Just finished the episode. As predicted, the entire season budget went into this fight. And now my mind jumps to the future fights. Hopefully this show gets more budget and better management.
Holy shit, they really did put all the animation budget into this episode, and this fight was absolutely raw as hell. Like this probably has to be the best fight in this show. Since the choreography is actually amazing and gave Atom Eve more to use with her abilities creatively
Would say Conquest's voice is pretty good now that there is more to hear.
Overall, this season is definitely an improvement over season 2 and may be on par or better than Season 1.
Though what the heck is Kirkman cooking with Darkblood in that post-credits scene
So they went full Dragon Ball Super on us. Go full cheapskate on the animation for most of the season, save the budget for the good fights with the big villains. (In DBS, the animation for most of the episodes is somewhat serviceable but below the quality of DB, DBZ, and DBGT, but the more decisive fight scenes like the fights with Goku Black are very high-quality, to the point where it can compete with the best DBZ had to offer.)
Also, Mark really is just fated to be used as a human/Viltrumite shield against civilians. First his pops, now Conquest. I suppose Thragg is going to do that to him, too. They'll go through Times Square or London with Mark getting a face full of civilians' guts strewn across his face.
At the very least, Oliver got a little taller after the fight. I suppose Eve is the Krillin/Android 16 in this situation, but she managed to will herself back to life from near-death instead of being revived by a genie.
it's cute they acted like eve could do some shit
Technically, she is the superhero with the most versatile, and without her mental blocks, useful powers in the whole series. But all of this matter manipulation on the levels of Dr. Manhattan is balanced by the fact that she's just a human and a literal glass cannon.
Diet Dr. Manhattan, except unlike the original article that Alan Moore turned into a literal god, Atom Eve had enough weaknesses to make her more vulnerable to keep up the stakes. I suppose if she was as powerful as Dr. Manhattan, this fight would've had all the gravitas of a pillow fight between kids. None of Conquest's attacks would have any meaningful effect on Eve, and she'd just turn the man into candy Majin Buu-style. She'd share the candy with Mark while they go on a dating trip.
And of course, Cecil keeps Conquest alive. I'm beginning to wonder who's dumber: the Illusive Man in Mass Effect 3 for playing God with technology that can rot his brain, or Cecil, for keeping the most dangerous Viltrumite they've ever known still alive. At the very least, he should've killed Conquest by removing his heart and have Sinclair rebuild him as a Reanimen, instead of just hoping that some explosives will kill him if he escapes. I mean, we already had a GDI-style Ion Cannon hit Nolan in the face and all it did was give him a nosebleed. And they've established that Conquest is far stronger than Nolan.
You know what, it's probably Cecil. At least the Illusive Man's plan in ME3 was correct on paper, and if the main character plays their cards right, they could succeed in his place. Despite his brainrot, there was still a method to the madness.
Throws up a whole lot of questions too regarding why she resorts to throwing pink confetti in nearly every other fight if she can completely immobilize the strongest being they've ever faced, keep him occupied and defending for a not-insignificant period of time, and tank multiple hits from him with ablative armor. I understand that it's not as cool if she instantly gets KO'd, but it would certainly match the capabilities she's presented this far. Maybe the writers just really wanted a magical girl transformation scene.
I would've had Mark and Eve work together and have Mark whale on Conquest while Eve pinned him down. Pull his fist back with that air density thing so that Mark can get a clean shot in, immobilize him so that Mark can whale on him again and again. But I suppose they were too shaken to have a clear battle plan.
Now compare to Invincible, which features fight after fight where Mark explicitly holds back his full strength despite being the strongest entity on earth with exception of the battle beast fight and before Nolan left. Granted, Goku's reasoning is out of his brain damaged love of fighting the strongest while Mark's is out of not wanting to kill, but the end result is that they hold back until they get pushed far enough to snap and use more strength, and they get a power up out of it.
When Conquest said that getting mad doesn't make you stronger, I just laughed, considering that getting pissed is what made Mark strong enough to beat him.
The entire story of DBZ and DBS up to the Golden Frieza arc involves Goku being strong enough at various points to kill the enemy and holding back until after someone else dies. By the end of season 2 of DBS he is the strongest non-deity being in his universe and yet he still pulls his punches in the next arc, and the shenanigans continue in the Moro arc of the manga.
I'm pretty sure Goku's already somewhat of a deity in DB standards, once he managed to achieve SSG on his own. Freeza even calls him the "God of Monkeys".
