In between the wild swings in this week’s episode of Prime Video’s Invincible, there’s a mystery building — one that seems to get a definitive answer. That mystery? Who is the mole in Invincible?
Obviously, spoilers on past this point for the series! Because not only are we going to break down who it seems the mole is in Season 2, Episode, “This Missive, This Machination!” But we’re also going to tell you who the mole is in the Image Comics source material by Robert Kirkman and Ryan Ottley. So if you don’t want to know, turn away now.
Who Is The Mole In Invincible, And Is It Thadeus?
In this week’s episode, we briefly turn our focus over to Allen the Alien (Seth Rogen). Allen is a Unopan who is returning to the planet Talescria after meeting Mark Grayson (Steven Yeun), aka Invincible, in Season 1. Allen petitions the leadership of the Coalition of Planets, a group aligned against the conquering race known as the Viltrumites. He explains that he’s met a half-Viltrumite (that would be Mark) who is sympathetic to their cause. While the council seems dubious, Allen is supported by their leader: Thadeus (Peter Cullen, aka the voice of Optimus Prime).
After the council meeting disperses, Thadeus pulls Allen aside and lets him know that there’s a mole somewhere in the Coalition, someone working for the Viltrumites. He tasks Allen with finding out who that is. Unfortunately, before Allen can figure it out, the mole has already made their move. While out to dinner with his girlfriend Telia (Tatiana Maslany), three Viltrumites (one named Lucan, and two others) hover outside in space and essentially call him outside.
Allen confirms to them that not only did Mark’s father Nolan (J.K. Simmons) leave Earth, but he left a son there as well. The Viltrumites proceed to rip Allen apart, quite literally.
Surprisingly, Allen survives, but barely. In a Coalition hospital room, the equipment is keeping him alive, and Telia is sobbing by his bedside. Enter Thadeus, who cheers up Telia by, uh, telling her that this is “cause for celebration” as the Viltrumites “once again underestimate the Unopan will to survive.”
Thadeus, er, tells Telia to go home and rest, and the second he’s gone his face hardens. He walks over the the monitors and turns off the equipment keeping Allen alive. Allen’s heart rate drops to zero, alarms start ringing, and Thadeus says, “Forgive me, Allen.”
So Allen is dead, right? And Thadeus is the mole? Well, maybe not, according to the comics.
Here’s Who The Mole Is In Invincible, At Least In The Comics:
Before we lay out who is the mole in Image Comics Invincible, it’s important to understand how long this mystery was spun out. In the books, Allen was put on life support in Invincible #23, then Thadeus at his bedside reveals there’s a mole while Allen is in a coma. No cutting off his life support, no ominous music, nothing.
A year and a half later in real-world time, in Invincible #38 — and again, huge potential spoilers for the TV show past this point — Allen wakes up from his coma, stronger than ever before. And Thadeus rips off his beard, revealing his mustache. He’s a secret Viltrumite, the first ever to defect from the conquering alien race.
Then a lot of other stuff happens that we won’t get into here, but it all leads up to an epic storyline titled “The Viltrumite War.” You can probably figure out the general gist of what that’s all about, but it isn’t until Invincible #73, which came out four years after the previous issue, that we found out the identity of the mole. Though the initial reveal of the presence of a mole in the Coalition is different in the comics than in the TV show, it is important to emphasize that fans heavily speculated Thadeus was, indeed, the mole. And plenty of hints in the books seemed to indicate the Coalition leader wasn’t so much a Viltrumite defector as a Coalition Benedict Arnold.
Only, in the books, Thadeus is not the mole. If you really want to know the identity of the mole in Invincible, here you go. It’s this guy:
Yes! It’s everyone’s favorite character… Wait, who is this guy again? If you watched this week’s Invincible, he does show up very briefly about 11 minutes into the episode. The guy in the top panel is named General Thragg, he’s one of the Big Bads of the series. The two characters in the bottom panel are named “Data Twin #1” and “Data Twin #2.” On-screen, Data Twin #1 is voiced by Jay Pharoah, and Data Twin #2 is voiced by Fred Tatasciore.
In the episode, they check Allen’s data logs and then rib him a bit about mistaking Earth for a planet called Urath, which happened last season. However, more to the point it looks like Data Twin #2 is the one in the comic book panel above who should be the mole.
So Is Data Twin #2 the mole on Invincible? And if so, what was going on with Thadeus in this episode? Did he kill Allen? What is happening?? While the TV show is definitely remixed and paced out differently than the comic book series, chances are we may not get our answers on any of this for a while. Our theory? Data Twin #2 is the mole for the Viltrumites, and Thadeus wasn’t killing Allen; he was kicking his metabolism into high gear so he could evolve into the super-strong form he gains in the comics.
This may be wishful thinking, though. We’ll just have to wait and see…
Invincible Season 2 Premiere Dates And Episode Guide:
Invincible Season 2 officially premiered on Prime Video on Thursday, November 2 at 8 pm ET / 5 pm PT. Though Season 2 will be eight episodes long, only one episode will premiere on Thursday, followed by the next three Thursdays. Then there will be a break, and the second half of Invincible Season 2 will premiere sometime in 2024.
Here’s the full list of episodes in Invincible Season 2:
- Thursday, November 2, 2023: Invincible, Season 2, Episode 1 – “A Lesson For Your Next Life”
- Thursday, November 9, 2023: Invincible, Season 2, Episode 2 – “In About Six Hours, I Lose My Virginity to A Fish”
- Thursday, November 16, 2023: Invincible, Season 2, Episode 3 – “This Missive, This Machination!”
- Thursday, November 23, 2023: Invincible, Season 2, Episode 4 – “It’s Been A While”
- 2024, TBA: Invincible, Season 2, Episode 5 – “TBA”
- 2024, TBA: Invincible, Season 2, Episode 6 – “TBA”
- 2024, TBA: Invincible, Season 2, Episode 7 – “TBA”
- 2024, TBA: Invincible, Season 2, Episode 8 – “TBA” *Season Finale*
One thought on “Who Is The Mole In Invincible?”