The FF return from time traveling to find their city changed, with their nemesis Dr. Doom in control. Zapping the gadget on Reed's wrist which allows him to remain in the alternate timeline, he wipes him from existence. Now the remaining three must return to the day of the shuttle launch to rescue Reed, stop Doom, and save the world.
This episode contains examples of the tropes:
- Alternate Timeline: Doom creates an alternate timeline where the shields on the spaceship never failed, leading to Ben, Johnny, Reed, and Susan never getting their powers. In this universe, Doom took over.
- Butterfly Effect: When they first return, Reed urges his teammates to think of anything they could have done that would change the time stream.
- Crisis Catch And Carry: Susan sees Dr. Doom retgone Reed and charges him furiously to make him bring Reed back. Ben is forced to pick her up under his arm and retreat.
- Evil Overlord: Who do you think? Naturally, Doom takes advantage of time travel to make himself the boss.
- Here We Go Again!: The Four return to the present to find that they inadvertently changed the past so that the Statue of Liberty now resembles Johnny. Cue Susan's closing remark: "Okay, everyone back in the car."
- Killed Mid-Sentence: A variant; Reed is retgoned mid-sentence as he's trying to tell the others what to do.
- Never the Selves Shall Meet: A frantic HERBIE reminds the remaining three that they must avoid their past selves.
- Point of Divergence: Doom sending one of his robots back in time with the 4 gives it a chance to prevent Doom’s scarring and the accident that was the team!s Super Hero Origin.
- Ret-Gone: Reed. He made some sort of wrist-mounted device that allows a person to exist in different times. When Doom destroys Reed's, the ripple effect catches up with him and he disappears.
- Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory: The three surviving members of the Four remember things as they were.
- Violently Protective Girlfriend: Susan. An interesting example in that she and Reed are not officially a couple. When Doom wipes Reed out of existence, Susan goes berserk.
