SPOILER WARNING! STOP READING IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED THE EIGHTH AND NINTH EPISODES!
What If...? Episode 9, Season Finale, finds the Watcher assembling a Multiversal team to fight the invincible Ultron. With Multiverse under jeopardy, The Watcher breaks his oath in order to save the multiverse from Ultron's wrath.
Story-view
The episode starts off from the universe of Peggy Carter, whom we saw last in the first episode, battling against the tentacle monster Shuma-Gorath and traveled forward to future with the power of Space Stone. We see Peggy (Captain Carter) teaming up with Natasha Romanoff (Black Widow) to rescue the Lemurian Star, similar to the Captain America's mission in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. While fighting Batroc the Leaper, The Watcher interrupts her and declares her as a chosen one.
Cut to another universe, we see Ego taking out his son Peter Quill and using him as a battery, just like in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. But Star-Lord T'Challa comes and bombs Ego to save Quill. The Watcher also chooses T'Challa for his multiversal team-up. In another universe, we see Tony Stark in a hulk buster suit alongside Gamora, who's wearing Thanos' Armor, melting the Infinity Gauntlet at Nidavellir. The Watcher comes and chooses Gamora, totally ignores Stark.
Erik Stevens Killmonger is seen waging war in Wakanda while Pepper Potts and Shuri tries to find him, which catches up just where Episode 6. But the Watcher chooses Killmonger just before Pepper and Shuri bursts into the room. Meanwhile, Party Thor is busy fighting Ultron bots in his universe's Las Vegas and he is the last chosen one taken by the Watcher. He takes them into a pub where Doctor Strange Supreme is the guide of the team. The Watcher explains the situation to the team he has gathered. He named the team Guardians of the Multiverse, as he and the others starts plotting plans. Unlike the Avengers, they don't get much time to know each other, rather goes straight into planning. Later they decide to get their hands of the Soul Stone and use it in the Infinity Crusher to destroy all the Infinity Stones.
Doctor Strange Supreme takes them in an uninhabited planet where they assess the situation while Strange Supreme uses his dark magic to cast protection spells on each and every one. Before getting ready, Thor lets out a huge thunder from his Mjolnir which attracts the attention of Infinite Ultron. Thor lets out a battle cry and surges a massive blast of lightning towards Ultron, but it hardly damages him. He throws his Mjolnir and Strange Supreme uses his dark magic to multiply its number as they start hitting Ultron. But it's of no use, as Ultron is far more powerful than any of them. Star-Lord T'Challa managed to get his hands to the Soul Stone and Strange Supreme open up a huge portal for the zombies to attack. The zombies start attacking Ultron but along with them, comes Zombie Scarlet Witch.
It would have been fun to watch Zombie Wanda fight Ultron but Ultron easily overpowers her and destroys the planet. Meanwhile, everyone goes to the universe from where Ultron came, the universe where Natasha Romanoff is the only survivor. Captain Carter explains the situation to her but Ultron portals to Earth. In an absolutely brilliant set of action sequences with visuals, the Guardians of the Multiverse use their abilities and power to defeat Ultron. Gamora uses the Soul Stone powered Inifinity Crusher to crush Ultron's Infinity Stones. The battle felt over, but sudden realization hit them as Ultron states the uniqueness of every universes. The Infinity Crusher was built to destroy the stones of Gamora's universe, not this universe.
Now, Ultron is stronger, angrier, and he knows Guardians' strategy. He knows, if he can defeat Doctor Strange Supreme then the whole team will fall. Black Widow finds Hawkeye's bow and the arrow installed with Arnim Zola AI. Along with Captain Carter's help, Natasha shoots the arrow with Clint's bow, right in the eye of Ultron. Zola takes over the body and destroys Ultron from the inside. But this is where Killmonger betrays. All this time he has been fighting only for himself. He uses an Ultron bot's head to call Ultron's armor and Infinity Stones to him. But, Zola wants those stones to himself, for his own evil purpose. They fight for the stones and the stone remain levitating on the air, free from anyone's grasp. This is the crucial moment where Strange creates his own pocket dimension and locks them up, forever.
Ending
With
the multiverse saved, The Watcher gives the job to guard the pocket
dimension to Strange Supreme. All of the guardians return to their own
universe, to the exact time they left. Black Widow refuses to go to her
universe but the Watcher sends her to a different universe, where the new Avengers, formed with Captain America and Captain Marvel, fight Loki. This is the same universe where Hank Pym assassinates all the candidates of Avengers, even Black Widow in Episode 3. She defeats world-conquering Loki but Nick Fury realizes that this Natasha is not their own Natasha, but she has the same spirit and she is what this world needs.
We get our first post-credits scene of the season, where Captain Carter finds herself back on the Lemurian Star, fighting Batroc. Natasha from her universe electrocutes Batroc and tells Peggy that she has something to show her. It turns out that the Hydra Stomper was preserved this whole time and along with it, the person commandeering it, Steve Rogers.
Major Details
When The Watcher goes to take Gamora, Tony talks about having suits of armors around the galaxy. This is similar to his ambition, to have suit of armors around the world which led to his creation of Ultron in Avengers: Age of Ultron.
In the pub where all the members are assembled, Doctor Strange Supreme gives Thor a glass of beer, which is a nod to Thor: Ragnarok where upon Thor's meeting with Doctor Strange, he gave the God of Thunder a glass of never-ending beer. Doctor Strange explains the situation to others, he explains them the importance of Infinity Stones, their origin, exactly in the way Wong described the stones to Tony in Avengers: Infinity War, including the visual shot.
Doctor Strange Supreme casts protection spells around everybody, similar to the one Doctor Strange was given by Wong in Episode 4. In this case, Strange Supreme might have used a higher and more powerful one as he can use dark magic.
Thor throws his hammer to Ultron which Strange Supreme uses his dark magic to multiply its quantity. All of the Mjolnir starts hitting Ultron, meanwhile Captain Carter flies with the help of T'Challa and smashes her shield to Ultron's head while T'Challa grabs the Soul Stone. For a brief scene, Captain Carter is seen holding one of the Mjolnir to come down to the ground safely, obviously an easter egg portraying Captain America wielding the hammer in Avengers: Endgame.
Doctor Strange Supreme opens up a portal above Ultron and zombies starts to drop from it. Among the zombies, we can recognize some of them to be Zombie versions of Captain America, Hawkeye and Falcon. It is revealed later that even Zombie Scarlet Witch came with that horde.
While Zombie Scarlet Witch fights Ultron, before Ultron destroys the planet, we see a slight hesitation in the zombie's face. It might be a drag but this could be because she might have recognized the face of Vision as we last saw in Episode 5 that she still has feelings towards Vision, even as a zombie.
Upon arrival on the home-world of Ultron, Black Widow snatches the Soul Stone from the Guardians of the Galaxy. But Captain Carter tries to make her understand about the situation and lets her know about her friendship with her in her own universe. Captain Carter reveals Natasha's father's name and her Da's name, which is interesting. Natasha Romanoff got to know his biological father's name during the events of Avengers: Endgame. Considering Captain Carter came during the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, she shouldn't have known her father's name as Natasha herself didn't know it. So, in that universe, Natasha could have known his father during his childhood and she talked about those days to Captain Carter.
In the episode, it was planned that the Soul Stone is needed to get to Gamora, who actually dies as a sacrifice for the Soul Stone by the hands of Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War, and Black Widow snatched the Soul Stone in this same episode, who was also sacrificed to get the Soul Stone during Time Heist of Avengers: Endgame. The Irony!
We see a roundup shot of the Guardians of the Multiverse, which is of course the same famous roundup shot of the Avengers movie where all of the six Avengers unitedly stood to the ground to fight Loki and the Chitauri army.
Arnim Zola destroys Ultron from the inside and now control the Vision body. Later he is shown as digital faced inside the stomach of the body, similar to the Marvel Comics where Zola was put into a machine with his face being projected in the stomach. Besides, Arnim Zola also becomes MODOK, a villain machine with the consciousness of Zola and his holographic face.
In the post-credits scene, it is revealed that a person is alive in the Hydra Stomper. This is Steve Rogers, who could be the "Winter Soldier" of the series, just like how Bucky Barnes was kept alive throughout the years by HYDRA in MCU.
It breaks our hearts thinking that this episode is the last performance of Chadwick Boseman in MCU. A King, A Star-Lord, A Hero. R.I.P Chadwick Boseman. Wakanda Forever!
Final Verdict
What If...? Episode 9 ends the season relying on flashy action sequences and outstanding visual effects and animation. It is a dream come true for all Marvel fans, witnessing this action-packed Age of Ultron, as the season ends with a high note. Though there are parts where the episode felt too fast paced and this caused many team-assembling parts to be left out. With half an hour runtime, the episode was able to present the overall stakes and result of the multiverse-level villain, creating a team-up we never expected. Throughout the series, the animation style and extraordinary visual shots have amazed the mass amount of viewers, establishing a bright future for the future projects of Marvel Studios animation.
Rating: 8.5/10
What do you think of the finale of Season 1? With Season 2 confirmed, what are you hoping for to see in Season 2? Enter your thoughts below and let us know!
What If...? Season 1 is streaming exclusively on Disney+.
0 Comments