ABSTRACT: What if…? Episode 9 "What If ... The Watcher Breaks His Oath?"

October 13, 2021

Previously on What if ... as an alternate reality version of Ultron (voiced by Ross Marquend and nicknamed Infinity Ultron) began his conquest of the multiverse using the power of the Infinity Stones, Uatu The Observer (Jeffrey Wright) broke his sacred oath of non-interference and with the Strange Supreme (Benedict Cumberbatch) alongside him began gathering recruits for his team of Guardians of the Multiverse.

-The first is "the soldier lost in time" Captain Carter (Haley Atwell) amidst the fight against Batroc who took control of the Lemurian star, just like in the sacred timeline as seen in Captain America: Winter Soldier.

As anticipated at the end of the T'Challa Star-Lord episode, Ego discovered his son Peter Quill in a Dairy Queen in Missouri and started using him as a battery to start the expansion. Thanks to a timely arrival of T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman) manages to rescue Quill before Uatu subsequently recruits T'Challa.

-The next recruit is Gamora (Cynthia McWilliams), but one from a never-before-seen reality in the series so far. Apparently, this version of Gamora is not only a survivor of Sakaar, but she has already killed her father Thanos. He explains why he wears his armor and wields his double-edged sword from Avengers: Endgame. The Watcher recruits Gamora just as she, along with Tony Stark and Eitri, are untying the Infinity Gauntlet.

-Just as it appears that Pepper Potts and Shuri have taken over Wakanda and are about to dethrone Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan), the Black Panther of this world is also torn from its reality.

-The latest recruit is Thor the Party Prince (Chris Hemsworth) who is already in the middle of the battle with Ultron drones in his universe.

Uatu gathers the Guardians of the Multiverse in a safe haven reminiscent of a pub from Captain Carter's memories. While eating Chinese food from the alternate universe, they devise a plan to retrieve the Stones from Ultron and destroy them using the Infinity Crusher, a tool from Gamora's universe to break each Stone into thin air. Definitely much safer than wishing the Stones to go away and losing your arm in the process, as Thanos can attest.

The Guardians of the Multiverse teleport to a lifeless universe of intelligence to attract Ultron's attention. Gamora expresses her doubts about Killmonger as she spies on him as he examines an Ultron drone head that the Party Prince brought with him from his world. Chekhov's gun anyone?

Shortly before Ultron arrives, Strange Supreme enchants his teammates with a protection spell. T'Challa manages to steal the Soul Stone thanks to the illusion of a swarm of Mjolnir hammers thrown by a combination of Strange Supreme and Party Prince. Strange opens a portal to summon a horde of zombies, most notably Scarlet Witch, to keep Infinity Ultron busy before the team leaves for Ultron's home universe. There they meet Black Widow (Bell Lake) who, although initially wary of the heroes of alternate reality, is convinced by Captain Carter that he is on the same side.

However, it appears that not even the zombie Scarlet Witch is enough to dissuade Ultron Infinity as it makes its way to its native dimension and destroys the Earth. But not to forget, the Supreme Strange possesses the Time Stone of his reality in the form of the Eye of Agamotto and uses it to reverse the destruction. And for those playing at home, reflecting on how the Infinity Stones can work in different universes, not far from What If ... lead producer and screenwriter AC Bradley explains away. Twitter.

Good Monday! Just a reminder that Ultron is using the Infinity Stones to power himself (the same being in the universe). It is also legitimate to hit the multiverses by turning them into a messy soup of the universe. #What if #WhatifMarvel #WeDidOurHW #YouAreAllAmazing ️
- AC Bradley (@TheAshBradley) 4 October 2021

The Guardians and Ultron play hot potato with the Soul Stone until, eventually, the team manages to block it by allowing Gamora to use the Infinity Crusher. But that's all in vain, as Infinity Crusher was only designed to destroy the Infinity Stones of its original universe.

All seems lost, until Widow realizes he has another ace up his sleeve in the form of an arrow containing the Arnim Zola virus. With the help of Captain Carter exposing Ultron's eye, Widow takes the shot and hits the mark. The Zola HYDRA algorithm destroys Ultron's AI and we finally get a happy ending. But wait, do you remember Chekhov's gun? Killmonger draws a Loki and uses Ultron Sentry's head to get hold of the Ultron armor and the Infinity Stones.

Killmonger tries to get his former comrades to join him so they can fix their respective worlds, but it's no surprise that they refuse. Just as Killmonger is about to destroy them, Ultron's body now stands possessed by Arnim Zola and sports his belly face (something comic fans have been waiting for over a decade to see on screen when the character was first introduced. in the MCU).

The Stones are stuck in midair while Killmonger and Zola are stalled. The Strange Supreme has an illumination and traps the two villains in a pocket dimension. With nothing but time available, the Supreme Strange grudgingly volunteers to watch over the pocket prison, earning the gratitude of Uatu the Watcher.

The Watcher sends the Guardians of the Multiverse home to their respective dimensional homes. With nothing to go back to and The Observer unable to fix her world, Widow refuses to be sent home. Instead, The Observer sends Widow into a world that has lost its Black Widow, or alternate reality from "What if ... the world has lost its mightiest heroes?" episode. A well-placed kick in the face and Widow knocks Loki down and saves the day.

And so the first season of What if... ends with The Observer who vows to protect the multiverse to the end.

BUT WAIT! You didn't really expect a Marvel Studios animated series to end without a midcredit scene, did you? Back aboard the Lemurian star in Captain Carter's reality, Batroc is soundly defeated by the timely intervention of the Black Widow of this world. After defeating the pirates, Captain Carter discovers what they were really looking for: the HYDRA Stomper armor with "someone" still inside.

We'll need to see what other alternate reality stories we'll visit in season 2. In the meantime, check out some of the What If… that scenarios Avery Kaplan, Therese Lacson, and it occurred to me.

Various notes

Captain Carter references Black Widow's father, Ivan Romanoff, and surrogate father Alexei Shostakov, played by David Harbour in Black Widow movie, which incidentally is now available to stream on Disney +.
As a concept art of Josh Nizzi revealed, Arnim Zola would be at some point in the Ant-Man movie sporting the iconic belly face from the comics.