Tear Jerker / What If…? (2021)

"We've seen this before, a universe in the final days of destruction. But this particular story... This, this one breaks my heart."

— Uatu in the beginning of "What If... Ultron Won?"

In the vast multiverse of What If...?, many timelines don't have that many happy moments, and some don't even have happy endings...

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In general

• Uatu himself qualifies. Assuming he is like his comics counterpart he is forbidden from interfering in any way, only able to watch as horror, doom, and heartbreak occur in these new timelines. And given his reaction in Episode 4, you can tell that he very, very much wants to. Near omnipotence or no, you really feel like he could do with a hug...or several.
  • In episode six, we see Uatu looking almost human, as he watches events, and his face shows visible sadness in a couple of scenes.

Episodes

Season One

Episode 1: What If... Captain Carter Were The First Avenger?

• Captain Carter and Steve are still separated as she is pulled through the portal to get the HYDRA beast out of there. The scene closes on a despondent Steve on his knees in the middle of the empty chamber, all but swallowed by the light of the Tessaract before him
  • When Peggy makes it out the other side, she meets Nick Fury and Hawkeye, and immediately asks where Steve is. Fury informs her that the war has been over for nearly 70 years, and she just... deflates. Fury asks if she's okay, and Peggy can only sadly say, "Of course... we won the war."
  • The fact that even in an alternate timeline where Steve isn't Captain America or in a giant plane about to crash into the ocean, Peggy still can't be with the man she loves is just heartbreaking. All the more sad is the fact that she'll likely have just as much of a hard time adjusting to the present day as Steve did in The Avengers (2012)... for the time being, anyway.
  • There's a high chance that Steve doesn't live long enough to see Peggy again. In contrast to her, Steve was pretty sickly and it was a small miracle that he lived to adulthood. Being friends with Howard Stark and having access to the best in medical care could only prolong his life for so long.

Episode 2: What If... T'Challa Became a Star-Lord?

• This universe, Yondu tried to return T'Challa home after they spent time exploring the universe, only to find Wakanda had been destroyed in a war. Except that turns out to be a lie, and Wakanda is just fine. They even sent out a homing beacon in the hopes of finding their lost prince. T'Challa does not take this news well.
  • T'Challa lashing out at Yondu also hurts to see as well, saying that they weren't his family and never were. It's clear that he doesn't mean it and is just (understandably) lashing out in anger, but seeing how hurt each of the Ravagers were definitely makes it hard to be mad with him.
    Korath: Damn, that hurts
    • Of special note is how hurt Thanos looks, considering T'Challa was responsible for talking him out of his plans in this universe. Who knew seeing the (formerly) Mad Titan and the Big Bad of the Sacred Timeline so sad would hurt so much.
    • Becomes heartwarming by the end though, when T'Challa finally reunites with T'Chaka and the Wakandan people and introduces his Ravagers as "the family he met along the way".
  • The Dora Milaje uniforms on mannequins means that the Collector murdered the wearers, these soldiers who went into the depths of outer space in the hopes of saving the prince.
• "Dedicated to Our Friend, Our Inspiration, and Our Hero, Chadwick Boseman"
• The ending has Peter Quill working as a janitor in a Dairy Queen meaning he never gets his found family with the other Guardians of the Galaxy. And what's worse, Ego is able to find him...
• It's mentioned in passing, but during his fight with T'Challa it's implied that the Collector may have killed Korg off-screen, and had him harvested for his parts as he uses his fist as a gauntlet.
  • Worse than that, he's got Cap's shield, Mjolnir, and Hela's helmet. There's a story implied in that, and it's nothing good for Earth or Asgard.
• The implication that, given her age, Shuri experienced her whole life having little-to-no memories of her brother in this timeline. A hard contrast from the movie where she teased and trolled T'Challa.
• T'Chaka spent decades desperately trying to find his lost son who was taken as a child.

Episode 3: What If... The World Lost Its Mightiest Heroes?

• Betty's reaction to Bruce's grisly demise. After having spent the entirety of The Incredible Hulk (2008) trying her damnedest to keep him safe from her father, seeing the Hulk be blown to pieces is quite a shock to her.
• The longest-surviving would-be Avenger is Natasha, who'd also be the one most upset by being the last one standing. Her injection killed Tony, she had a long connection with Clint and probably would have agreed with his distress at misfiring, and tried and failed to keep Bruce safe. Even though Nick kept having faith in her, she was on her own trying to find answers, and was murdered alone as the last piece clicked into place.
  • When Fury calls to tell her that Clint is dead, Natasha goes quiet for a few seconds before coldly and calmly asking "Who do I kill?"
  • Clint's wife is now a widow and his children are now without a father, and youngest child Nathaniel will not be born as that was still a few years down the line.
• This isn't good for Nick Fury either. Despite all his efforts and all these deaths, the best he can manage is that Loki conquers Earth with less bloodshed and mayhem than he would have under Thanos's influence, if he'd been able to in the 2012 movie. Maybe it's just as well that Hank struck when he did and not during the events of the movie.
• Loki lost his brother, Sif, Heimdall and the Warriors Three their friend, Odin and Frigga their son and Asgard their prince.
  • Loki was already in the midst of a Trauma Conga Line and emotional breakdown in Thor, so one can only imagine the anger and possible guilt he must be feeling from his brother's death, one he had inadvertedly caused no less. During the scene where Loki is disguised as Nick to lure a confession out of Hank, he drops the Bad "Bad Acting" for one line in particular, making his feelings on the matter perfectly clear:
    Loki as Nick: That's it? You murdered him because you could?
    • This is also the only version of Loki who is not clean shaven. He seems to show comparatively lesser care about his appearance, suggesting it's a case of Beard of Sorrow.
  • And Jane Foster, Darcy, and Dr. Selvig lost the friend they had only just met.
• Clint's clear distress at accidentally killing Thor. Unlike Natasha, who knows very well that she was blameless in Tony's death, Clint has to consider the possibility that he did indeed miss his aim, killing an innocent stranger. He is killed by Pym in the midst of his near breakdown, never getting to know that he was not at fault.
• Even though he killed the Avengers, one can't help but to pity Hank's situation in this timeline, as he's not only lost his wife years earlier, but also his daughter as well. Now he doesn't have anyone left, especially after S.H.I.E.L.D. (Howard Stark in particular) also tried to steal his Pym Particles for their own use several years prior.
  • Janet herself will likely remain stuck in the quantum realm in this reality.
  • Scott Lang will likely fall back into a life of crime, having never met Hank Pym.
  • And even he didn't, Scott would still have lost a significant amount of time to be with his daughter Cassie. As he either would've fallen back into crime and gotten incarcerated again or would still be struggling to pay for child support.
• Even more heartbreaking for Hank, is when during his fight against Loki disguised as Fury, the god of mischief goads Hank into accidentally destroying Hope's grave, causing him to give a genuine look of horror and regret.
• The timing of Tony Stark's death; he's killed during his lowest point in Iron Man 2. He's struggling with an alcohol addiction, driven away Pepper and Rhodey, and rapidly dying from metal poisoning. Fury and Natasha's arrival at the donut place (and their cure) got him back on his feet in the original movie, but here he's killed while he's hungover, before he gets the chance to get his life together. It makes his Trauma Conga Line go from bad to downright tragic.
  • It also means that, as far as we know, Justin Hammer, the secondary villain of that movie, is free to continue his plans unopposed.
• Just the fact that the Avengers, as we know them, are never formed.
  • Tony, Bruce, Thor, Clint, and Natasha will never get to meet Steve Rogers.
  • Chances are if you’re watching this show that the Avengers have been your heroes for at least a decade, maybe more if one considers the pre-2012 movies or the comics. Watching most of them be assassinated in such undignified ways can be downright painful.
• Fury is stoic as ever, but it is clear that the loss of his dream team does take a heavy toll on him.
  • In Thor's and Tony's deaths, he's more angry than upset, given he barely knows them. But the situation is entirely different with Clint and Natasha whom he has been working with for a long while and definitely cares about.

Episode 4: What If... Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?

• The premise of the entire episode is outright heartbreaking, from the death of Christine Palmer to the destruction of this version of the MCU at Stephen's own hands.
  • In general, this entire episode will leave you hurting hard. The grief and anguish of losing a loved one so suddenly is such a perfectly human thing to feel that anyone with even an ounce of empathy will instantly understand and sympathize with the pain Stephen is going through. The soulful, melancholic end credits at the end are just the cherry on top.
  • The credits music? The same music that plays when Stephen repeatedly tries and fails to save Christine.
• By default, the point of divergence. In this universe, Christine Palmer is in the car with Stephen when he crashes. Stephen keeps the use of his hands, but she dies in the crash.
• Stephen obsessively uses time travel to try and save Christine, only for her to somehow die within the same few hours no matter what he does as it's an absolute fixed point in time. He drives a little more carefully on that fateful road, she dies in the car crash anyway. He takes an alternate route to the gala, she dies in another car crash. They make it to the gala safely, she dies of a heart attack during it. He talks her into going out for pizza instead, she dies in an armed robbery. He ditches her, leaving Christine alone and confused by the curb, and she dies in a building fire. Strange goes through so many loops of seeing her die again and again that he reaches the point where he greets her with reddened eyes instead of flirting.
  Christine: Stephen? Is something wrong?
  Strange: Why does this keep happening? Aren't we allowed to be happy?
  • In the last loop, he lets her drive, implicitly sacrificing his life for hers, and it still doesn't work. He sounds utterly exhausted during his last interactions with her.
    Christine: Hey, are you okay? Do you wanna talk? Maybe put on some music?
    Strange: I only want you. You're the only thing that matters.
    [Headlights behind them grow closer, and Strange calmly closes his eyes.]
  • When Stephen realizes he can't even trade his life for hers, he can only let out a fully justified Big "NO!".
• The Cloak of Levitation wrapping itself around Strange Supreme's hands to protect Good Strange. Supreme rips it in half without a single thought.
• The version of Doctor Strange that was able to overcome his grief and do the right thing ends up being absorbed by the version of him that wasn't, and fails to save his universe. So even a Doctor Strange that manages to process the pain he's feeling is doomed. And the other Doctor Strange essentially doomed himself two-fold.
• Good Strange tries desperately to talk his unhinged counterpart down before the battle, knowing what is at stake...And then has to die knowing that his failure doomed the entire universe.
• Just how far Stephen was willing to go to save Christine is both horrifying and heartbreaking at the same time. He absorbs countless creatures across the dimensions, to the point where he becomes a Humanoid Abomination who can barely maintain his human form anymore, even fully transforming upon succeeding in saving her. Christine is understandably afraid of Strange's new form and when the consequences finally set in, she can only ask what Stephen has done as she fades from existence.
  • Upon saving Christine, Strange also finally realizes the consequences of his actions and attempts to try and prevent his universe from being destroyed. He even appeals to the Watcher himself to save his universe, even offering to sacrifice himself or be punished for his actions. However, Uatu states that the universe is dying because of Stephen's actions and that he refuses to interfere with the consequences, having witnessed Stephen's own interfering with consequences lead to his universe's death.
    Strange: YOU! You can stop this! Please... Fix this...
    Uatu: The same way you "fixed" Christine?
    Strange: I was wrong, I—
    Uatu: You were warned.
    Strange: I know, but the world! The world shouldn't pay for my arrogance. I-I read about you; sensed your presence. You're a god. You can undo this.
    Uatu: I'm not a god. And neither are you.
    Strange: Then punish me! Not the world, not Christine!
    Uatu: Honestly, if I could fix this, if I could punish you instead, I would... but I can't interfere. You, more than anyone else should understand that meddling with time and events only leads to more destruction.
    Strange: No... NOOOOOO!!! I didn't mean for this to happen!
    • The Watcher's tone to Strange is blunt yet sympathetic, like a parent or teacher when a child has done a terrible and irredeemable deed, which enhances the tragic tone of the story. As much as he sympathizes, he refuses to step in because he could make things as bad as Strange did.
  • Christine's last words before fading from existing is not to say she loves Strange, but to ask what he did. Strange can only collapse as the full weight of what he's done hits him, his sorrowful ‘I'm sorry’ echoing out in the void where his universe once existed.
  • What's truly devastating is that for as far as Strange went... he wasn't evil. The Ancient One outright clarified him as misguided and he proved his humanity when he offered to save O-Bengh from dying of old age. He even tried to bargain with the forces he needed power from before just absorbing them. He never went any further than he needed to in order to save Christine. He wasn't a monster or some selfish and callous villain. He was a man who was deeply hurting over losing someone he loved and by the time he could see how far he had gone, it was just too late. Even in his universe's final moments, it'd be really easy to hate him or say he deserves his fate if he was angry and ranting to Uatu, demanding he fix everything, but no, he's begging, desperate to fix his mistake, and when he's alone, all he does is cry out in despair. No anger, no shifting the blame, just a broken man living with a colossal mistake.
• In the end, all that is left of an entire universe is a broken man bearing the weight of his mistakes beyond any hope of redemption.
  "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry..."
• To add even further to the tragedy of this episode, all of this was caused by the fact that Strange Supreme was an overall good person.
  • In that this variant of Strange was not nearly as much of an arrogant, egotistical narcissist as his Sacred Timeline counterpart. So because this Stephen didn’t value his hands (and by extension his career and reputation as a neurosurgeon) as much as Christine, him losing her had to serve as the catalyst of this reality’s Doctor Strange to began his path to becoming Sorcerer Supreme. So while our Doctor Strange is somewhat rewarded for his initially selfish motivation, Strange Supreme gets punished for his fairly selfless motivation.
• This episode somehow gets even sadder with the knowledge from Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness that Strange and Christine can’t get together in any universe. The pain that drove Strange Supreme to destroy his entire reality is a multiversal constant across every version of Doctor Strange. That this Strange tried so hard is made even worse by the knowledge that even if he had succeeded, he still wouldn’t have been able to be with her.

Episode 5: What If... Zombies?!

• Hank finally reunites with Janet, only for her to be a zombie who promptly turns him. At this point, he's basically the Miles O'Brien of this show.
  • Not only that, since this takes place during the final moments of Ant-Man and the Wasp, where Hank is in the final stages of his plan to rescue Janet, that means that the scene where she talked with them (through Scott) for the first time in decades happened. This means that her infection with the Quantum virus must have happened shortly after this. She was already lost to her family mere hours before they reached her.
• Seeing the zombified Avengers die. Sure, it has to be done since they're hungering for living flesh, but the surviving heroes messily killing them is not a fun sight at all.
• Hope Van Dyne blaming herself for bringing back the Zombie Plague from the quantum realm:
  Hope: I was so obsessed with bringing my mom back, that I never thought about what I would bring back with her.
• The team that arrives in San Francisco consists of Clint, Natasha, T'Challa, Steve, and Tony, which means that the Avengers re-assembled, and even if the wounds haven't healed, Tony and Steve at least put their own issues aside to fight together for the good of the world. It was likely one of the last choices they made before they lost themselves to the plague.
  • Not to mention the government probably pardoned 3 of them, or rather put it aside for the moment so they could fight. Not that it did any good.
• Bucky watches Okoye gruesomely destroy Sam and then he personally has to eliminate Steve. He barely responds to seeing his friends like this; he's just utterly numb to all the death and devastation around him.
  Bucky: Sorry pal. I guess this is the end of the line.
  • He never refers to his zombified friend as "Steve," he calls him "Cap."
• The reasoning behind Peter's chipper attitude in this universe (and, presumably, the main timeline too): After losing his parents, Uncle Ben, and Aunt May, he reasons that he has to keep smiling through it all, otherwise there's no real reason to keep on living.
  • Peter's life in this timeline is just depressing when you realise that two weeks ago he had his aunt, friends and was enjoying life as Spider-Man. Then after the outbreak he lost all of that but found new friends with the Surviving Avengers, especially Hope who seemed to serve as his mentor now that Tony was gone. Then within a day he lost everyone in that group except for the Cloak of Levitation, and the episode ends with him, T'Challa and Scott heading towards a overrun Wakanda where a zombie Thanos waits for them. In comparison the Sacred Timeline Peter was lucky to have been killed by Thanos and having his secret identity revealed by Mysterio.
• As Hope comes to terms with the fact that she will eventually become a zombie herself thanks to Sharon, she asks how Peter is able to keep such a happy attitude in spite of what happened. As she resigns herself to perform a Heroic Sacrifice to get into Camp Lehigh, her last words are heartbreaking.
  Hope: Peter...smile. Smile for me, okay?
• Even after Hank's death, being reduced to a head, and watching the entire world succumb to a plague, Scott Lang is still his bumbling dorky self. Making constant zombie puns, even at Hank's expense, in the wake of the horrific events transpiring before him. The puns stop the moment he sees a Zombie Giant Woman (Hope Van Dyne), screaming her name in panic and watching her in silent shock as his group flies off.
  Peter: I'm sorry. She gave her life so we would get the cure.
  Scott: That's twice she's saved me. That's... very Hope.
  • Hope gets zombified, possibly forever given the ending, without learning that Scott was cured.
• Think it was bad when Wanda lost Vision and took Westview captive? Turns out, it'd be worse the other way around. When Wanda was zombified, Vision was unable to cure her and didn't have it in his heart to put her down... meaning he's been luring people to his base with the promise of a cure, hoping to feed them to her. It's clear every second of this sickens him, and when given the opportunity, he fights back before committing suicide by removing the Mind Stone so the heroes can bring it to Wakanda... All because he couldn’t leave her.
  • The zombies in this episode are depicted as flesh-eating ghouls with no semblance of their humanity... except for one brief, painful moment from the zombie Scarlet Witch. After Vision's Heroic Suicide, Wanda stops chasing the heroes to kneel down and cradle his body. There's just enough of Wanda left in the ghoul to realize that the man she loved is gone.
• The sheer number of deaths in this episode contributes to its horrific Dwindling Party nature. It starts with the Avengers, but even the remaining party face the end multiple times over. Happy, Sharon, Hope, Kurt, Bucky, and Okoye all lose their lives against the zombie menace, with Banner likely following in their footsteps.
• T'Challa discusses Wakandans' views on death due to being able to communicate with their ancestors. Hearing Chadwick Boseman saying this a year after his own death is incredibly moving.
• The final scene shows a zombified Thanos has already attacked Wakanda and taken over what may have been the last stronghold of humanity. Furthermore, he has the Soul Stone meaning this timeline's Gamora has shared the fate of her Sacred Timeline counterpart.
  • Considering the events of Infinity War makes everything even bleaker. Heimdall's final act before dying was to send Bruce to Earth in the hope that he'd find help against Thanos. And Thor, Rocket, and Groot are also on their way to Earth, where Thor will go through everything Bruce did in this episode. It also firmly dashes the Asgardians' hopes of finding refuge on Earth.
  • There's no indication that Fury called Carol for help, if he's still alive, which is probably for the best. If Captain Marvel falls, then she would easily spread the virus across the stars.
    • This is actually already possible, seeing as how Zombie Thanos possesses the Space Stone.
  • While there might be a small chance the world can be saved, Uatu's reaction at the end of the episode leaves little hope for the future of this timeline. Though he does say "might" be the end of their world so there could be a chance to succeed in saving their world.
  • Even if the infection is cured, all those whose bodies were destroyed, such as Tony, Steve, Strange, Wong, Sam, Happy and Sharon will still be gone for good.
• Happy's "BLAM" and Wanda's devastation at Vision's corpse show there's still something left of the original's self making the Staking the Loved One all the more heartbreaking.

Episode 6: What If... Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark?

• Throughout the episode, it’s particularly tragic to see a Tony Stark that never learned his lesson, became a hero, or abandoned his war-profiteering ways. The only thing that ever gives him pause is Rhodey's death, and even then he seems more personally betrayed by Erik than regretful of what their partnership has wrought.
• T'Challa and Rhodey both being killed to further Killmonger's plan.
  • Before killing him, Killmonger takes some time to ask why Rhodey wears a U.S. military uniform when the American people oppress him. Rhodes, who as a fellow African-American and is well aware of America's racial problems, desperately explains to Killmonger that black people need to become part of the system so they can help change it for the better. Killmonger is unconvinced by Rhodey's response and rips Rhodey's insignia patch off his uniform before killing him in cold blood so he can continue his plan to seize power. If there was still any doubt, it's clear from this point on that when push comes to shove, Killmonger will choose his desire for power and vengeance over his fellow African-Americans.
• Tony seeks vengeance against Erik for Rhodey's death and he ends up dying for the third time this series (4th time if you include the universe imploding in episode 4).
• The Wakandans fighting the invading American Stark Drones in T'Challa's name and Ramonda taking a moment to openly weep for T'Challa in the middle of battle after invoking his name. It's especially poignant after Chadwick Boseman's real-life death.
  • Both of these enter a new level of tear-inducing when you remember that they are being led by Killmonger, who not only killed T'Challa and used his death to help kickstart this invasion of Wakanda, but is now using the grief the Wakandan's have over his death to make himself look good by also claiming to fight for his honour as well.
• Killmonger's arrival at the Wakandan Court. Not only did he murder the royal family's son, unbeknownst to them, but he and T'Chaka take some time to bond over the time spent with N'Jobu... all the while Killmonger plans things out to ensure Wakanda invades, knowing T'Chaka killed his own father. It should be a happy reunion, but thanks to T'Chaka's biggest misdeed and Killmonger's many misdeeds, it's just sad to watch.
• After the battle, Killmonger takes a moment to survey Wakanda, and T'Chaka asks him if it meets his expectations. His response that it surpasses them is bound to tug on the heartstrings because the audience knows that he's lying— and then T'Chaka makes him the new Black Panther, giving him the title of the man he killed and effectively naming him the heir to the Wakandan throne.
  • Before this conversation takes place, Uatu is seen on the horizon, looking pensive and forlorn.
• While it's generally awesome for T'Challa to tell Killmonger off in the Ancestral Plane, making it very clear that he's bound to pay for his crimes, there's something in his tone that's just... very pitying toward Killmonger. He sees how blinded Killmonger is by his anger and desire for power, and his tone while reminding him of his coming fate isn't one of triumph— it's one of sadness, as his last attempt to dissuade Killmonger fails entirely.
• The general state of Killmonger. In this universe, he's much more suave and clever than his counterpart from the film; unfortunately, one trait from the film he most definitely retains is a penchant for Redemption Rejection. Multiple times throughout the episode, people offer him counterpoints, and every time, Killmonger brushes them off entirely.
• Watching the tensions between Wakanda and America escalate to a boiling point is a tragedy in of itself. While not perfect countries by any means, it's apparent that the citizens of both countries were pretty well-off by themselves, but now risk facing horrifying death and destruction all because of one man's rage, entitlement and lust for power. Even worse in the light of these two superpowers going to war, weakening the world with worse things coming on the horizon that they don't know about.

Episode 7: What If... Thor Were an Only Child?

• While the episode is non-stop hilarity start to finish, the fact is it came from Loki being raised by the Frost Giants instead as an Asgardian, leading to Thor to become a Manchild instead of the heroic noble warrior we know and love.
  • While they consider each other honorary "brothers from another mother", there are hints that Loki is a Fair-Weather Friend as opposed to other Variants of him that genuinely loves and cares for his brother.
  • Seeing how happy and content Loki is in this timeline is bittersweet when you compare it to the Sacred Timeline and what he went through there.
• A minor moment but when Thor learns that Jane told Frigga about the party on Earth, he sounds a little hurt that she told on him, not realizing she did to save him from Captain Marvel.
• The Cruel Twist Ending which features a Variant of Vision in Ultron-like armor and all six Infinity Stones arriving just as Thor has asked Jane out on a date.
• Depending on how events from Dark World play out in this timeline, Frigga's reunion with her sisters may have been the last time they'll ever get to see her. And it was cut short.

Episode 8: What If... Ultron Won?

• Uatu flat out stating at the beginning that the story of this universe breaks his heart.
• By a cruel twist of fate, Natasha and Clint were in space, trying to stop Ultron from launching the nukes by destroying the satellites. And thus, they became the last humans on Earth.
• Tony pleading with his creation to stop, that he's gone the wrong way in his mission. And Ultron cruelly dismisses him.
• The death of all that was good in Ultron's universal rampage. Worst of all is Captain Marvel, who truly came close to actually stopping him. But even she was eventually blown apart by the sheer power of the complete Infinity Stones.
• Clint's exhaustion that they'd been fighting the robot apocalypse alone, and that it feels like there's no good solution for what's to come.
• A mirroring of Avengers: Endgame, where Nat and Clint are holding each other, trying to make something work for the good of the universe. But this time, it's Clint who makes the sacrifice play.
  Clint: I told you... I don't want to fight anymore.
• Uatu's despair, having been forced to retreat to Strange Supreme's Pocket Dimension as the only place he could regroup from the utter devastation he accidentally unleashed on the multiverse. He's also very upset about having to break his oath, something that he clearly knows he's going to have to do.
• Even Ultron gets a brief moment of sadness after destroying the universe, as he realises that completing what he thought was his programming has left him all alone in the universe with nothing left to fight for, and nothing but the remains of the planets he destroyed as a reminder.

Episode 9: What If... The Watcher Broke His Oath?

• Zombie Wanda is again brought up short by the sight of Vision's body, in her last moments before Infinity Ultron kills her.
  • If Zombie Wanda was still intact, what happened to the Hulk?
• After stealing the Infinity Stones. Rather than wanting to fight, Killmonger tries to convince the other Guardians to join his side. Even suggesting that they can use the powers of the stones to save/restore their home universes. Something that really seems to sting Peggy and Stephen.
• The Natasha of Infinity Ultron's universe is given a new chance in the one where the OG Avengers were killed by Hank Pym... except she'll still be without Clint there, not to mention the other Avengers (except a version of Steve Rogers who has never met her before).
  • There's also how her Clint could have taken the place of this world's dead Hawkeye if he were still alive.
• Natasha refuses to go back to her world, because she has literally nothing left to return to. Then she turns to Uatu, noting that he's been watching them all this time, and insinuates that they're all nothing but "stories" to him, even asking if he made popcorn while watching the world end in her timeline. Uatu's expression to this is of sad understanding, but he sincerely says that they're so much more than that to him.

Season Two

Episode 1: What If... Nebula Joined the Nova Corps?

• Seeing what became of Xandar is heartrending. Unlike the Sacred Timeline, it's become a Wretched Hive where crime runs amok and the Nova Corps have all become Dirty Cops.

Episode 2: What If... Peter Quill Attacked Earth's Mightiest Heroes?

• Unlike in the Sacred Timeline, Yondu doesn't have a Hidden Heart of Gold and he goes straight to giving young Peter Quill to Ego just as ordered. Ego then introduces himself by disintegrating Peter's Walkman before slowly converting his son into his pawn.
• The state of the Pym/Van Dyne family at the start of the episode. Hank's clearly struggling as a single parent, resorting to serving potato chips and cereal for dinner when we first meet him, while Hope's become sullen and withdrawn following her mother's disappearance.
• To stop Peter, Peggy and Howard are willing to even ask the Soviets for help. Who do they send? The Winter Soldier. Peggy and Howard instantly recognize Bucky and are suitably both horrified and heartbroken.
• According to Thor, Ego's rampage extended to Asgard and the other Nine Realms, forcing Thor to arrive on Earth earlier than usual to avenge his fallen friends and family.
• Despite all the chaos he's causing with his godlike powers to the point where Bucky Barnes suggests that he has to be killed, Peter is Just a Kid coping with the loss of his mother and being taken advantage of by his evil father. Naturally, he finds some kindred spirits in Hank and Hope van Dyne, who are still grieving Janet's disappearance.
• Howard Stark resorting to reminding the Winter Soldier of his former life as Bucky Barnes to convince him to stand down.
  • During this conversation, Bucky also states that "There is no me." which hammers down just how cruel and horrible HYDRA's brainwashing of him is. He's outright been programmed and conditioned by HYDRA to not view himself as a person just so he can become a more ruthless assassin.

Episode 4: What If... Iron Man Crashed Into the Grandmaster?

• The Grandmaster shows Tony some news reports from Earth. While Tony is content to know New York was spared and Pepper is safe, the shot of Pepper is of her looking miserable because she doesn't know Tony is alive and probably believes he was killed delivering the bomb to the Chitauri is heartbreaking.

Episode 5: What If... Captain Carter Fought the Hydra Stomper

• Melina is still fully involved in the Red Room and hasn't undergone the growth of her Sacred Timeline counterpart. Where that Melina helped Natasha to bring down the Red Room, this Melina orders the other Widows to fight her and eventually tries to strangle her adoptive daughter to death.
• Peggy manages to break through Steve's brainwashing by telling him that she just wants to be with him even if these are their last moments together. He stops attacking her, but instead decides to sacrifice himself to destroy the Red Room once and for all.

Episode 7: What If... Hela Found the Ten Rings?

• She certainly had it coming, but Hela's defeat upon coming to Earth is this, where without her helmet she's defeated easily by Wenwu.
• The flashback showing Hela Used to Be a Sweet Kid, playing with a baby Fenris only for Odin to yank him away.
• Hela is forced to confront the real reason she wants to have dominion over the Nine Realms and beyond; it isn't to simply to be a Galactic Conqueror, she wants to be free from the domineering control of her father and give others a chance to forge their own paths, the chance she never got.
• Odin relapsing into his conquering ways when he thinks Hela has been killed.

Episode 8: What If... The Avengers Assembled in 1602?

• According to Uatu, the 1602 universe is doomed to be destroyed by Incursions, causing rips in time to appear and swallow its inhabitants at random. Hela was one such victim, causing King Thor and Happy Hogan to accuse Captain Carter of causing them.
• When Steve is revealed to be the one (unintentionally) responsible for the rifts in space-time, he volunteers to be erased so that the rifts are fixed and the 1602-Universe is saved. Peggy is heartbroken all over again, lamenting to him that she can't stand to lose him again and there is never a universe where they get to be together. Steve manages to console her, assuring her that they still could someday.
  Peggy: It never gets any easier.... we never get our happy ending.
  Steve: I'm sure somewhere out there, we do.

Episode 9: What If... Strange Supreme Intervened?

• Strange Supreme finally gets to revive Christine and undo his biggest mistake...at the cost of his very existence in his world. He will be forgotten and he will never be born in exchange to bringing everything as it was.
• His fall from grace, from regretful hero to someone who just broke from isolation and guilt and under the influence of whispering demons, steadily denigrating from someone who doesn't really want to hurt Captain Carter into a rampaging monster, is worse. After all, he'd probably consider the former a fair trade, in the grand scheme of things. There's nothing fair about what happened before.

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