The Pentagon Raid

The Pentagon Raid is a formative chapter from Invincible's backstory, shown in flashback, that reshapes the leadership of the Global Defense Agency. When the Lizard League breaches the Pentagon, the confrontation costs the lives of the operatives Force Fist and Knuckle Buster, along with several agency personnel. Out of the wreckage, a younger Cecil Stedman rises to replace Radcliffe as the organization's director.

The lead-up begins after the mercenary pair tried to wipe out a group of freed civilians, an incident that badly wounded Cecil. Radcliffe repaired him with grafted new skin, sparing him with only a scar, yet the director also quietly nursed the two mercenaries back to health behind Cecil's back. The Lizard League then descended on the Pentagon and cut down much of the staff. Radcliffe was hurt in the assault and pulled to safety by Cecil, but Komodo Dragon caught up to them, only for the two mercenaries to intervene. As Radcliffe laid bare the truth of the pair to Cecil, the fight turned; once Komodo Dragon was downed, Cecil executed both mercenaries, declaring he had no interest in working alongside criminals. That choice landed him in prison for three years, sharing quarters with Three-Eyes.

In 2002, after Cecil's release, Radcliffe sought him out to press him into taking over the agency. Cecil balked at first, but Radcliffe left him with a hard truth about how one cannot be both a hero and a savior of the world, then walked away, and Cecil ultimately accepted the post. Stepping into the role, he was paired with a new aide, Donald Ferguson, and soon caught footage of a stranger battling a bizarre creature. Traveling to the scene, he met Nolan for the first time. The pattern of second chances would echo forward: after Nolan's exile for murdering the Guardians, Cecil brought D.A. Sinclair into the agency, and later welcomed a reformed Darkwing, mirroring the way Radcliffe had once taken in the very mercenaries Cecil killed.