Since the three-episode premiere of Invincible Season 4, we’re finding Mark Grayson facing emotional turmoil: recovering from his battle with Conquest, returning to hero duty, fighting new villains, and navigating personal relationships.
His character even takes a darker turn as he murders a sequid-controlled innocent in previous episodes and deals with the mental weight of it in Episode 4, titled “Hurm”, wherein we see Damien Darkblood’s reunion with Mark and his eventual return to Earth’s surface.
We’ll be detailing below the past events, a recap of this latest episode, and Damien Darkblood’s return to Earth in Invincible Season 4, Episode 4.
Who is Damien Darkblood Again?
It’s been a while since you’ve probably encountered Damien Darkblood in Invincible. But to recap, Damien is a demon who is a former detective who pursues justice for his soul’s redemption.
In Season 1, he used to work at the Global Defense Agency and mainly investigated the Guardians’ deaths that eventually led to him contacting Debbie Grayson about Omni-Man. Damien eventually defied Cecil’s commands and was exiled back to hell.
Fast forward to a brief scene in Season 3, and we see Damien being visited by an old demon he calls his “Lord.” Damien then brings “good news” that he can reinstate his lord’s rank to the “infernal throne.”
Finally, in a teaser released by Prime Video before the Invincible Season 4, Episode 4 release, we find Mark and Damien falling together through an abyss. The duo humorously chats about Damien’s “magic helmet” that can appear and disappear when speaking.
Mark Grayson and Damien Darkblood Reunite in Hell
Heading into Invincible Season 4 Episode 4, the episode starts with Mark conversing with Art, with the former contemplating how he had to kill Rus Livingston, the last host of the sequids. Mark eventually receives a call for a job to stop Ka-Hor once again during the meeting with Art, and then heads into action.
A little later on, we find Damien Darkblood leading his family of Clan Darkblood to retake the throne from Volcanikka and her army of Magmanites. After killing nearly every family member, Volcanikka spares Damien as a warning to Satan.
Upon returning to Satan with the dismembered bodies of his family members, Damien convinces Satan to once again try summoning Omni-Man with the little amount of blood he saved from Omni-Man’s battle with the guardians. The summoning, however, summons Mark instead, disrupting his mission to stop Ka-Hor. Moreover, we find out that Ka-Hor escapes his tomb and possesses Riley, teasing some future battles we’ll see involving him.
We then learn about how Hell, or rather the Under Realm works, and it isn’t as frightful as what humans believe it to be. Damien Darkblood explains that Volcanikka aims to release the creatures known as Viles to wreak havoc and to dominate the planet itself.
To stop her, Damien Darkblood is tasked to retrieve Satan’s source of power, the Molten Crown. With Mark and Damien teaming up, they travel into a seemingly bottomless pit and recover the crown to return it to Satan, restoring his powers and resurrecting the Darkblood family.
As Mark and Clan Darkblood engage Volcanikka, she beats the entire clan until Mark steps in and easily defeats her, forcing her to retreat for now.
How Does Damien Darkblood Return to Earth?
In the aftermath of the battle, Satan allows Damien Darkblood to finally return to the surface and keep watch on humanity on his behalf. He returns alongside Mark to the surface.
Later on, in an epilogue scene, we find Damien Darkblood roaming a city and climbing up a building. As he ascends, Satan telepathically communicates with him to inform him that while Volcanikka settles to dwell in Hell, she wishes to wage war on the surface.
While we might think of this as simply due to Volcanikka’s thirst for power, Satan clarifies that there’s something more to this, as he believes that humanity has been doing something on the surface that has enraged her. With that, Damien Darkblood is then tasked to investigate and report his findings back to Satan. It’s even teased that Satan may have to appear on the surface himself to possibly deal with this issue.
So, will we see more of Damien Darkblood in Invincible Season 4? Probably. Overall, Episode 4, “Hurm,” can seem like a filler episode as it tackles a subplot within the Invincible universe. It’s also worth noting that this storyline strays away from the comics, so we’re excited to see how this will be integrated and continued into the current storylines of the series.
Header Image Credit: Prime Video