Marvel’s ‘What If…?’ Ep. 8 Breakdown: The Multiverse United in Fear of Ultron
We’re one episode away from the season finale of Marvel’s What If…? and asks the question ‘What if Ultron won?’
This is it. This is the story that begins connecting the Watcher and all of the multiverses. It wasn’t one of the more lighthearted episodes of the series, but it communicates a greater theme: where there is life, there is hope.
This article is a recap, so it’s all spoilers for ‘What If…?’ episode 8. You have been warned!
Courtesy of Marvel
The Last Heroes
As Uatu looks on, this universe sees Ultron fuse with the syntheziod body powered by the Mind Stone. He then begins his planetary cleansing routine, accessing nuclear codes and wiping out the planet in a matter of minutes.
Flying above in a quinjet, Natasha and Clint are now a few of (if not the only) surviving humans on Earth. The two are left alone on a desolate Earth to fight Ultron’s murderbots, Clint sporting a cybernetic arm and an invisibility cloak.
Once the two of them take out all the bots, we see that they’re in a destroyed Kremlin in Moscow, which Natasha calls home. The two are there to search the KGB archives, and what they’ll find might save their world…
The Arrival of Thanos
After Ultron finishes cleaning out the planet, Thanos appears. He’s presumably searching for the Mind Stone, the last of the Infinity Stones on his shopping list. Without time for a monologue, Ultron slices Thanos in half and takes all of his jewelry.
With all the Stones in his possession, Ultron expands his mission to bring peace to the entire universe. He moves from planet to planet, killing everyone. First Earth, then Asgard, the Sovereign (where the Guardians are fighting), Sakaar, Ego, and Xandar.
But killing off all of those planets is sure to attract the attention of Captain Marvel. Carol arrives on Xandar and tells Ultron that the Terminator movie didn’t need a sequel. Unfortunately, the power of the stones allows him to destroy her– and in doing so, he destroys the rest of the universe.
Alone in the universe, Ultron suddenly finds that he is without a purpose. Or so the Watcher tells us. And as he does, Ultron stirs. The vast silence of the universe around him has allowed him access to a higher consciousness. Upon seeing the Watcher, he realizes that there are other dimensions.
Meanwhile, in the KGB Archives…
Uatu looks on while Nat and Clint search for the key to taking down Ultron. The two search the archives for hours, and Natasha finds the Red Guardian’s shield.
When Nat tries to lighten the mood, Clint expresses a weariness, not only with the search but the never-ending fight to stay alive. The Watcher is very anxious– he knows that Clint is inches away from the answer they seek. He knows that he could just show them what they need, but doing so would break his “do not touch” oath.
He cheers for the pair as Nat gives Clint a pep talk. In the next moment, she finds Arnim Zola’s file. At that moment, a small, seemingly insignificant human gives hope to a cosmic being like the Watcher.
Finding Arnim Zola
Nat traces Zola to an old Hydra base in Siberia, where the last bit of Zola’s mind has been uploaded to a computer database. The pair boots up Zola, and give him the rundown on Ultron. When he asks why he should help, Clint threatens to dump water on his modem.
Using a USB-style arrow from Clint’s quiver, the remaining Avengers download Zola. Nat places a call to Avengers tower, and when Ultron answers, she orders a pizza. She’s counting on him tracking their location, so when the bots arrive, they shoot the Zola arrow into a bot so he can connect to the Ultron hive mind. Unfortunately, Zola is unable to connect because it’s “out of range”, meaning Ultron is outside of their universe.
As the hoard of Ultron robots descends on Clint, Nat, and the legless Zola-bot, Clint sacrifices himself to allow Nat time to escape. Once again, he reminds her that he’s tired of fighting, and falls down into the bots, blowing them into scrap metal.
Uatu vs. Ultron
It’s clear that Uatu was gobsmacked when Ultron stepped into his dimension. The murderous synthezoid is really giving the Watcher a beating, knocking him through various dimensions. Ultron taunts Uatu, saying that the Watcher doesn’t have the will to fight the all-powerful machine.
Ultron consumes a whole planet, a la Galactus, courtesy of Marvel Studios
This angers the Watcher, and the two start to fight again, with Uatu throwing punches as well. They continue blasting through universes, landing on an Earth where Steve Rogers is being sworn in as President.
Ultron mocks Uatu for simply looking on when his power would allow him to do more. With each punch, Ultron changes the reality around them, shifting from the city street to Wakanda and a crowd in medieval times.
As a last resort, Uatu retreats. Ultron feels no need to follow him; he can go anywhere he wants. Perhaps the first universe he visits is the Partyverse with our baby-faced, beardless Thor.
Courtesy of Marvel Studios
Uatu escaped to the same pocket dimension where the dark beast Stephen Strange has been trapped after the deaths of Christine in ‘What If…’ episode 4. Strange asks the Watcher if he’s ready to break his oath, and he acknowledges that he’ll need two sorcerers to save the multiverse.
Courtesy of Marvel Studios
Episode Highlights and Hints
Natasha was, once again, the shining light in a dark universe. Voice actress Lake Bell lends some levity to the tale, and the character’s fight scenes in this and What If… episode 3 have the same magic as her live-action MCU fights, and she’s always dynamite with a shield.
With the story of how Ultron acquires the Infinity Stones, the first season of What If…? has a connective antagonist. Because he’s cracked the multiverse, a team of heroes will have to stop Ultron before he destroys every universe in existence. And Uatu is the only connection between those heroes.
As the stories merge, next week’s season finale promises the return of our favorite multiversal heroes. But will the multiverse survive Ultron’s wrath?
Marvel’s ‘What If…?’ finale will air on Disney+ next Wednesday, October 6th, 2021.
