A Nod To Kang, A Surprise Return, And Storm Debuts

What If…? season 3’s penultimate episode opens by revisiting the reality inhabited by the Nebula from season 2 (who is now Xandar’s “Nova Prime”). The interdimensional tentacle monster from previous seasons is attacking the planet but Captain Carter, Kahhori, Byrdie – the daughter of Howard the Duck and Darcy – and a Mjolnir-wielding Storm intervene.

Peggy kills the monster we first saw her face in season 1 and, moments later, the shards from the Observational Plane, shattered when the Eminence captured The Watcher, land nearby. 

New opening credits reveal that the Eminence, Incarnate, and Executioner watch the Watchers and, with The Watcher captured, it’s made clear that they now have no other choice but to intervene and undo his past actions (starting with Captain Carter and her team, a group referred to here as the “Exiles”).

Aboard Byrdie’s ship, a foosball table features players with the likeness of characters such as Wolverine, Galactus, Rogue, Kang, and Beta Ray Bill. 

Also of note is the fact Peggy has been traversing the Multiverse with the use of a Time Chair strongly resembling the one used by Kang in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania. We never learn how she got it but wonder if that changed after Jonathan Majors’ villain was ousted from the Multiverse Saga. Regardless, our heroes attempt to modify it so they can travel to the Fifth Dimension and help The Watcher. 

Neither that nor Storm’s attempt to break the boundary between realities works and, with one shard left, they hatch a plan. Kahhori suggests they find an Infinity Ultron Variant and use him to reach their friend. If the plan fails, they can use reset charges stolen from the TVA to wipe out his timeline. 

Captain Carter and Storm have a heart-to-heart before the former tracks an Ultron down on her own (in his reality, all life was wiped out following an epic battle with Captain Marvel). Eons have passed since then and Peggy pleads with him to help. 

Kahhori, Storm, and Byrdie arrive to find Captain Carter’s broken shield and assume Ultron is responsible. Instead, he’s realised there is no peace without life and concludes that he made a mistake. While it’s too late for redemption, he’s willing to atone for his actions and absorbs the shard before agreeing to take them to Peggy – who was kidnapped by the Eminence – and The Watcher. 

To be continued…

The Watcher must stand trial for his many interventions.

The cast for episode 7 includes Jeffrey Wright, Hayley Atwell, Jason Isaacs, Devery Jacobs, Alison Sealy-Smith, and Natasha Lyonne. The episode is directed by Stephan Franck, with a story by Bryan Andrews, Matthew Chauncey, and Ryan Little, and a teleplay by Matthew Chauncey and Ryan Little.