Recap / What If…? S2E8 "What If… The Avengers Assembled in 1602?"

"What If... The Avengers Assembled in 1602?"

Alternate take on: Avengers: Infinity War / Marvel 1602

"What you're seeing has all the makings of a Shakespearean tragedy: a king marred by loss, a soldier on the run, a world on the brink of oblivion. The year is 1602. She is Captain Peggy Carter. But how is a time-displaced super-soldier end up in such a strangely familiar reality? The sad truth is that there are worlds among the Multiverse simply meant to die, but every once in a while, a glimmer of hope can emerge."

— Uatu

Picking up where the fifth episode of Season 2 left off, Captain Peggy Carter is summoned to a universe where the year is 1602 to help save their world. When the king faces a devastating loss, Peggy is forced to go on the run, meeting familiar faces along the way. One of those faces which resembles Tony Stark reveals a way the world can be saved, but King Thor and his armies are not going to make her mission easy.

"What If... The Avengers Assembled in 1602?" contains examples of:

• Actor Allusion:
  • Loki being portrayed as a Shakespearean actor harks back to him being played by an actual Shakespearean actor. He's even playing Hamlet, a role Hiddleston has played on stage.
  • Hela takes the place of Elizabeth I in the 1602-verse. Her actress has already played the monarch twice.
• Adapted Out: In addition to characters who haven't been established to exist in the MCU, like the Fantastic Four and most of the Witchbreed (mutants), the Marvel 1602 counterparts of Spider-Man, Daredevil, Black Widow, Quicksilver and Dr Strange are all absent. More notably, so are Queen Elizabeth and her successor King James, replaced by Hela and Thor.
• Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: All over the place, due to all our familiar characters being trapped in a 1600s-style setting:
  • Thor, Loki, and Hela all have a much better relationship in this universe. Thor and Hela are even coronated as King and Queen of England in this universe, and the former is devastated when the latter is sucked into one of the vortexes plaguing the world.
  • In the Sacred Timeline and a few other universes, Happy Hogan is/was the loyal bodyguard and friend of Tony Stark. Here, he's The Creon to King Thor, someone he has little connection with in the Sacred Timeline. Furthermore, Happy sees Tony Stark as a ridiculous drunkard, having no respect for the crackpot inventor.
• Adaptational Early Appearance: In the comics, the Tony Stark counterpart doesn't appear until 1602: The New World. The Bucky Barnes counterpart doesn't appear until Secret Wars 1602: Witch-Hunter Angela.
• Adaptational Heroism: Neither Hela nor Loki appear to be villainous. In addition, the comic book 1602 versions of Iron Man and Hulk were largely antagonistic, which is not the case here.
• Adaptational Jerkass: King Thor and Sir Hogan are quick to blame Peggy for everything and act accordingly.
• Adaptational Job Change: Wanda is a court magician rather than a nun like she was in the Marvel 1602 comics. Rogers is a Robin-Hood-esque outlaw rather than a bodyguard.
• Adaptational Wimp:
  • This version of Loki is an actor rather than a fighter, totally helpless when Rogers Hood and his band rob his carriage, and staying out of the melee completely, even when Thor asks him to join in.
  • There is no indication that Steve or Bucky have their Super-Soldier strength, though that only means they're Brought Down to Badass. Subverted in the former's case, as we find out that he really is Captain America, having been accidentally transported by the Time Stone while fighting Thanos in Wakanda.
• Alien Non-Interference Clause: Mainly played straight, as Uatu refuses to do anything to save the 1602-Avengers world. Subverted, though, in that Uatu does offer to help Peggy return to her own world.
• Allohistorical Allusion:
  • This isn't the first time that several people are forced into playing roles in a different time period that Wanda Maximoff is involved in (although in this case, Wanda herself is not the cause of what's going on).
  • Judging by the sketches in his lab, the 1602 Tony Stark does double-duty as the altered reality's Leonardo da Vinci. Way back in Iron Man, Christine Everhart said the main timeline's Tony had been called "the da Vinci of our time". Looks like it's actually true for this Tony.
  • When Steve asks Peggy to tell him about her world's Steve, she responds, "No, I don't think I will." This is the same response Old Steve gives Sam in Avengers: Endgame when Sam asks about Steve's wedding ring.
  • Upon being found, Bruce/Hulk responds with "Leave me alone."
  • Tony's forerunner finder is a hand blaster like that of his Iron Man suit.
• Anachronism Stew: Several, though justified by two time periods collapsing into each other.
  • Most of the characters still talk in modern American accents. Which, as any linguist will tell you, is historically accurate. The Elizabethan Era London accent actually sounded closer to a modern American Southern accent than the "Received Pronunciation" accent that most modern media uses to depict the era. Peggy, Hela, Thor, and Loki's accent is the actual outlier here.
  • Rogers' band of outlaws are from The High Middle Ages rather than the later Elizabethan Era. Justified in that Steve deliberately chose the name as a reference.
  • There's a reference to a Victoria sponge, named after a queen who won't be born for another two centuries.
• Artistic License – Art: A common one in fiction: Hamlet's "To be, or not to be" soliloquy from Act 3, Scene 1 is depicted with Hamlet holding Yorick's skull. In the actual play, the skull appears much later in the play (specifically in Act V, Scene 1) during a completely different monologue.
• Bait-and-Switch Boss: Given the ending of this season's Episode 6, in which Strange Supreme arrives through a time portal, and that Benedict Cumberbatch is included in the opening credits, it seems as though Strange Supreme will be "the forerunner". But it turns out to be Steve Rogers, who accidentally created this world when he hit the Time Stone while fighting Thanos.
• Battle Couple: Peggy and Steve happily fight together against the Yellowjackets.
• Behemoth Battle: The Hulk vs The Freak. Both of them are strong, superpowered individuals of various colors, and they are vicious as they battle each other.
• Big "SHUT UP!": As The Freak pounds on the Hulk while letting out a barrage of insults, Hulk eventually stops him with a very annoyed "SHUT THY MOUTH!", before throwing him at the organ and roaring.
• Bittersweet Ending: Peggy successfully saves the world of 1602, but has to send Steve away to do it, and she ends up alone, though Strange Supreme's arrival seems to spark a bit of hope on her part.
• Brick Joke: Just before his carriage is robbed by Rogers and his band, Loki's boring two ladies by going on about how cool Iago is. At Thor's court, a few days later, he's still talking about Iago, and they're still bored.
• Canon Foreigner: The comics' 1602 world has not been established to have a version of Scott Lang (although it does have a Henri Pym) or Happy Hogan.
• Cardboard Prison: Not even the Tower of London can hold Captain Carter.
• Companion Cube: Loki's gotten really attached to his Yorick skull, and is distressed when Peggy takes it for herself.
• Composite Character: Wanda takes the place of the court mage occupied by Dr. Stephen Strange in the original 1602 comics.
• Continuity Nod: Uatu mentions that this universe is doomed to be destroyed by Incursions, and it's later revealed that the main reason it exists is due to Steve Rogers accidentally hitting the Time Stone during the Battle of Wakanda, causing several characters in the present day to be misplaced into the 1600s. As shown in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, multiversal travelers staying in worlds not native to them can cause Incursions.
• Cool Sword: The All-Father, a sword given to Thor by the King of Wakanda as a coronation gift. It can channel thunder and is made of vibranium.
• Court Mage: The Scarlet Witch is this world's Merlin, with her name being accredited as "Wanda Merlin".
• Dead Alternate Counterpart: Peggy’s 1602 counterpart Maid Margaret is deceased.
• Doppelgänger Gets Same Sentiment: Captain Carter and Rogers Hood immediately become captivated by the other because of their previous relationships with their Alternate Selves.
• The Executioner: The royal executioner is, unsurprisingly, the Red Skull. Steve knocks him out during the climactic melee.
• Expendable Alternate Universe: Uatu tells Carter that the 1602-Avengers world is this and that she should therefore not try to save it.
• Expy: The Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes, Scott Lang, Peggy Carter (who's several years dead) and Happy Hogan in this world are based off of Robin of Loxley, Little John, Will Scarlet, Maid Marion and the Sheriff of Nottingham respectively. Though it turns out that Peggy's role is a fabrication by Steve.
• The Fatalist: Uatu, who has seen countless universes die, insists that the world is doomed and offers to take Peggy home so she won't die with it.
• Foreshadowing:
  • The Watcher's reference to seeing universes die portends the arrival of Strange Supreme, the sole survivor of one such universe.
  • The royal scepter, despite resembling Loki's Chitauri weapon, has a green stone instead of a blue one, implying that it's the Time Stone.
  • Despite everyone seeming to live in 17th century Britain, no one (other than Thor and Loki, who already had them) has a British accent, hinting that none of them are native to the era or location.
  • Rogers Hood turns out to be just as adept with Carter's shield in combat as she is. Later, he turns out not to be the local equivalent of Steve, but is indeed a modern Steve who became Captain America, so he is very familiar with how it works.
• Friend on the Force: Both Nick and Wanda secretly help Carter in her mission after Thor orders her arrest. They both side with her against Thor when another portal opens and Thor tries to stop Carter from using Stark's forerunner finder.
• Good-Guy Bar: Rogers Hood's Merry Men gather in a saloon in the Sherwood Forest after robbing Prince Loki's coach.
• Hat Damage: Steve slices the feather in Sir Hogan's hat. This turns out to be his Berserk Button.
• Have a Gay Old Time: A temporal inverted variant. Captain Carter watches Thor dramatically unsheathe his sword while announcing it as "the All-Father", and she quips that he's as big a drama queen as his brother. Loki, sitting nearby and likely having no idea what the 20th century insult means, takes it as a sincere compliment.
• Helium Speech: The Yellowjackets speak like this when shrunk.
• Hero with Bad Publicity: After Peggy fails to save Hela, a grieving Thor irrationally blames her for the time rifts, forcing Peggy to become an outlaw.
• Heroic Sacrifice: When 1602 Steve realizes that he is the forerunner causing people to be swallowed up by the portals, he allows himself to be sent back to his own time.
• Honor Before Reason: Despite Uatu's pleas for her to let him send her back to her home universe, Peggy is determined to save the 1602 universe from the tears in its reality.
• Hope Spot: The Merry Men seem to have defeated the Yellowjackets... until Sir Hogan brings out the Destroyer.
• I Want Them Alive!: Sir Hogan tells the Yellowjackets that King Thor wants Carter taken alive, but the Merry Men's lives are at the assassins' discretion.
• In Spite of a Nail: Despite it being a completely different universe even before the time periods collapsed onto each other, Sir Hogan can transform into the Freak like one of his alternate selves.
• Insult Backfire: When Peggy says that Thor is even more of a Drama Queen than Loki, Loki is visibly flattered.
• Interactive Narrator: Once again, someone notices Uatu monologuing and starts talking to him. This time, it's Peggy. Uatu is once again shocked, though in this case it seems he's being careless and allowing himself to manifest fully because he's concerned for her well-being, rather than Peggy having gained multiversal awareness as Strange Supreme and Ultron did.
• Just Like Robin Hood: Steve takes on the role of Robin Hood in this world, with Bucky and Scott among his Merry Men.
• Lighter and Softer: Despite being (loosely) based on 1602, the tone is still very light-hearted when compared to the source material.
• Logo Joke: The music played in the opening sequence for the episode is music for the Renaissance era.
• Magic Versus Science: Wanda's magic is completely accepted (perhaps because the monarchs are gods), but Tony is scorned for being a mad scientist.
• Magitek: Wanda has magic, Thor has his lightning abilities, and it's common knowledge the Sceptre contains an infinity stone. On the other hand there's an army of Yellowjackets serving Thor, Tony built a machine intended to be powered by the Mind Stone, and the Destroyer returns as a suit of Animated Armor that still fires laser beams from its headpiece. Between the two time periods being mashed together, the different allegiances of characters, and the fact some of this was likely created after the merging of the time periods, the line between what is magical or technological is very blurred.
• Man in the Iron Mask: Bruce suffers this fate but seemingly by choice, since he is at least left alone and has quiet.
• Mythology Gag: The original comic’s universe was created when Steve Rogers was sent back in time during an incident involving the Purple Man seizing power. Sure enough, this ‘verse follows suit, but the “purple man” is Thanos and he “power” he’s seizing is the Infinity Stones.
• Not So Omniscient After All: The Watcher cannot see what will happen in worlds that are about to die. This mirrors the Time Variance Authority's inability to detect time variations in dying worlds.
• Not Even Bothering with the Accent: Jon Favreau is the only one trying for a British accent among the American cast. Though everyone else having an American accent is justified by 1602 and the 21st century being jammed together.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • The guards when they trigger Banner to become the Hulk.
  • Steve when Sir Hogan transforms into The Freak.
• Open Mouth, Insert Foot: When she hears her alternate counterpart is dead, Peggy immediately says "good", before having to backpedal.
• Plot Archaeology: Way back in Doctor Strange, the mystics of Kamar-Taj admonished Stephen for messing around with the Time Stone on the grounds of many horrific things that could happen. This episode finally demonstrates that they were right to be horrified.
• Point of Divergence: The situation was caused when Steve accidentally struck the Time Stone while fighting Thanos in Wakanda.
• Politically Correct History: Nick Fury, a black man, is still in a high government position. This is justified, since time has been messed up.
• Produce Pelting: Thor is introduced planning to do this to Loki's performance of Hamlet, gleefully noting he's made sure the cabbages are extra rotten for that added effect.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Sir Nicholas realises Peggy is not responsible for the rifts that started before she even got here, and gives her a chance to fix things.
• Rooting for the Empire: In-universe. Loki's become a major Iago fanboy, and considers him the true main character of Othello. This doubles as Genius Bonus, as Iago is the character that drives the plot of the play.
• Royal Rapier: Fitting for the episode's setting, many of the characters use rapiers in armed combat.
• Schizo Tech: The 1602 heroes have no access to things like computers or arc reactors, but Pym particles, Bucky's vibranium arm, and gamma-irradiated monsters like the Hulk and the Freak, are treated as perfectly normal. Since time has been twisted into a pretzel, there isn't much logic to the whole situation to begin with.
• Sequel Hook: Strange Supreme approaches Peggy while she's having a drink, saying he has a story to tell her.
• Ship Tease: Despite having no reason to do so, Loki can be seen trying to protect Wanda as Peggy attempts to send everyone back to the future.
• Shout-Out: One of the technobabble terms that Peggy throws at Tony (who loves hearing them even if he doesn't understand them) is "flux capacitor".
• Sitcom Archnemesis: Thanks to their extremely different personalities as The Stoic and Fun Personified, respectively, Bucky finds Scott Lang incredibly annoying, though Scott seems totally oblivious as to why.
• Special Thanks: The credits include one to Roy Thomas, the writer for The Avengers comics from 1966-1972.
• Star-Crossed Lovers: Peggy has yet to find a world where she and Steve get to be together. Fitting, given it's the setting of the trope namer. Rogers Hood believes there might be one that allows them to have the happy ending they deserve.
• Tactical Withdrawal: Carter takes on the Destroyer while the Merry Men retreat to meet up with Stark.
• Time Crash: Peggy quickly realizes that 1602 and the modern age are being stuck together due to some unknown issue, which is causing reality to collapse from the two timelines intersecting. The cause is ultimately revealed to be a misfire of the Time Stone caused when Captain America fought Thanos and struck the Time Stone with his shield. All of the modern heroes are actually native to 2018, and they all disappear once the issue is resolved.
• Title Drop: When trying to convince Carter that this world cannot be saved, he proposes a series of questions that start with, "What if..." Carter responds in frustration, "What if? What if? What if?!"
• To Be Continued: How the episode ends after Strange Supreme arrives.
• Trapped in the Past: When Steve sends himself back to his proper time, the timeline resets itself and everyone is sent back to where they belong. Peggy, however, isn't native to this universe and winds up stranded in 1602, at least until Strange Supreme comes to pick her up.
• Variations on a Theme Song: The opening Marvel theme is played as an Elizabethan minstrel tune.
• Water Wake-up: Carter pours a bucket of water on Tony's head to wake him up.
• Waxing Lyrical: Sir Hogan quotes the lyrics, "The pipes are calling" from the Irish song, "Danny Boy", after throwing a harpsichord at the Hulk.
• Wham Line: "I can hear you." Peggy reveals that she can hear Uatu narrate about her, despite him not intending to make himself audible to her. This level of perception has previously only been achieved by three known characters: Strange Supreme, Infinity Ultron, and Baby Groot, two of whom are extremely powerful entities. What this implies about this version of Peggy, if anything, remains to be seen.
• Wham Shot: When Carter uses the device made by 1602 Stark to reveal the identity of the forerunner, it shows 1602 Steve glowing green.
• Wowing Cthulhu: Uatu is quite impressed that Captain Carter understands the multiversal entanglement problem she is in. At this point, such issues have become old hat to her.
• Ye Olde Butchered English: Used surprisingly sparingly, given the setting, but primarily by the Hulk, of all people.
  Hulk: HULK SMASH THEE!
• You Can See Me?: Uatu's reaction when Peggy asks him to stop narrating.
• You Can't Fight Fate: Uatu tells Carter that this world is destined to die, and that there is nothing she can do to stop that. She at first resists this idea, but after learning that Steve accidentally created this world, she accepts that she cannot save it.

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Captain Carter: There was a superstition back during my days in the war that victory was its own sort of curse. Because every battle you won, every inch you gained would mean you're only getting further from home.