This Episode on the surface would seem to have three different plot lines, Mark's life, The bleak future, and Omni Man's escape.
But like in any good story, these three plot lines are more connected than they first appear.
The thing about time travel, is that it gives one a glimpse into what can be if things keep going a particular way, you can do the worst of the worst without actually doing it, in a bad story it is a cheap ploy to have your cake and eat it too, in a good story it is used to show exactly how bad things can get, establish the stakes.
In invincible, it is used to force him to come to terms with his worst side, show him an example of how not to do things, but it is also used as an emotional plot point to further the story as Invincible once again is faced with the question of whether he is the right person for the job, whether his inherent power definitely makes him evil.
And somehow, on the other side of the Universe, this is the exact same Dilemma that is being faced by his father, the now reformed Omni Man.
Because obviously he is, considering his past.
But unlike Mark he comes to this issue from the other side, while Mark is a normal person coming to terms with whether he should kill or whether his powers make him inherently a bad person, Omni Man is someone who was raised to be a killer, and wanted to be because morality is a tricky thing and defined greatly by your culture.
And we know his culture.
But whereas mark has an unstoppable drive to be better to stick to his morals, with Omni-Man it's a little more complicated, as his Morals are what is being challenged, and so surprisingly, he is a lot more open than Mark when it comes to what is right and what is wrong.
And in any general situation I would say undeniably this openness is a good thing, but in this situation it causes Omni Man to lay down his arms and be ready to die as his lingering attachment to both the moralities he hangs in between make him think that he is a traitor to both.
As said by a smart character in Lucifer, he is essentially denying half of himself all of the time.(The Character is Linda.)
Obviously Death seems like a welcome escape in this situation.
Until of course, he got something to tip him one way or the other.
In this moment, if he let Allen die, then Nolan Deserved to die, he would have made his choice.
But he didn't and here we are.
So the struggle with Morality and power is what this episode is focusing on, i.e. if the last three episodes set up the question of should anyone have the choice and power to kill, this episode is what starts the character's Journey to answer the question.
But is that all? Is this all this episode is about? And what of the name of the episode, "you were my hero"?
Well that obviously alludes to something deeper.
Something that is very important in a superhero property, are heroes worthy of the status they are given? Is the pressure too much, is the expectation too much? Are Heroes who in the end are fallible like us, doomed to end up as former Shells of themselves, begging for the end to come?
The show doesn't have an answer yet, but it does give the characters hope.
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