Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Raised by Wolves season 2
Raised by Wolves season 2 has a number of new challenges for its lead androids Mother and Father, particularly when Father is forced to fight on two separate occasions in episode 3, winning the android Gladiator match, but losing to Marcus. Marcus bests Father relatively comfortably, repelling even the shock stick weapon that he uses against him. Marcus has proven to be able to take down an android before (as he did with Mother in season one), but this victory is different, as he relies more on his strength than cunning to take Father down. However, Father faces another battle later in the episode, this time with a gladiator-esque android, which he defeats with ease, raising the question of why he was able to defeat an armored android, but not a crazed human.
Raised by Wolves season 2 finds the key characters of Mother and Father on a new path in the Tropical Zone of Kepler-22b, which redefines the course of their mission, even if it's still in the name of raising their children. While gathering food with Ivy, Father ends up finding the skeletal remains of an ancient android. After reassembling the remains and "watering" them, Father discovers that it also responds to android blood, which causes the remains to begin to reform together. In need of more "fertilizer" to keep the remains growing, Father sets out to a local trading bazaar set up by locals to acquire what he needs. Finding what he needs from a trader named Nerva, she challenges Father to fight their "android gladiator" in order to win the goods.
The gladiator android is formidable, armed with bullets and a chainsaw, but Father is able to best the android with relative ease, taking it out quickly and brutally. Father seems pleased with his victory, which by all accounts should've been more challenging given his bout with Marcus. He not only defeats the android, but defeats it with prejudice, destroying it in the process and even showing a smile at his victory when the crowd cheers for him. As both Mother and Father are showing more and more emotion, it's entirely possible that Father, feeling the pangs of his defeat from Marcus, saw the fight with the gladiator android as a chance at redemption. The other possibility is that Marcus has simply grown more powerful, be it via Sol, the Mithraic God he attests to be speaking to him, or (most likely) via the Necromancer eyes he swallowed, which have surely merged with his DNA to some degree, changing him into a half-man/half-Necromancer of sorts.
Both Mother and Father are powerful, complex machines, which are made to adapt and change over time. With the lack of someone to step in and reprogram them on a regular basis, the androids are left to develop on their own and begin to feel emotions, as well as learning to lie and hide things about themselves. By that same token, they are able to be emotionally hurt, with Father feeling those emotions with Mother for her deception in Raised by Wolves season one. It could then be surmised that Father's pride could also be hurt, particularly by his defeat from Marcus, which stirs yet another emotional reaction, rallying him to defeat the gladiator android. The emotional aspect of the battle carries weight, however, it's also entirely possible that Father is simply a better quality android than the piecemealed gladiator bot.
Marcus and his victory against Father is a bit more complex, as there's a lot to take into consideration. Raised on Earth as an Atheist soldier, Marcus has fought androids and Necromancers for a large portion of his life, so his familiarity with their weaknesses would be more than the average person. Marcus is also a well-trained soldier with a sharp, cunning mind and has proven to be able to take down a Necromancer, as he did with Mother, albeit using his brains more than his brawn. It's also possible that the Necromancer eyes are enhancing his physiology, making him doubly dangerous. Either way, Marcus is most definitely evolving beyond his human form in Raised by Wolves season 2, which makes him a formidable foe to anyone he crosses paths with, android or human.
Raised by Wolves releases new episodes Thursdays on HBO Max.