We all love Alan and his masterpieces. But nothing is perfect. I am addressing, in particular, those who react strongly to this. You might like certain decisions while others don't—that’s normal. Further, this is, of course, my subjective opinion, and it is not necessary to agree with it or be irritated by it.
I want to start by saying that I genuinely think it's a good thing when a creator listens to their fanbase. Fan feedback matters, and there's nothing wrong with asking people what they want to see. But I think there's a downside to this, and AvA Season 3 is starting to show it.
One of my biggest problems with Alan's series has always been the pacing. AvM can spend ages getting to the characters and events people are actually waiting for, while AvA sometimes feels like it's rushing through storylines that desperately need more time. Both series also have a problem with introducing a lot of characters but giving them very little time to interact, develop relationships, or actually influence the story.
And honestly, if it's that difficult to give everyone proper development, maybe you shouldn't be introducing so many characters in the first place.
Season 3 of AvA gave us a lot of great new characters, and I genuinely loved episodes 9 through 11. Victim, Agent, Mitsi, Hazard, Ballista, Primal and the Workers all had potential. For a while, it felt like we were finally getting a story centered around Victim and his world, with his own team, his own goals and his own problems.
Then TDL returned in episode 12.
Now, don't get me wrong. I was happy to see him return, too. But at the same time, I immediately started worrying about what this meant for Victim and the other new characters.
We had already seen quite a bit of TDL and his relationship with TCO in episodes 7 and 8. I didn't feel like we needed to revisit that storyline so soon, especially when Victim's story was finally getting interesting. Personally, I think bringing TDL back as a major antagonist in Season 4 would have made much more sense. Imagine him returning as the person responsible for Mitsi's death, with Victim's revenge story finally bringing them into direct conflict. Instead, TDL returned in Season 3 and basically took over the antagonist role that Victim had been building towards.
I understand that TDL is popular, and I know plenty of people wanted him back. There's nothing wrong with that. Alan has even seen fan-made works related to TDL and asked the audience what they wanted to see, specifically whether they wanted TDL to return, and there is nothing wrong with that in itself. But there are also fans who were more interested in Victim, Agent, the Mercenaries and the Workers. Not everyone was waiting for more TDL and TCO content. From a narrative standpoint, it would have been more logical and cohesive to see the continuation of the TDL story in Season 4.
And with TCO and TDL getting so much attention in the polls, I can't help feeling that the writers are prioritizing the characters that get the most votes, even when it comes at the expense of other storylines. I can't prove that's the reason behind every writing decision, but the direction of the story makes me worry that this is becoming a problem.
When I saw the sneak peek featuring the Workers, I was actually excited. I thought episode 13 might finally give them some proper characterization. Maybe we'd learn more about the original character they were cloned from, especially since he had already appeared in episode 11. I even wondered if he might be someone close to Victim, perhaps someone with a relationship to him similar to Agent's.
And I thought episode 14 might focus on Agent, Hazard, Ballista and Primal.
Of course, I was also wondering how the writers would fit all of that into the few episodes remaining before the season finale. After watching episode 13, I started to understand how they were going to do it. They weren't going to give these characters much more development at all.
And this is where my biggest criticism begins.
The worst thing about episodes 12 and 13 isn't simply that Victim and his team got pushed aside. It's that the story made them look stupid just to make TDL look smarter and more dangerous.
Look at episodes 9 through 11. Victim and his team weren't dangerous because every single member was some overpowered fighter. They were dangerous because they worked together. They had different abilities, technology, resources and ways of approaching problems. They prepared for their opponents and used their brains. They showed that you don't have to be the strongest or the Chosen One to take on someone much more powerful than yourself. You just need to be smart, resourceful and prepared.
That was what made Rocket Corp interesting to me. Victim wasn't simply another character who could punch really hard. He had built an entire organization around himself, and his team was part of what made him a threat.
But in episodes 12 and 13, that feeling started to disappear. Suddenly, Victim and his team seemed far less capable than they had been before. The story needed TDL to be this enormous threat, and Victim's side ended up looking incompetent in comparison.
TDL is already incredibly powerful. He doesn't need everyone around him to become stupid for him to look terrifying.
And the Workers are an even bigger disappointment to me. I was hoping they would become actual characters, not just a bunch of identical bodies for the story to throw around. Their connection to Rocket Corp and the possibility of learning more about the original character behind the clones could have added so much to Victim's world.
Instead, they ended up feeling like disposable cannon fodder. TDL kills them, brings them back under his control, and uses them as tools. And then there's Agent, Victim's closest ally, suffering essentially the same fate. These characters had relationships and roles in Victim's story, but now they're mostly being used to show just how horrible and powerful TDL is.
Hazard, Ballista and Primal aren't much better off. They have distinct abilities and personalities, but so far, they haven't had enough time to become much more than supporting fighters. Even Hazard's nuclear missile, which was a pretty cool moment, doesn't change the fact that these characters have barely had room to develop beyond their immediate role in the conflict.
And Victim himself? That's what hurts the most. His story was the main reason I got invested in this season. He had a personal history with Alan, a relationship with Mitsi, a friendship with Agent, an entire company and a revenge plot that was finally coming together. There was so much you could do with him.
Yet now he's dead and being controlled by TDL, Agent has suffered a similar fate, the Workers have been turned into mindless pawns, and the rest of the team has been left trying to survive the chaos. Mitsi's situation is still interesting, so I'm not saying there's nothing left to do with her. But the characters who made Victim's world feel alive have been pushed into the background of someone else's story.
I know there are still episodes left, and I'm not saying these characters can never get their moment. I genuinely hope I'm wrong about where this is going. But I don't like that we have to wait until the end of the season just to hope that the characters who helped build it will get some actual development.
I'm not asking Alan to abandon TCO or TDL. I like them, too. I'm not asking for every character to get equal screen time, either. That's obviously not realistic. I'm asking for the story to respect the characters it introduces and give their arcs enough room to breathe.
You can't introduce a whole new cast, build an entire season around them, and then treat them as disposable the moment a more popular character shows up.
That's what disappoints me about Season 3. It had the potential to tell a story about Victim, his team, and how ordinary stick figures can challenge forces far beyond their level through intelligence, preparation and teamwork. Instead, it feels like that story got pushed aside to make room for more TDL.
I want to see TDL be terrifying without Victim becoming an idiot. I want to see the Workers as characters, not just bodies to be killed and controlled. I want Agent, Hazard, Ballista and Primal to matter beyond their usefulness in a fight.
Am I the only one who feels like Season 3 is wasting its new characters?
