History TearJerker / Invincible2021

* Debbie has to hear her husband claim that he never truly loved her as a wife, and she was more of a pet to him. She also watches him almost beat her son to death. She puts on a strong face for Mark, but by the end of the episode she can only cry uncontrollably in her room.

--->'''Robot:''' I'll fix you.

-->'''Mark''': This is how you should have felt on Earth!

** In their fight, when Lucan accuses Nolan of [[NoTrueScotsman dishonoring]] [[TheEmpire the Viltrumites]] and that he "deserves death", Nolan, after spilling Lucan's guts and impaling him, simply responds "I know." Given Nolan's ConflictingLoyalty, [[DoubleMeaning it's likely that]] he agrees with Lucan not just for his disobeying of Viltrum, but also because [[IAmAMonster of all the horrible things he did on Earth]]. The worst part is that, due to him denying his attatchments to the slaughtered Thraxans, he may not even be fully aware [[FreudianSlip of his own remorse of the latter]] at that moment.

[[folder:This Missive, This Machination]]

* The Viltrumites arrive and slaughter most, if not all, of the Thraxans with Mark and Nolan only barely able to save Oliver and his Mother.
** In their fight, when Lucan accuses Nolan of [[NoTrueScotsman dishonoring]] [[TheEmpire the Viltrumites]] and that he "deserves death", Nolan, after spilling Lucan's guts and impaling him, simply responds "I know." Given Nolan's ConflictingLoyalty, [[DoubleMeaning it's likely that]] he agrees with Lucan not just for his disobeying of Viltrum, but also [[IAmAMonster of all the horrible things he did on Earth]]. The worst part is that, due to him denying his attatchments to the slaughtered Thraxans, he may not even be fully aware [[FreudianSlip of his own remorse of the latter]] at that moment.
** Just the fact that Nolan is actually heartbroken and visibly sad about all their deaths. While on Earth he tried to play it off through excessive cruelty, here he realizes that he has started to care, and it angers him to the point that he nearly chokes Mark [[EvilCantComprehendGood to find out why he does]]. To him, [[TheSocialDarwinist as a Viltrumite]], he should see them the same way he supposedly saw the humans he protected for 20 years. Mark only has [[ArmorPiercingResponse this response]]:

** Even Mark himself, despite his misgivings with his father, is appalled by the destruction, recognizing Nolan's pain at seeing the Thraxans killed and trying to gently call to him. When he tells Nolan that his feelings for the InsectoidAliens is what he should have felt on Earth, it sounds like he's not only still frustrated with his father's stubbornness and past actions, but also trying to get him to understand that such feelings are natural and that he shouldn't keep denying them, which is what seems to finally click in Nolan's head that [[HumanityIsInfectious he has changed from the conqueror he once was]].

** Just the fact that Nolan is actually heartbroken and visibly sad about all their deaths. While on Earth he tried to play it off through excessive cruelty here he realizes that he has started to care and it angers him to the point that he nearly chokes Mark to find out why he does because as a Viltrumite by definition he should see them the same way he supposedly saw the humans he protected for 20 years. Mark only has this response:

* Eve tries to take her frustrations out on Kill Cannon when he tries to rob the old Teen Team headquarters. As she elongates the fight, he managed to knock a car off the bridge they are fighting on and disrupts Eve's attempts to rescue them. She pulls them out of the water but is ambiguous if they survived. Eve is distraught and returns via bus to her parent's house.

* The hold Nolan has over the Grayson family still.

* When we last saw Nolan, he flew away from Earth in tears after Mark's famous ArmorPiercingResponse, and this episode opens with [[SadTimesMontage a montage of him contemplating his life up until now]] as he roams the stars. We even get to see Nolan contemplating suicide as he gazes at a black hole, almost letting himself get pulled into it [[InterruptedSuicide before he discovers]] a Thraxxan ship in danger.

* Mark arrives to the Thraxxan homeworld and discovers... Nolan was the one who recommended the signal. The reunion begins with a tense stare down, moves forward into Mark hugging his father for the first time in a while... [[AdaptationDeviation and then we see a big departure from the comics]]. Whereas in the original issues, Mark begged his father to come home, here he assumes that Nolan used the Thraxxans to coax Mark into meeting him because he knows that his son wants nothing to do with him. Nolan knows he has every right to make that assumption and tries to clear things up, but [[NotHelpingYourCase the language he uses to describe his sins]], calling them "mistakes", proceeds to disgust Mark [[CallingTheOldManOut so thoroughly that he disowns him to his face]] and moves to leave. He only hears Nolan out because the man refuses to take "no" for an answer, not even because of his usual ways, but because [[AintTooProudToBeg he is desperate for genuine help to save the planet he's calling a new home]].
* As comic readers probably expected Oliver is introduced this episode along with his mother Andressa. And Mark while having just told his dad to essentially “fuck off” is still understandably hurt and it only reinforces what he thinks about Nolan: that he never cared for them or loved them and moved on the first chance he could despite Nolan and Oliver’s mother telling him that wasn’t what happened.
* The Viltrumites arrive and slaughter most, if not all, of the Thraxxans with Mark and Nolan only barely able to save Oliver and his Mother.

* Debbie joins a support group for superhero spouses where she bonds with a man named Theo. When Theo reveals that he is the husband of the Green Ghost, one of the heroes killed by Omni-Man, she breaks down and reveals who she is out of guilt. Theo feels betrayed and tells her not to come back to the group as it wouldn't feel like a safe space with the ex-wife of Omni-Man there. And even though you still feel bad for Theo and understand why he feels the way he does, it's truly heartbreaking to see Debbie being essentially punished for not knowing her husband was a villain.

* When we last saw Nolan, he flew away from Earth in tears after Mark's famous ArmorPiercingResponse, and this episode opens with a montage of him contemplating his life up until now as he roams the stars. We even get to see Nolan contemplating suicide as he gazes at a black hole before he discovers the Thraxxan ship in danger.

* Donald Ferguson's existential crisis when he discovers that he died in the first season and wonders if he's a clone.
* Mark arrives to the Thraxxan homeworld and discovers... Nolan was the one who recommended the signal. The reunion begins with a tense stare down, moves forward into Mark hugging his father for the first time in a while... and then we see a big departure from the comics. Whereas in the original issues, Mark begged his father to come home, here he assumes that Nolan used the Thraxxans to coax Mark into meeting him because he knows that his son wants nothing to do with him, and Nolan knows he has every right to make that assumption and tries to clear things up. However, the language Nolan uses to describe his sins, calling them "mistakes", proceeds to disgust Mark so thoroughly that he disowns him to his face and moves to leave, only hearing Nolan out because the man refuses to take "no" for an answer... not because of his usual ways, but because he is desperate for genuine help to save the planet he's calling a new home.

* The Viltrumites arrive and slaughter most if not all the Thraxans with Mark and Nolan only barely able to save Oliver and his Mother.

* As comic readers probably expected Oliver is introduced this episode along with his mother. And Mark while having just told his dad to essentially “fuck off” is hurt and it only reinforces what he thinks about Nolan: that he never cared for them or loved them and moved on the first chance he could despite Nolan and Oliver’s mother telling him that wasn’t what happened.

** Just the fact that Nolan is actually heartbroken and visibly sad about all their deaths. While on Earth he tried to play it off through excessive cruelty here he realizes that he has started to care and it angers him to the point that he nearly chokes Mark to find out why he does because as a Viltrumite by definition he should see them the same way he supposedly saw the humans he protected for 20 years. Mark only has this response

* Mark just through this season so far has a constant aura of sadness around him. From the way he flies and the way he interacts with his friends, you can tell that he's just sort of there. While his disposition does brighten up a bit more throughout the season, it's very telling that the guilt along with the PTSD of [[TraumaCongaLine watching his father kill thousands of innocent people, call his mother a pet (and basically say his feelings for her amounted to almost nothing), and nearly beat him to death while telling him he's replaceable]] have had a profound effect on him.
* The hold Nolan has over the Grayson family still. Debbie, as much as she tries to hide it, can't move on from the hurt and while some such as Olga are able to realize that there was no way for Debbie to have known Nolan's true nature, others like Theo only compound her guilt. Made worse by the fact that for the most part she's managing all this on her ''own''. Mark at the very least has Amber, William, and Eve to help him through this. [[HopeSpot But the one chance Debbie does get to finally let her emotions out in a support group]], [[YankTheDogsChain she's shunned and told not to come back.]]

* Mark just through this season so far has a constant aura of sadness around him from the way he flies the way he interacts with his friends, you can tell that he's just sort of there. While his disposition does brighten up a bit more throughout the show its very telling that the guilt along with the PTSD of [[TraumaCongaLine watching his father kill thousands of innocent people, call his mother a pet (and basically say his feeling for her amounted to almost nothing), and nearly beat him to death while telling him he's replacable]] have had a profound effect on him.
* The hold Nolan has over the Grayson family still. Debbie as much as she tries to hide it can't move on from the hurt and while some such as Olga are able to realize that there was no way for Debbie to have known Nolans true nature others like Theo only compound her guilt.
** The fact that for the most part she's managing all this on her ''own''. Mark at the very least has Amber, William, and Eve to help him through this, the one chance Debbie does get to finally let her emotions out and she's shunned and told not to comeback.

* Mark just through this season so far has a constant aura of sadness around him from the way he flies the way he interacts with his friends, you can tell that he's just sort of there. While his disposition does brighten up a bit more throughout the show its very telling that the guilt along with the PTSD of [[TraumaCongaLinewatching his father kill thousands of innocent people, call his mother a pet (and basically say his feeling for her amounted to almost nothing), and nearly beat him to death while telling him he's replacable]] have had a profound effect on him.

[[folder:A Lesson For Your Next Life]]

* Rudolph Connors is revealed to be deformed and unable to make contact with air, living a life of absolute pain. He copies his mind into a clone of Rex, but as it only copies it, it means he's still stuck in his original body. Even though the new Rex clone knows what the plan was, he pleads to save the original's life, but ultimately euthanizes him at his own request. Even one of the Mauler Twins begins to tear up.

* William ends up admitting to Mark that he hasn't been able to work up the nerve to try dating since Rick's transformation into a Reaniman, and it becomes clear that he's still haunted and traumatized by what Sinclair did to those poor men. Mark, meanwhile, is still guilt-stricken over not being able to prevent it. This comes to a head when, after trying to reject the call to help billions of aliens in favor of focusing on himself, William calls out Mark.

* William ends up admitting to Mark that he hasn't been able to work up the nerve to try dating since Rick's transformation into a Reaniman, and it becomes clear that he's still haunted and traumatized by what Sinclair did to those poor men. Mark, meanwhile, is still guilt-stricken over not being able to prevent it.

* Allen suffers a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown that would have killed anyone else while his girlfriend Telia watches helplessly.

* Debbie joins a support group for superhero spouses where she bonds with a man named Theo. When Theo reveals that he is the husband of the Green Ghost, one of the heroes killed by Omni-Man, she breaks down and reveals who she is out of guilt. Theo feels betrayed and tells her not to come back to the group as it wouldn't feel like a safe space with the ex-wife of Omni-Man there. And even though you still feel bad for Theo and understand why he feels the way he does, it's truly heartwrenching to see Debbie being essentially punished for not knowing her husband was a villain.

* The segment on Martian Man manages to be this due to it showing what a NiceGuy and FriendToAllChildren he was, and what a tragedy it was that Omni-Man killed him.

* Adam revealing to Eve that her trying to help the neighborhood [[NiceJobBreakingItHero made things worse]] due to her building it on unstable ground. Eve feels incredibly guilty over her actions, and this isn't helped with her [[AbusiveParents dad]] berating her and telling her that her powers make her dangerous.

!!Season 2