Mark attempts to prioritise his personal life and make time for Amber. They attend a convention together but Mark has to leave to help Rex Splode fight a supervillian named Octoboss. Nevertheless, he tries to commit more to Amber and college life, getting some concessions from Cecil.
Meanwhile, The Immortal attempts to resign from the Guardians of the Globe and is put on sabbatical with Rudy becoming leader once more. Donald also attempts to resign from the GDA and finds out he has been a cyborg for far longer than he knew, having actually died repeatedly and having his memory wiped each time at his own volition. Donald uses this knowledge to talk down William's boyfriend Rick from committing suicide.
After a date with Mark, Amber is threatened by a newly arrived Viltrumite, Anissa. They talk, with Anissa telling Mark of the advantages Earth would have under Viltrumite rule and helps him rescue a cruise ship from a kaiju. However, when Mark refuses to take on his assigned role a fight breaks out. Mark is outclassed and easily beaten by Anissa, with even Cecil instructing Mark to just tell Anissa what she wants to hear. Mark refuses and insists Anissa either kill him or leave, since they need him. She leaves with a warning that the next Viltrumite to come check on Mark will be much harsher.
Amber and Mark's relationship falls apart in the aftermath of Anissa's attack. Sitting alone on a roof, he gets a call from his mother, but it's Angstrom Levy on the other end who has Debbie and Oliver hostage.
In the stinger, Anissa encounters Allen the Alien in space, although Allen is now tough enough to fight her, he instead baits her into taking him captive.
Tropes:
- Author Avatar: The show's depiction of famed comic writer Filip Schaff bears a resemblance to Robert Kirkman, the co-creator of both the show and the original Invincible comic.
- Begin with a Finisher: Referenced by Rex in his first supervillain fight after getting out of the hospital with his new prosthetic hand. His usual combat tactics don't do anything but annoy his enemy, so he finally tries out the Arm Cannon in his prosthetic, which leaves his foe charred and unconscious. Stunned, he says that he'll lead with that next time.
- Bungled Suicide: Discussed. As Rick contemplates jumping to his death, he idly wonders if his rebuilt body is tough enough that he might survive the fall.
- Came Back Strong: In Allen's fight with Anissa, he realizes that he's become far stronger since his near-death experience against the Viltrumites; her attacks barely do any damage to him, while one of his punches manages to make her bleed profusely.
- Can't Kill You, Still Need You: Mark correctly guesses that Anissa isn't willing to kill him, and uses that to goad her into either finishing him off or leaving. She chooses the latter but warns that the next Viltrumite won't be so merciful.
- Chekhov's Gun: Allen’s information in the previous episode about how Viltrumites are apprehensive about killing other Viltrumites pays off when Mark gambles that Anissa won’t kill him during his “lesson”.
- Commonality Connection: Donald manages to stop Rick from jumping off a building by showing him that he too was turned into a cyborg, showing him he's not alone in what he's been through.
- Cosplay: Mark feels awkward when seeing several convention attendees dressing up as his Invincible persona.
- Cybernetics Eat Your Soul: Defied. Donald estimates that he's 98% machine now, but even though he's a brain in a robot body, he insists to Rick that what makes them human isn't what they're made of, but the people they care about and those that care about them. Rick, previously fretting over the same fear, finally allows himself to be human and breaks down in William's arms.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Anissa completely overpowers Mark in their brief fight and is clearly not taking him seriously during it. She spends most of the fight in a relaxed pose with her arms at her sides, not bothering to guard or defend herself because she's simply too fast for Mark to touch her, and the single punch she allows him to land has no effect. At one point she simply holds him helpless at arm's length by the neck while thrashing him with her other arm. By her own words she doesn't seem to really even consider it a fight, so much as a disciplinary lesson.
- Death Montage: Cecil allows Donald to learn that Omni-Man's rampage was not the first time he died, showing him video footage of his repeated deaths. He died in the line of work thirty-nine times, and each time he asked Cecil to erase his memories so that the trauma doesn't slow him down.
- Dysfunction Junction: Bulletproof bluntly lays out the team's various flaws, failures and traumas that make the idea of them being the best superhero team in the world impossible to take seriously.
- Robot has shown a willingness to disregard ethics, as seen when he used stolen genetic material from Rex to create a new body for himself so he could date Monster Girl who now seems to be showing less interest in dating him.
- Monster Girl herself shows no concern for the fact her powers de-age her every time she uses them.
- The Immortal is "so old he shits dust" and is severely depressed over the death of his girlfriend, whom he felt was the only person he could relate to.
- Cecil is a morally dubious man who is willing to throw anyone under the bus for his own agenda, which may not always have everyone else's best interest in mind.
- Shrinking Rae recently injured herself while trying to expand inside someone else's body, which Bulletproof refers to as "fucked up".
- Though Bulletproof doesn't exactly articulate his issues like he does the others ("whatever Shapesmith is"), Shapesmith is an exile from his own race who impersonated an astronaut to escape his home planet.
- Rex is an obnoxious, loud-mouthed braggart who recently lost an arm and took a bullet to the head, and is somewhat overcompensating for the recent battle with the Lizard League by going up against even more dangerous threats.
- The only two things Bulletproof can bring against Samson is that the latter is bald and actually believes the new Guardians of the Globe are the best superhero team in the world. Samson retorts that the team is indeed flawed but still a capable group when it counts.
- History Repeats: Mark once again suffers a one-sided fight against a Viltrumite. This time, he doesn't end up a bloody mess as he calls out Anissa's insistence that she only came to Earth to negotiate with him.
- Honor Before Reason: Cecil orders Mark to at least tell Anissa that he'll follow through with the takeover of Earth, if only to buy some time. Mark refuses and keeps trying to fight her, even though he doesn't stand a chance. This does work out in his favor and she leaves, but she warns that the next Viltrumite who meets Mark will not be so merciful.
- Interrupted Suicide: Rick is about to jump off a building when Donald arrives and the two bond over being part machine.
- In Your Nature to Destroy Yourselves: Anissa explains that human civilization is likely to destroy itself in the next couple centuries because their leaders selfishly exploit the planet's resources with no regard toward long-term viability. Mark doesn't disagree, but still argues that humanity has the right to make those decisions, even if they decide wrong.
- Ironic Nickname: Bulletproof points out the oddity of a bald guy naming his superhero persona after a man most famous for his hair. Samson defensively notes he had hair when he picked it.
- Kill Me Now, or Forever Stay Your Hand: When Mark once again refuses to carry out the mission to conquer Earth for Viltrum, he instead goads Anissa into either killing him now if he's not needed or just leave. Anissa chooses the latter, but she does promise Mark that the next Viltrumite that comes will not be so merciful.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: When meeting Filip Schaff at Comic-Con, Mark asks when they can expect to see Season 2 of the Seancé Dog adaptation, referencing the infamously long wait that happened in real life with Invincible's second season. Schaff then goes on to explain the animation process and the various tricks and angles that animators use to cut costs, while the scene itself proudly displays those very same methods as he describes them.
- Lightning Bruiser: Anissa is not only stronger than Mark, she's even faster than Nolan. Cecil and Donald lament that even if they had the chance to use some of the weapons they think might kill her, there's no way they could ever get her to stay still long enough to actually hit her.
- Limited Animation: Lampshaded and played for laughs while Leaning on the Fourth Wall. Filip Schaff references animation tricks used to save money on the animated adaptation of Seance Dog, while these tricks are demonstrated by the show itself.
- The Masquerade Will Kill Your Dating Life: Mark and Amber's relationship reaches its breaking point. Even after Mark finally found time for him and Amber to have a date without interruption, Anissa, a Viltrumite wanting to check up on Mark's "progress", threatens Amber's life to goad him into complying. After they reunite, Amber breaks down, saying that despite trying so hard to be supportive and understanding, she realizes that she lacks agency in her life and will only be a tool for others to get to Mark. Mark understanding, they amicably break up.
- No-Sell:
- Anissa lets Mark hit her once, only being slightly staggered at best, to further show him what a mistake he made in challenging her.
- Allen gets slugged in the jaw by Anissa and is surprised that it barely hurts, compared to the beating he got from the last Viltrumites he encountered.
- Pragmatic Adaptation: In the original comic, Mark asks Filip Schaff how the latter is able to consistently finish his comic books on a monthly basis, and Schaff admits that he often reuses panels and drawings to save time, while the comic itself uses the same reaction shot of Mark multiple times. As this joke wouldn't translate as well to animation, their conversation instead revolves around an animated adaptation of Schaff's comic, and how the show's creators have to cut corners to get it finished on time.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Anissa saves the passengers of the cruise ship to convince Mark that she also wants to save humanity, and that Viltrum isn't going to just slaughter them for the fun of it.
- Pet the Dog: Impressed by Mark's resolve and good judgment, the normally byronic Cecil cracks a smile and helps him back to his feet after getting pummeled by Anissa.
- The Reveal: It turns out that Donald died so many times (39 times to date), that by the present day his body is almost entirely a machine (according to Donald, he’s 98% robotic); furthermore he always died doing the exact same thing: saving as many lives as he could over, and over, and over again. And finally, everytime he was rebuilt, he purposely let his memories of his deaths erased out of fear they would compromise his desire to help more people again.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Rex returns to active duty sometime after the Guardians' battle with the Lizard League. He is visibly shaken after barely surviving, but tries to hype himself back into shape while fighting an octopus-like villain.
- Shout-Out:
- One of the cosplayers at Comic-Con is dressed as the Thirteenth Doctor.
- About two more have ninja headbands and coats similar to the Akatsuki, but blue instead of red and without the clouds.
- Rex's new wrist blaster is triggered the same way Spider-Man's webshooters are.
- Sonic Scream: Much like the Depth-Dweller from episode 2, the Cruise Liner Kaiju has the ability to scream at a frequency that hinders Mark's efforts to do battle with it. Curiously, this prompts Anissa to immediately step in and end the threat.
- Targeted to Hurt the Hero: Anissa threatens to kill Amber if Mark doesn't do what she asks. One of the reasons Mark and Amber break up is so this won't happen in the future.
- Tempting Fate:
- Samson insists to Bulletproof that, whatever their individual issues, the Guardians are a family that come together when it counts. Then they overhear Cecil yelling at Immortal for quitting, which Bulletproof quips means "mom and dad are fighting".
- During their date, Amber tells Mark that there are some situations that he just can't punch his way out of when he jokingly complains about studying to improve his grades. Cue Anissa the Viltrumite showing up and threatening Mark to come with her or take his chances stopping her from tearing Amber's head off, and she's too strong for him to overpower with his fists.
- They Would Cut You Up: Anissa threatens to have Viltrum's prison scientists dissect Allen to discover the source of his strength. Her choice of words inspires him to fake his capture, betting Nolan will also be there.
- This Cannot Be!: Anissa is understandably shocked that any Unopan could be strong enough to so easily wound her. Allen playfully mocks her for her research being out of date.
- Trojan Prisoner: Anissa seemingly knocks out Allen and brings him back to the ship so her people can examine him. Allen is shown smiling along the way, as it provides an opportunity to locate Nolan.
- Wham Line: After his break-up with Amber, Mark receives a phone call from Debbie. When he answers, it's not actually his mom:Angstrom Levy: Hello, Mark. (cuts to him holding Debbie and Oliver hostage) When are you coming home?
- Wham Shot: When Allen crosses paths with a Viltrumite ship, he is immediately attacked by Anissa. To his surprise, he feels little pain from her punches. To Anissa's surprise, Allen punches her hard enough to make her bleed, meaning Thaedus' gambit paid off.
- The Worf Effect:
- Mark, who previously fought a Viltrumite on equal terms after a slow start, is absolutely dominated by Anissa to show that she is powerful even by Viltrumite standards.
- Anissa, in turn, finds herself completely outmatched by Allen to demonstrate just how much stronger he's become after nearly dying. He only "loses" to her as part of his gambit to find Nolan.
- Yank the Dog's Chain: Things are finally looking up for Debbie; Caring for Oliver is helping her overcome her depression, she's getting back in the groove at work, and her coworker asks her out. The perfect time to be held hostage by a budding supervillain.
- You Are Not Alone: Donald reveals that he too is a cyborg to Rick, and tells him that we aren't our bodies but the people we love and who love us back. This leads to Rick and William embracing in a hug.
