Invincible Season 4’s Finale Marks The End Of A 5-Year Era

Caution: spoilers ahead for Invincible season 4’s finale.

Invincible season 4 has a finale like no other. The season’s penultimate episode brought the Viltrumite War to an explosive end, as the Coalition of Planets smashed Viltrum into pieces but lost their leader in the process, with Thaedus brutally beheaded by Thragg. Regardless, enough damage was inflicted to hand the Pyrrhic victory to Invincible’s team. Mark and his allies walked away knowing the galaxy had been largely liberated from Viltrumite domination, but as Cecil Stedman is keen to point out, a band of angry superhumans remains ominously on the loose.

Invincible season 4’s closing episode deals with the ramifications of the war’s ending: Mark’s trauma, the lingering specter of Thragg, and the fragile peace these two characters strike that allows remaining Viltrumites sanctuary on Earth in exchange for a cessation of hostilities. That arrangement means Invincible season 4 wraps up on a rather ambiguous note. On one hand, Earth is in more danger than ever before. On the other, the Viltrum Empire truly appears to have collapsed thanks to the efforts of Mark Grayson and his fellow heroes.

As a result of Mark’s verbal contract with Thragg, Invincible season 4’s final episode also marks the end of an era that started way back in the show’s premiere five long years ago. This is the first time since Invincible began that the Viltrumite War isn’t the overarching storyline in the shadows.

As soon as Omni-Man turned the original Guardians of the Globe heroes into mushy red chunks, the prospect of war against Viltrum became unavoidable. That iconic first fight between Mark and his father in Invincible season 1’s finale made clear that the Viltrumites were coming to conquer Earth, and would one day need to be dealt with. Across its second and third seasons, Invincible gradually took small steps toward that outcome: Anissa’s warning to Mark, the Battle of Thraxa, the arrival of Conquest, etc. For all the squid-like monsters, flying dragons, and interdimensional chaos, the Viltrumite War spent four seasons as the singular event Invincible was steadily shuffling toward. After season 4, that’s no longer the case.

Invincible Season 4 Ends Without Setting Up A Clear Main Villain

That’s not to say the Viltrumites aren’t going to be a problem in Invincible season 5 and beyond. The likes of Anissa and Lucan living on Earth means peace is tenuous, and as long as Thragg is around, no character will ever be truly safe. Of course, a definitive Mark vs. Thragg battle is destined to happen at some point in Invincible‘s future, so the days of battling evil Viltrumites are far from over. At the same time, the era of all-out conflict that reigned over Invincible‘s past four seasons has also now come to an end.

That leaves a sizable question mark over Invincible season 5’s main villain spot.

Thragg will continue to be a menace, but not if his agreement with Mark holds out. Invincible season 4’s finale teases Allen potentially turning against his friends by releasing Thaedus’ Scourge virus, while the Flaxan threat remains unresolved for as long as Robot and Monster Girl are trapped in their dimension. Minor antagonists like Dinosaurus and Mr. Liu are still around, and season 4 previously teased more problems to come from Satan and his Hell-based minions.

Clearly, Invincible season 5 doesn’t have a shortage of villains, but neither does it have one obvious arch-villain, which represents a break in tradition from the past five seasons. When Invincible returns, it’ll enter the next phase of its narrative, where Viltrumites are an everyday problem rather than a major crisis lying in wait. For the first time, Mark Grayson can head out for his superhero duties not quite knowing where his next landmark battle will come from.

Release Date

March 26, 2021

Network

Amazon Prime Video

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