Marvel’s ‘What If…?’ Episode 2 Break Down: T’Challa Becomes Star Lord
Episode two takes us to Marvel Space with Yandu, T’Challa, and Howard the Duck.
The second installment of Marvel’s new multiverse animated show is here, and we finally get the Yondu-T’Challa friendship all those trailers teased. Here’s a quick recap, some moments you might have missed, and episode highlights.
Spoilers below!
The Episode 2 Breakdown
The episode begins on Morag, where Star-Lord is met by Korath the Pursuer while steastealinging the sphere. Star-Lord removes his helmet– GASP!– it’s T’Challa! Korath then proceeds to go full fangirl, a delightfully stark contrast to the MCU version of Korath and the first sign of T’Challa’s impact on this new universe.
Afterward, as T’Challa leaves with an unconscious Korath draped over his shoulders, he finds himself surrounded by Ronan’s soldiers. But he tells them that “a Ravager never flies solo,” and with a whistle, he’s rescued by Yondu. The two chat about the sphere and “the old days” when they would have just sold it. But instead, they intend to use it to save a planet by restarting a star.
Courtesy of Marvel Studios
We get the sense that this is a warmer, fuzzier Yondu than Peter Quill lost in Guardians 2. He’s more openly affectionate with T’Challa, and his appearance even looks gentler. T’Challa even makes a comment about Yondu keeping his teeth due to the change in lifestyle.
In a brief flashback, narrated by the Watcher, we go back to T’Challa’s childhood. Instead of Yondu fetching Peter Quill from Earth, he sends Taserface and Kraglin, who mistake T’Challa for Peter Quill. Peter is apparently forgotten, and Yondu bonds with the little prince over their love of adventure.
Courtesy of Marvel Studios
Cut back, and we’re in a bar with a celebratory Ravager gang, including Korath, who’s the new teammate. Guess who else is on the team? Thanos. Yeah. In this universe, T’Challa and Thanos had a meeting of the minds, and he joined the Ravager crew to help distribute resources through the galaxy.
Next, we meet this universe’s Nebula, missing all of Thanos’ “alterations” but instead looking like a blonde-haired, blue-skinned Bond girl. The two have a chat, and T’Challa reveals that Yondu tried to return him to Wakanda as a child, but discovered that it had been destroyed.
Nebula’s new look in action figure form, via Hasbro
Nebula has a lead for the team– the Embers of Genesis, a “nutrient-rich cosmic dust” that can turn any planet into a thriving ecosystem. The only problem? They have to steal it from the Collector, the next Big Bad after Thanos retired. So the team heads to Knowhere, where Nebula and Yondu meet with the Collector under the guise of selling him the sphere.
But the play goes awry when Proxima Midnight realized that the Ravagers creating a diversion, and everything goes into full lockdown mode. T’Challa ducks under a closing compartment door and finds a garage full of spaceships, one of which is a Wakandan ship bearing a message from his father, who is still alive and searching for him.
Then Nebula appears gun in hand, and says she has promised T’Challa to the Collector to settle her own debt. In a jail cell, he confronts Yondu about his lies about the fall of Wakanda, and words are exchanged before the Collector puts T’Challa in a glass display cage.
Meanwhile, Nebula is taken to the cell where the Ravagers are being held, but she pulls a gun and shoots the Black Guard. She confirms that a triple-cross was always the plan, and assures the team that Cha-Cha will find his way out on his own. Sure enough, he uses his necklace to break free and attack Ebony Maw, whose telekinetic powers are no match for getting shot right in the back by Carina, the Collector’s servant, allowing him to challenge the Collector, who’s got a Kronan arm, along with Hela’s crown and necrosword.
Courtesy of Marvel Studios
Meanwhile, in order to help Thanos escape, Nebula tosses a tiny spec of the Embers down Cull Obsidian’s throat and it immediately goes into aggressive Fern-Gully mode. And just when you think T’Challa will be left on planet Miracle-Gro with the Collector, Yondu appears and saves the day, and the duo snags the Collector’s gauntlet, blasting him into one of his own display cases. They leave the Collector’s fate in Carina’s hands, and they board the Wakandan spaceship, rescuing Cosmo in the process. As they fly away, Yondu tells T’Challa that he belongs anywhere he wants to be, and the two friends, along with the rest of the crew, visit Wakanda.
BUT WAIT.
As all this is happening, Peter Quill is mopping the floor at Dairy Queen when Ego shows up and introduces himself as Peter’s father. The Watcher narrates, indicating that this event will cause the end of the world. It looks like Yondu abandoning his search for Peter denied Quill the opportunity to find his own rag-tag family, leaving Peter at the whims of his (forgive me) ego-centric celestial father.
Courtesy of Marvel Studios
Nature, Nurture, and Outer Space
“Is your destiny determined by your nature or by the nature of your world?” asks the Watcher in the introduction. In this episode, we see T’Challa’s humanitarian philosophies spreading throughout the universe. It reshapes the intentions of the Ravagers, the actions of Thanos, and the outcome of many major MCU characters’ lives. It would seem that he has taught those around him more empathy and better emotional communication. As a young boy who grew up in a culture allowed to thrive without conquest, it seems like his legacy is to spread a kind of benevolence throughout the galaxy.
But where the implication is that T’Challa’s nature influenced the nature of his world, it comes at a cost– abandoning Peter to his own nature, and his ties to Ego. It’s uncertain whether or not Peter will go full-bad guy, but it looks like we’ll have to wait for a few more episodes of What If…? before that story comes back around.
New episodes of Marvel’s What If…? drop on Disney+ on Wednesdays.
