald, the GDA have kept Conquest’s body so that, in the event that he wakes up, Cecil will force Conquest to tell him all about the Viltrum Empire and how to stop them. Sure, Cecil, nothing bad will come of this, will it…
Wait, did Conquest recreate that devastating Omni-Man train sequence from season 1?
He absolutely did. In a call-back to Omni-Man and Invincible’s destructive battle in Invincible season 1’s final episode, Conquest uses Mark’s body to plough through and kill numerous innocent humans on a beach resort around midway through this season’s finale.
If further proof was needed, it’s another reminder of just how brutal Viltrumites are. I do wonder, though, if it’s a mere coincidence that Conquest replicates that Omni-Man train sequence from season 1 episode 8, or if it’s a move that all Viltrumites use at some point during fights with their kin. I guess we’ll find out if Anissa or any other imposing Viltrum warriors use it in future seasons.
Do we check in with Nolan/Omni-Man and Allen before Invincible season 3 ends?
Unfortunately not. Much like Invincible season 2 part 1 and Invincible season 2 part 2, we don’t spend much time with everyone’s new favorite bromance in season 3. So if you were expecting to check in with Nolan and Allen before episode 8 ended, you’ll be sorely disappointed.
Spoilers notwithstanding, though, I can say that you’ll see much more of them in future seasons. Indeed, the duo take on a much bigger role in the comics following events depicted in ‘I Thought You’d Never Shut Up’, so expect them to have more screen time moving forward.
What’s with that Damien Darkblood mid-credits scene in Invincible season 3’s finale?
That’s hard to answer, because it sets up a storyline that isn’t present in Invincible‘s graphic novel series.
Almost two seasons have passed since Damien Darkblood, a demonic detective, was banished from Earth by Cecil. He was sent back to Hell for disobeying Cecil’s orders in season 1 – indeed, Damien previously worked for the GDA and investigated the allegations that Omni-Man was the culprit behind the original Guardians of the Globe team members’ deaths in the show’s very first episode.
Anyway, this mid-credits stinger reunites us with Damien as he draws a pentagram symbol on the floor of a cave. This summons one of Damien’s superiors, with Damien saying he wouldn’t have awoken the Great Beast if it wasn’t important.
Continuing, Damien informs the other demon that he’s found a “surface dweller of great power, the likes of which this planet hasn’t seen for eons”. I’m not sure what planet he’s referring to, but I’m assuming it’s the one Damien lives on (is Hell an actual planet?) rather than Earth.
Damien ends by saying the unnamed individual possesses a blackened heart that, when bound to the so-called Dark One, could restore the latter to his throne. When asked how this can be achieved, Damien says he’s found a way to conjure him.
What does all of this mean? I’ve no idea. As I said, this storyline is completely new material written for Invincible’s TV adaptation and, in the comics, we never see or hear from Damien again after he’s banished. Whatever happens next, Robert Kirkman, co-creator of Invincible‘s comic-book series and its adult animated adaptation, clearly aims to give Damien a much more impactful and substantial arc in the Prime Video series.
What about an Invincible season 3 finale post-credits scene?
You’re fresh out of luck on that front, friend. There’s no post-credits scene to stick around for.
Is there going to be an Invincible season 4? And when might it get released?
Good news, there will be MORE [slam to Invincible title card] pic.twitter.com/E6fY3qvfADJuly 26, 2024
Yes! Amazon renewed Invincible for a fourth season last July, with the announcement being one of nine big Comic-Con 2024 reveals we were most excited about.
It could be with us sooner than we expect, too. Speaking to Collider in February, Nolan Grayson/Omni-Man voice actor J.K. Simmons confirmed that he’d already recorded lines for the show’s next installment.
And, a few weeks later, Kirkman told The Direct that it was his wish to release new seasons every year. Depending on how much work needs to be done on season 4 – I hope the team isn’t being forced to crunch to get it out as soon as possible! – it may debut on Amazon’s streaming platform, aka one of the world’s best streaming services, sometime in 2026.
How does Invincible season 3 set up its sequel season’s story?
That would be getting into spoiler territory, folks. I wouldn’t want to ruin any major surprises for people who haven’t read the comics.
I can talk about what’s hinted at before season 3 ends, though. I have no insider information, but I’d be surprised if the Sequids storyline, which you can remind yourself about in my Invincible season 2 part 2 ending explained piece, isn’t picked up again in season 4’s first two or three episodes. After all, we see that the Sequids’ human host Rus Livingston has amassed an army of more human hosts, which have allowed the symbiotic alien species to multiply rapidly in the sewers and prepare for a full-scale invasion of Earth.
That storyline takes on even greater significance when you consider what Mark tells Oliver, who’s also recovering from injuries he sustained during his brief bout with Conquest, in this season’s finale. In short: Mark admits that Oliver was right and that, in order to protect the people that he loves, Mark will need to kill anyone who threatens them. If you thought season 3 was a dark chapter in Mark’s life, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
There are plenty more subplots and character arcs that’ll play out in season 4. Battle Beast is still alive, Angstrom and The Technicians are working together on a new scheme, Cecil and D.A. Sinclair continue to work on using the corpses of those multiversal Invincibles to create version 2.0 of the ReAnimen, the threat from the Viltrum Empire still looms large over proceedings, and so much more! So strap in, because things are only going to get crazier from here.
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tom.power@futurenet.com (Tom Power)
