Reunion on Thraxa

The Reunion on Thraxa, also called the Battle of Thraxa, unfolds far from Earth on the alien world of the same name. Mark is lured there by Nuolzot, a shapeshifting Thraxan who first appears disguised as a talking wizard dog before revealing his true insect form. Told that asteroid strikes threaten to wipe out the species, Mark agrees to help and endures a six-day voyage, letting Amber and his mother know he will be away. On arrival he senses the story is incomplete, and Nuolzot leads him to the Thraxans' ruler, who turns out to be his estranged father Nolan.

The reunion is tense. A furious Mark and a hopeful Nolan each raise a fist, but the moment dissolves into an awkward embrace and bitter words. Nolan introduces his new wife Andressa and their infant son Oliver, Mark's half-brother, and admits he is now a hunted fugitive of Viltrum who can never come home. When a trio of Viltrumites descends on the planet, Mark rushes Andressa and Oliver toward the Caves of Roclaim, where Lucan pins him effortlessly until Nolan intervenes and impales the attacker.

The fighting spills back to the ruined Thraxan capital, where Nolan pushes Mark to abandon restraint and fight like a true Viltrumite or watch his family die. Mark's rage surges, yet his mercy lets Thula run him through. Nolan crushes Vidor's skull and shatters Thula's jaw, but a recovered Lucan ambushes him from behind and breaks his back. Viltrumite soldiers haul the paralyzed Nolan away, and General Kregg informs Mark that his father will be executed for treason.

Kregg forces Mark to take Nolan's former assignment, ordering him to ready Earth for Viltrumite conquest and prove his worth, or the Empire will slaughter millions. Left broken in the wreckage, Mark is recovered by surviving Thraxans, and a dying Andressa entrusts Oliver to him, urging him to bring the fast-aging child to Earth. Mark helps rebuild the city before finally departing with his brother, clinging to Andressa's belief that Nolan will one day return. The show reworks the comic considerably, where Mark forgives his father far more readily and a different set of Viltrumites takes part in the fight.