@@zidanedidi the difference is that Adam was a psychopath before he went full borg. Donald despite his trauma was always a good person. It's about who you are not what you are.
Queue The Major's speech about his humanity surviving, even if he were ever reduces to a brain in a jar. A man in the form of a monster taking on the monster in the form of a man.
@@Keyfur91 That's probably why Cecil keeps him around. Someone as 'ordinary' as Donald can be the best of us is probably a reminder of what humans can be at their best. I guy like Cecil probably needs someone like Donald to keep him in the grey instead of going over the line into the black.
If there’s one good thing to say about Cecil is that he put the needs of all humanity above any moral, political or emotional needs he or others around him might have had even if he made mistakes he kept trying to move forward learn from them and make the world a better place.
probably why cecil does everything he can to keep him around. he is the bset of humanity, powers or not. and cecil neesd him to hlep keep him focused and in the grey, the counterbalance.
Donald is the living representation of the 'Ship of Theseus'. At what point did Donald stop being human? when he was 1% machine? 10%? 98%? To me, he's still one of if not the most human characters on the show. No matter what life takes from you or how you change, you are and always will be yourself.
@@libertyprime1614yeah that’s what always bugs me when people ask it. Your entire existence is your Brain/consciousness,everything else is built around your brain to live
@@JackEverfree that is a very good way to look at it. His entire body is definitely not the same anymore but the one at control, his mind, values, and heart are still that of Donald himself
@@criticartist3911This is less true than a lot of people assume. The brain depends on a constant influx of hormones, chemicals, blood, oxygen and nervous input that is unique for every body and produced in glands, many of which exist outside the brain. When you take it out of that homeostasis, put it in a different body, the way it functions and develops over time changes. Sure, it won't turn you into a different person with completely different memories, but it will change you, nevermind the psychological trauma.
Not sure about here but in the comics Donald fought against Omnipitus while Mark was away and he had so much fire power that he could make Megaman jealous. He had a lot of guns for a guy that wants to forget he’s a cyborg.
Until the point he saw the past self that wanted to forget and decides he is done forgetting. He wants to know the past to temper his resolve in the face of whatever death may bring upon him. He came to terms that he's not human but done so to save others from the same fate.
Realistically, he probably retains his character design for production reasons. It could be made to fit within his character, though. He can't control that inside he's a cyborg, but he can at least control what he looks like, and why shouldn't he want to look the same to remember who is and where he's come?
“The people who love us.” I think that’s what finally got Rick to come off the ledge. The realization that others do love him, not matter if he’s human or cyborg.
This is random as hell, but it reminds me of the IDW Transformers. Theres a character, Chromedome, who's a brain scientist who had multiple spouses, but each time they died, he used his skills to erase his memories of them rather than face the pain. It wasn't until the last partner died and left a message encouraging him to be better that it settled in: he needed to honor them by remembering, both the bad and the good.
I am impressed that Donald didnt fall into the loop of once again seeking memory erasure - he took the bold step of accepting who he was and becoming something greater.
When this entire arc started with Donald, I wasn't expecting this to be the direction. It's such a pleasant surprise for a character that easily could've stayed in the background as a testament to Cecil's ruthlessness to have such a beautiful little transformation. The way Cecil talks to Donald is interesting, too. With the kind of character he is and the position he's in, I'm always expecting Cecil to be more heartless than he really is. But I get the impression he really does care. He just knows the value of a life and doesn't like being in the position of signing off on everyone's sacrifices, while those sacrifices are also necessary to prevent more deaths.
Like a doctor at triage; people will thank him for the lives he chose to save, people will hate him for the lives he chose to save. But he has to be the one to make that choice
"Sometimes I hate me too." Cecil makes the heartless choices because he knows someone has to do the ruthless calculus and save as many people as possible.
Cecil is ultimately a good person, but he's a utilitarian. The outcome is what matters, and you can't sit around wasting time feeling bad about yourself and your actions when you could be saving lives. Reminders are good, that's why Cecil chose to keep some of his skin damaged. But ultimately, Cecil uses all resources at his disposal to ensure the best outcome as he and his organization sees it. It's dangerous to fall into the trap of "ends justify the means" and act like everything he does is justified because of that, but sometimes you genuinely don't have a good option available. The funny thing is, his behavior around Donald seems fairly reasonable. He seems like he should be more concerned about him initially but, that's because he's had these conversations before. He's also efficient. Instead of telling Donald what happened he just, gave him access and let him figure it out while he did something else. Cold to some, but it's also giving Donald the very agency he's claiming not to have. His overuse of the teleporter isn't very utilitarian though, that's just abusing a luxury. Dude's burning so much damn money.
@@YukonHexsunI think what makes Cecil great tbh is that not even he likes what he does … but he does it anyway because if not him it will be someone else He chooses to bear the burden of making the hard heartless decisions so nobody else has to
Yeah, being friends with a cyborg would be pretty sweet. "Hey Donald! Can you open this jar?" "Hey Donald! Forgot my screwdriver, can I borrow your finger?" "Hey Donald! My car's busted, can I ride you into town?"
Maybe they should rebuild Donald to be more like the Reanimen. They're ridiculously tough. If he can be 98% machine and still die like a man that... really sucks.
It's more of a mentality thing to stay inside your own body, comfort in familiarity basically. Ex: Rick and morty, Rick shot his brains out in Jerry's body.
Donald is almost entirely machine, but the Reanimen are still very organic. They're corpses that are constantly able to push their muscles to the absolute limit since they don't get tired, and their limits are far beyond human because of all the tech shoved into their bodies. But it could be that there's just not enough of Donald left to make into a sentient Reaniman, or else it could be that a sentient Reaniman is impossible due to the kind of strain all of those changes would put on the body and mind. I mean, Donald can barely stand being a machine that's a perfect pantomime of the human form. Imagine if he was inhabiting a body like those of the Reanimen.
I think Donald would prefer to be human-like. Also there's probably a certain amount of body mass required for Reanimen, so Donald might not be a viable candidate for that kind of operation, since only his brain remains right now. If they could make Reanimen with just a brain, or purely robotic, they wouldn't need so much of dead soldier's body to produce them.
I'm glad to see Rick and William again, I always wondered what happened to them after the incident at the University, it seems that things are not and will not be easy, but I'm glad to see that they have each other , and the truth is William is a genius and it seems that he genuinely loves Rick, I think Rick couldn't be with someone better
William was smart to call Donald of all people to stop Rick from jumping, even if he had no prior knowledge about Donald’s condition nor what he is going through.
@@decidueyezealot8611 i mean, it was a whole episode in season 1 and even then William mentioned Rick's recovery multiple times lol. It was like William's only character beat other than being Mark's friend.
Think that’s the reason Cecil constantly rebuilds him. He knows he’s gonna need someone like Donald on their side when something like the viltrumites threaten the world.
I was just about to say, I can’t be the only one who cried at this scene. And I’m the type of person who rarely cries from shows/movies. Something about his calm demeanor and words.
People react to various ways to different things; some might say that grown people don’t cry, but they are wrong, for tears are a sign of being alive; of possessing understanding, empathy and compassion.
This reminds me of Detroit Become Human when Connor dies multiple times. Each time he comes back he becomes more robotic and less sentient. It is really disturbing to see especially since his human detective partner Hank goes mad over it. Being able to have memories, emotions, bonds, etc. is something that we humans often take for granted.
And picking routes that lead to Connors deaths often make you choose his machine path, by constantly reinforcing that he isn’t alive or sentient, he is more likely to throw his life away over practically nothing
@@torpid5092 Exactly, it is like he (and the player for that matter) embrace that he is a simple tool that can be destroyed, fixed and brought back again. Just a terrible fate.
You can actually go full machine route without dying and Hank will be the one that tries to stop your from assassinating the rebel leader. Connor can be sentient without being deviant
This episode not only showcases Donald's character but also gives us some insight into Cecil. While Cecil is willing to do some strange, dangerous, and maybe unethical things to save the world, he does still appesr to trust some of the people he tasks to save the world, at the very least giving the trusted ones the freedom to make calls about their futures. If any of the Guardians or his confidants like Donald dives off into danger, it'll be their choice.
Cecil makes the choices that others shouldn't have to. Donald's earned his trust. I also suspect Cecil might/couldh ave manipulated donald into the memory wipes. It wouldn't surprise me. Just another thing he hates himself over but feels it's the right call.
I remember Donald desperately trying to call Mark to help with this situation. Turns out Donald is the absolute best person to come help. If Mark saved him, he'd just go and attempt it again. But Donald showed him another perspective in his life in order to continue living on. Such a poetic moment.
Just fyi, he’s 98 percent machine, not 98 percent cyborg lol. Being part machine is what makes him cyborg. There’s no percentage, you’re either cyborg or you’re not.
Actually, it isn't ironic at all. Donald was always a good person at heart, and he was able to retain his love for humanity, no matter how many times he died to save those he loved. (Reminds me of Immortal's speech at Kate's funeral)
Big applause to those creators that shows not only superhero shenanigans but also trauma, suffering, emotional and psychological struggle that those heroes and people around them are trying to overcome.
Damn. To be continuously revived, and not breakdown from the reality of it, and even extend his hand to others of a similar situation. His resolve may be unmatched. Donald may not be physically tough, but his mentality is. In some ways, Donald is Invincible.
The fact that the guy repeatedly chooses deliberate, knowing heroism for virtually every death shows that every penny spent on his resurrection is worthwhile.
This scene almost made me cry. Having someone that perfectly understands what you’re going through, yet helps you see the good in the situation is life-saving
As someone who’s been working through a lot of mental health issues over the past few years. This hit way too close to home. But it gave me more reasons to keep fighting. Donald is right, who we are isn’t about what we’re physically made of, how you can change the world around you is what matters.
@@cynicat74I imagine he's figured it out before, Donald seems pretty smart, but each time he decided to erase his memories of figuring it out and go back to not knowing. Because that trauma really stuck with him, it would anyone, and it wasn't until this episode that he realized that while the deaths were traumatic, what he was doing each and every time was saving lives, people lived because he died. He and Cecil probably won't have that conversation again, though I imagine bringing Donald back will get more expensive and he'll probably experiment with his mechanical body more, I certainly would.
Donald might not realise it,but he a TRUE hero a hero dont need big costume, flamboyant names or even powers a hero is someone who TALK to peoples who szve them by WORDS, who help them by talkin to them and make them realise is dometimes, what thry font really want
This Scene is Focused on Rick trying to (and presumably unsuccessfully) to Kill himself. But I'd like to drag everyone's attention to William whose seeing the love of his life contemplating about taking his own life. I just want everyone here to imagine what's going threw William's Head as the Man less than an inch away from death. This was hard for Rick but even harder for William as he was completely powerless in this scene.
It's funny. Robot wanted to become human, and even though he got a body he still isn't completely. And Donald, who, despite what he's been through, STILL maintains and is MORE human despite his body being 98% machine.
What I like about his statement about not being our bodies, is it emphasizes how what makes us is how we affect those around us. Our private lives, the things we do to ourselves or by ourselves, for ourselves, thats empty. Thats in a vacuum, that typically dies and is forgotten. You are what people around you see you as, and thats rarely your decision.
And just to screw with everyone's head a bit: Donald's voice actor is Chris Diamantopoulos. That's right. that incredibly acted scene by a character named Donald is the same guy who has voiced Mickey Mouse since 2013.
Really ? And I'm learning this just when I plan to put my tentacles on "Kingdom Hearts", giving it the "Grimm" feeling, like "Invincible" is the "Grimm" tale of DC ? Don't you just love seeing dots connecting ?
I love this scene - I think it’s the most heartwarming thing I’ve heard on the show. We are not our bodies, we are the decisions we make, the people we save and love ❤️
Now I can't stop thinking about the other young men who were subjected to Sinclair's experiments. I know they'll have Donald if they ever ask for it, but I sincerely hope that they have someone like William to help them in their darkest moments.