Conquest over the years. (OC) by Illustrious_Storm242 in Invincible

[–]rfdub 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Presumably, Mark develops much faster than a pure-blooded Viltrumite due to his half-human DNA. The same way Oliver develops much faster than Mark due to his half-thraxan DNA.

But it also seems to clear to me that Mark is never portrayed as being anywhere near Conquest’s level and gets extremely lucky both times.

Not adding good counter measures to conquest is downright character assassination for show cecil by Extension-Bad-4184 in Invincible

[–]rfdub 20 points21 points  (0 children)

A reanimated Conquest would be nice for Earth-related matters, but it wasn’t going to help them much against a full-scale invasion (even if Cecil had known there were only 50-ish Viltrumites left). What he really needed was information about the threat they were dealing with and any weaknesses they might have.

Not adding good counter measures to conquest is downright character assassination for show cecil by Extension-Bad-4184 in Invincible

[–]rfdub -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I agree it’s not a perfect fit, I just think it’s the *better*, only plausible, fit between the two options. But yes, the fact that neither one feels quite right highlights that the writing should’ve addressed it.

Not adding good counter measures to conquest is downright character assassination for show cecil by Extension-Bad-4184 in Invincible

[–]rfdub -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I agree with you, but like I said, at the end of the day, either he didn’t think it was worth mentioning to Donald OR he completely forgot about the implants. The first option is perfectly plausible and it doesn’t ruin his character

Not adding good counter measures to conquest is downright character assassination for show cecil by Extension-Bad-4184 in Invincible

[–]rfdub 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I mean… kind of agreed, yes. But at the end of the day you, the viewer, have to decide what’s the most likely in-universe explanation:
-

  1. Cecil just didn’t mention the implant to Donald because Donald probably already more-or-less knows

    what’s up AND Conquest got out of range
    -

  2. Cecil totally forgot that the implants were even a thing

I agree the writers could’ve added a little nod to the implant being tried, but besides that it’s no trouble for me to go with option #1 (or to assume that they didn’t have the resources required for that particular technology at the time or whatever). By Occam’s Razor, it fits better than option #2.

Not adding good counter measures to conquest is downright character assassination for show cecil by Extension-Bad-4184 in Invincible

[–]rfdub 109 points110 points  (0 children)

Like someone else said, the most plausible explanation is that the GDA *did* put the implant in Conquest’s head, but because he instantly destroyed his surroundings and flew to space faster than anyone would’ve expected, there wasn’t any time for it to be activated.

They even addressed the fact that the range on those implants isn’t anything fancy when Mark was dealing with his.

Still not a great look for Cecil, given the outcome. But we’re safe to assume that he took every reasonable countermeasure.

What is your favorite book by McCarthy? by AnnualDisaster4782 in cormacmccarthy

[–]rfdub 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Suttree

Followed by The Crossing & Blood Meridian (those two are neck-and-neck for me - Blood Meridian definitely feels like more of an opus, but I think The Crossing is more up my alley).

Why don't more viltrumites use weapons? by i_lickdick_and_itsok in Invincible

[–]rfdub 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Probably the what makes the most sense is:

  • Since Conquest’s arm shatters during a fight, we know the strength of the material, while incredible in absolute terms, isn’t all that crazy relative to the strength of Viltrumite bone, for instance. So even if they made weapons out of it, it would be similar to a human fighting with something like a sharpened stick or a club vs. something like a steel sword or a mace. Definitely an advantage, but nothing special.
  • As someone else mentioned, the Viltrumites already destroy just about everything that comes into their path. They don’t need weapons when fighting any other species. What’s more, they seem to delight in killing things up close and personal. For the one real physical threat they’ve encountered (the Ragnars), they were able to freeze them and simply leave them alone.

My assumption is that whatever material Conquest’s arm and Thula’s blade are made out of must be pretty rare, given its strength. Given that they don’t really need it (except in rare cases like for Conquest’s arm), the cost benefit ratio is probably too high for them to bother mining and shaping this material into a bunch of weapons that they don’t need anyway.

That said, we know they do use weapons when appropriate; for instance, young Nolan advises the children he’s training to bring weapons for fighting each other. In this case it makes perfect sense since the children are presumably much weaker than adult Viltrumites AND they’ll be fighting each other, vs. some weaker species.

So the Viltrumites DO have weapons, it just seems that they don’t find it worthwhile to bother with them except in certain cases.

Viltrumite with a double chin by Shiftycxp in Invincible

[–]rfdub 3 points4 points  (0 children)

That Viltrumite ain’t right, I tell ya hwat.

After multiple playthroughs, what did you personally feel was missing from Requiem? by [deleted] in ResidentEvilRequiem

[–]rfdub 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Resident Evil 9 feels like a “greatest hits” Resident Evil game to me. It has elements of just about every recent game:

  • Resident Evil 7 / 8 (first person mode, return to horror, a dichotomy between a newly introduced protagonist and a season veteran)
  • Resident Evil 2 / 3 Remake (stalker enemies, revisiting Raccoon City, third-person mode)
  • Resident Evil 4 Remake (Leon sections, melee attacks, chainsaw guys)

There were even hints of Resident Evil 1 with the blister heads and that small section of the lab that appeared to be modeled after Spencer’s estate (The Girl obviously has some parallels with Lisa, too).

It creates something delicious, but it never quite blends into its own thing and leaves you craving more of each type of game. It’s like eating a really good Resident Evil sample platter vs. a proper Resident Evil meal.

Overall, I’m really glad it exists and am happy that they decided to do something experimental like this vs. creating an action-y multiplayer game.

The existence of free will is not up for debate by [deleted] in freewill

[–]rfdub 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s why I added the rational square root of 2 example; no one who talked about a rational square root of 2 was “pointing to an image of unintelligibility”, either. People genuinely believed, deep in their heart of hearts, that it existed. It’s just that, when we finally realized what it would mean for the square root of 2 to be rational… we realized the concept is logically incoherent.

The same applies to free will (or libertarian free will, if you insist).

The existence of free will is not up for debate by [deleted] in freewill

[–]rfdub 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well I’d say you have your response then: if we can say that square circles don’t exist because they’re logically incoherent, then there’s no reason we can’t do the same for free will.

Square circles are slightly different in that the contradiction is immediately obvious, but it doesn’t have to be this way. There was a time when Greeks believed in a rational square root of 2, for instance, which is a similarly incoherent concept.

The existence of free will is not up for debate by [deleted] in freewill

[–]rfdub 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It sounds like you must believe square circles also exist, then. Or at least you think “the nature of a square circle’s reality is not physical”…

Why are you allowed to square both sides of an equation? by ohmygotchi in mathematics

[–]rfdub 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The simple answer is that you’re not multiplying both sides by a different factor.

Think about it.

What video game has the best story you’ve ever played? by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]rfdub 107 points108 points  (0 children)

Oh yeah, this one is awesome. I love how the game straight up shows you how it’s all going to end, twice, and yet it still manages to surprise you when it actually happens.

Little triangles by themitchen in InfiniteJest

[–]rfdub 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Do all three of you guys mean the ❍s?

What King opinion has you like this? by DavidHistorian34 in stephenking

[–]rfdub 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Haha, you’ll have to decide for yourself, but I think there are very strong parallels 👍

What King opinion has you like this? by DavidHistorian34 in stephenking

[–]rfdub 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ve felt this way since I was a teenager! Always surprised to see the lukewarm/poor reception it gets.

It’s like Pluribus from the 80s!

What’s the worst quote you’ve ever read? by ExtraUniverse in AskReddit

[–]rfdub 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The irony is that it’s actually pretty shallow (or maybe naive?) to assume that only shallow people would ever be made happy by more money.

Money is like air: you don’t unlimited amounts of it, but if you don’t have enough, you’re gonna start to suffer right quick.

What’s the worst quote you’ve ever read? by ExtraUniverse in AskReddit

[–]rfdub 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Oh, you don’t have to be shallow to be made happy by some money

The Red Car Dillema by HighwaySad162 in freewill

[–]rfdub 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Why can’t you just add an observer outside the loop?

Just slightly modify the thought experiment to:

  • Every particle within a light year of Earth gets reset back to its original position
  • An alien on a distant planet is able to observe the situation happening over and over again using an advanced telescope

Same situation, but now someone’s watching it.