It’s time to change things up a bit in the What If…? Narrative universe/multiverse. Until this week, the previous episodes were all simply standalone stories. Nothing from one episode impacted another (at least not that viewers could notice). But as we jump into episode 7, all bets are off.
In previous episode reviews, we have provided little summaries of each of the past episodes. This time around, you can just head back to the episode 7 review for those summaries. Episode 8 actually is the first to pick up right where the previous episode left off. When we last saw the What…If storyline, we had just witnessed and only-child Thor, become a just slightly more party hard version of himself. Otherwise, he wasn’t actually that different. As the episode wrapped up, Thor had just asked Jane Foster out on a date when a robot that looked disturbingly like a version of Ultron, wearing Vision’s body, and seeming to hold all of the Infinity Stones. But then it was a fade to black and it was easy to put that little endpoint aside and assume we would move on to another entirely new story this week. Maybe not so much.
What if Ultron had Succeeded in Taking Vision’s Body?
As episode 8 begins, the Watcher is telling us the story of a universe where Ultron won. He mentions that this universe makes him sad. What if Ultron succeeded in taking control of the body that eventually became Vision? In this universe, we find out and it is not pretty.
After the fun pallet cleanser of Party Thor (episode 7), we are right back into a major apocalypse. Ultron, having taken control of Visions body and the Mind Stone, executes his plan to cleanse the earth of human life to bring about ‘peace.’ He succeeds in destroying the Avengers, other than Hawkeye and Black Widow (ironic since they are the weakest Avengers) who are working to destroy him on a nuclear war-ravaged earth (since Ultron launched every country’s nuclear weapons at the same time).
Ultron is there when Thanos arrives, wielding the other Infinity Stones, and uses the Mind Stone to kill him. Ultron then takes all of the stones and becomes aware of the universe and all the other plants that need to be cleansed.
The Conquest is Swift, Until...
The Infinity Gauntlet-powered Ultron is shown easily destroying Asgard, the Sovereign (with the Guardians of the Galaxy going down in the fight), Sakaar (with Grandmaster and Korg), the living planet Ego, and Xandar (destroying Captain Marvel along the way).
But, as he has completed his grand plan (topping Thanos by destroying virtually all life it would seem), he becomes aware of something new… the Watcher. Much like Doctor Strange in episode 4, Ultron has reached such a level of power that he can now perceive outside of his universe and he discovers the Watcher, where he exists between realities. Ultron moves to destroy this new threat to peace.
The Watcher is stunned by Ultron’s awareness. He narrates that he has “seen everything that has ever happened. Ever will happen. Ever could happen.” But, he has clearly never seen this. It clearly shakes him to his core, as his narration takes on a new feeling of urgency. He notes that all is not lost in Ultron’s universe, as Black Widow and Hawkeye are on the verge of finding an AI that could battle Ultron (Zola). He is so tempted to help them find it and is almost arguing with himself to intervene when they do discover the information that could lead them to Zola’s AI. They are able to retrieve the Zola AI, but Hawkeye is lost in the battle - in a way very reminiscent of Black Widow’s sacrifice in Avengers: Endgame.
The Multiverse as Battleground
In that brief moment of triumph for the Watcher, Ultron breaks into the Watchers realm between the universes and the two do battle, crashing through the multiverse along the way. Despite his best efforts, the Watcher is no match for Ultron. He eventually escapes, leaving Ultron to begin bringing peace and order to the entire multiverse.
But, the Watcher isn’t ready to give up just yet. It’s time for him to intervene if the multiverse is to continue to exist. But, he knows he will need allies and his first visit is to the Doctor Strange from episode 4, whose power had grown to the point of becoming aware of the Watcher. That Supreme Sorcerer is still locked in his tiny crystal, the last living thing in his universe.
A Cliffhanger!
After so many random episodes, we are now set to bring many, if not all of them together. Will the Watcher begin collecting other heroes we’ve seen in the series to form his own Avengers? My money is on yes.
I can’t wait for next week!
