mark was getting clobbered by fucking maulers 3 episodes ago now he’s able to beat a full grown soldier viltrumite that’s been conquering worlds for millennia just because he “stopped holding back”. Even Nolan who got hospitalized by the guardians while soloing them, only suffered a cut on his head fighting THREE viltrumites!!! Just makes them look weak in comparison. I feel like they shouldn’t even have any chance winning that battle at all, not alone surviving in better condition than against way weaker foes
Well to be fair, Nolan and Mark mostly got to 1v1 the Viltrumites. Mark got jumped by like a dozen Maulers, and we can assume his base inclination is to hold back, at least subconsciously, which also led to him getting absolutely stopped by his Viltrumite opponents. Lucan(?) held him down by the head with a finger.
Also you said “I don’t think powerscaling matters beyond its service to the plot” that’s literally the definition of plot convenience
I mean, I don’t think the situation in the show is anywhere near inorganic enough for me to think they should have prioritized back of the toy box stats over their storytelling goals
Plot conveniences are the natural evils of any story. As much as stories are (usually) intended to make us forget, they are just a set of points to entertain us and send a message.
What people view as a “plot convenience” is just when that reality is obvious. It is true that it being obvious should be avoided (unless the story uses it otherwise), that shouldn’t come at the sacrifice of the entertainment and message.
Mark being beat up by the Maulers and finally standing his own against a Viltrumite are both important moments to the entertainment and message of the show. While it can be viewed as being an obvious moment where both needed to happen for the plot, the service to entertainment and message is greater.
Lmao well he beat 1 just by “not holding back” that greatly reduces the threat they pose, like he said he couldn’t even beat his father…he didnt even have time to train, it should be impossible to even harm anyone on his dads level when he was bodied by maulers, and idk why you people keep acting like it matters how many maulers there were, lmao viltrumites should be able to swat them like flies, just more flies in this case. Yh the Lucan power scaling was better imo, like how did 1 hold him with a finger and he’s beating the next 1 till the point she has to rely on his mercy to beat him
he didn’t beat her
He got an upperhand, and then she almost killed him
Nolan also punched her at least a couple of times, so even then it wasn’t a real 1v1
She is also old and slim, so she is probably the weakest of the 3
Realistically, what would Mark do in that final scene of the battle? Punch her head? The same way he did throughtout the whole fight? Neither of the previous punches killed her. Why should this one be different?
Mark didn’t beat anyone
He just survived long enought for Nolan to beat hear