WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Season 1, Episode 7 of Invincible, "We Need to Talk," streaming now on Amazon Prime.
In Amazon Prime Video's Invincible, Robot has had a very divisive journey so far, moving from hero to villain to, well, hero again. He's evolved the Teen Team into the new Guardians of the Globe, although his actions with the Mauler Twins painted him in a more sinister light. It all comes to a head, though, in the latest episode when we see his full scheme, and while it's an altruistic one, it does lead to him dying. Interestingly enough, death isn't the end and Robot comes back much creepier, but deadlier as well.
Robot freed the Maulers from Cecil and the Global Defense Agency as he knew about their talents when it came to cloning. He wanted them to create a human body for him using their DNA expertise as his previous form was deteriorating and he finally comes to collect it. He promises them schematics to a unique mind-control collar in exchange, but after he transfers his mind from his old decrepit form to the new one, Robot turns on the twins.
In his teenage boy form, his neural uplink sees the truck he arrived in turn into a giant robot, a la Transformers, and he mentally commands it to go after the twins. At this point, he's basically Iron Man, able to control drones and whatnot, with this bot in particular being the most destructive. It can shoot energy blasts, rockets, fly and is durable as hell, scaring the twins.
Luckily, Robot's called back to headquarters as Omni-Man's gone off the rails, leaving the villains thankful. Once Robot upgrades his fleet, Cecil will definitely have a one-man army to play with, which offers intriguing prospects for later on.
But there will be tension because as he gets back, Robot, now going by his real name, Rudy, is called out by his teammates after he confessed his entire plan with the twins. Rex is pissed because it's invasive how Rudy used his DNA without permission. It's so weird to see this young version of himself, especially as it's clear Rudy has a crush on Monster Girl.
Sure, Rudy wants her to feel like there's someone to relate to as she can't age, but it's still very creepy, not to mention presumptuous. She admittedly does hold his hand when they see Nolan going berserk over live TV, but bit by bit, as she's seeing the usually comical Rex offended and angry, Monster Girl is realizing that Rudy might not be someone to trust. And sadly, if he continues to be treated with scorn, derision and mistrust, Rudy might go off the hinges and hurt his teammates as they do think he's now a tad psycho.
Invincible stars Steven Yeun, J.K. Simmons, Sandra Oh, Seth Rogen, Gillian Jacobs, Andrew Rannells, Zazie Beetz, Mark Hamill, Walton Goggins, Jason Mantzoukas, Mae Whitman, Chris Diamantopoulos, Melise, Kevin Michael Richardson, Grey Griffin and Max Burkholder. The series is produced by Skybound, and executive produced by Robert Kirkman, Simon Racioppa, David Alpert and Catherine Winder. New episodes are released Fridays on Amazon Prime Video.