- Invincible season 3 episode 5 is out now on Prime Video
- It includes an incredibly cute scene between Rex Splode and Shrinking Rae
- Now I’m fearing the worst for one or both characters’ fates after the heart-warming moment
The fifth episode of Invincible season 3 is out now on Prime Video – and, amid everything that happens in this chapter, there’s one specific moment that’s got me fearing the worst for Rex Splode and Shrinking Rae.
The hit adult animated series’ latest entry, titled ‘This Was Supposed to be Easy’, is unsurprisingly packed with moments ripped right out of the pages of Invincible‘s source material. However, it’s a wholly original scene focusing on Rex and Rae that’s not only warmed my heart, but also makes me worried about what could happen to the pair in Amazon’s adaptation.
Full spoilers immediately follow for Invincible‘s newest episode.
Invincible season 3 hasn’t held back in its suggestion that something of a romantic nature is developing between Rex and Rae. Indeed, the duo have spent much of this season bonding over their shared trauma of that Lizard League attack that almost cost them their lives in Invincible season 2 part 1. They’ve also grown closer following events that transpired in season 3’s second entry, which I tentatively covered in my Invincible season 3 review. Indeed, Rex and Rae – among some other members of the Guardians of the Globe – side with the titular hero after the near-complete breakdown of the latter’s working relationship with Global Defence Agency chief Cecil Stedman.
In the two episodes that follow, Rex, Rae, and company establish their own base of operations in the secret location that originally housed the Teen Team. In some ways, the pair become the de-factor leaders and parental figures of the Guardians’ breakaway group – and, like any good parent, they decide to go food shopping. Hey, they’re no longer bank-rolled by the GDA, so they have to shop and pay for their own groceries.
But I’m getting off-track. Their grocery store trip is cut short by the appearance of a supervillain that they have to deal with. Before they do so, however, Rae spends much of the excursion lamenting that she longs to cook home-made meals, be an ordinary person, etc etc. It’s a conversation that strikes a chord with Rex who, as my fellow fans will know, has undergone the biggest and best character transformation in one of the best Prime Video shows.
That brings us to episode 5, which sees Rex post a colorful drawing under Rae’s door that basically asks her to join him for dinner. Confused, she heads to the Teen Team hideout’s kitchen, where she finds Rex rustling up a home-cooked meal for them both. The resulting dinner winds up being the first date and, after the truly awful events they’ve had to contend with since their introductions in Invincible season 1, it’s about time that these fan-favorite characters enjoyed some happiness.
Why I’m worried about Rex and Rae’s fates in Invincible season 3
Full spoilers immediately follow for Invincible‘s comic book series.
Invincible devotees know as well as I do, though, that moments of joy for any character is almost always followed by emotionally devastating ones.
It’s for this very reason why I’m so concerned about Rex and Rae in season 3’s final few episodes – and it’s all down to the forthcoming cataclysmic event known as The Invincible War. You can learn more about it in this piece where I discussed how Invincible season 3’s new title sequence is laying the groundwork for one of the graphic novels’ bloodiest battles. It’s a certainty that Rex and/or Rae will be involved in this near-world-ending, multi-day fight. After all, Earth will need every superhero to help defend it from the aforementioned onslaught.
The problem is that, as superpowered individuals, Rex and Rae are ill-equipped to deal with a battalion of multiversal Invincible variants. If they’re forced to go toe-to-toe with one of these Viltrumites in a one-on-one situation, they’re simply not going to survive.
There’s precedence for this happening in the comics, too. At this point in Robert Kirkman, Cory Walker, and Ryan Ottley’s literary works, Rae is actually dead. The character perished in the fight with the Lizard League but, considering she defied death in Amazon’s TV adaptation, I’m scared that her demise has been delayed to give her a more heroic sacrifice in the show’s take on The Invincible War.
But it’s Rex that I’m even more afraid for because he dies while fighting one of Mark Grayson/Invincible’s multiversal variants in the graphic novels. In a ‘Hail Mary’ movie, he uses his own skeleton when he runs out of objects to imbue with his kinetic energy powers. He manages to kill his foe in the resulting blast but, unsurprisingly, he also dies as, well, he blows himself up to save his allies.
Prime Video’s adaptation has altered and/or improved certain storylines and characters from the comics. There’s every chance, then, that beloved characters like Rex and Rae may live to fight another day. However, I can’t shake the feeling that one or both of them won’t make it past season 3 episode 7, which is when I expect The Invincible War to take place.
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