This article contains spoilers for the seventh episode of What If...?
What If…?’s latest outing brought a much-needed break from the dramatic and surprisingly dark episodes that came before — which explored a world without the Avengers and a version of Killmonger that lived up to his infamous nickname. The seventh episode, “What If… Thor Were an Only Child?” explores the idea of Thor’s adoptive brother, Loki, is returned to Jotunheim and lives his days in his true Frost Giant form. Without the God of Mischief around to challenge him and make him a hero, Thor instead becomes more the God of Parties rather than thunder.
The newest episode has a fun, sitcom-style energy to it, with Thor’s mother, Frigga, racing home while Thor cleans up from his party across Earth. Its ending plays out peacefully, even Uatu remarking that the characters are getting their happily ever after — that is, until one moment brings the usual What If…? darkness back. Right as Thor is saying goodbye to physicist Jane Foster (with Natalie Portman returning to the role), a new villain bursts on the scene, but instead of having the shock factor of other MCU reveals, the appearance of a Vision/Ultron hybrid only breeds confusion — and messes with the MCU’s timeline as a whole.
It’s pretty easy to place “What If… Thor Were an Only Child?” in the detailed and vast place that is the Marvel Cinematic Universe timeline. Early on in the episode, fans learn that Thor’s party in Vegas is recorded as his first time on Earth by Jane Foster and her assistant Darcy Lewis. The events of the episode essentially fill the gap left by the first Thor film, where the God of Thunder travels to Earth after being cast out of Asgard. If this is true, then Ulton (or Vision for that matter) would not have even been created yet. Both are created after The Battle of New York — Ultron sometime after the first Avengers film and Vision during The Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Moving up the timeline of two characters’ creation doesn’t seem like an out of sorts move on the surface, but it becomes much more drastic when the rest of the universe in “What If… Thor Were an Only Child?” is taken into consideration. Like the title says, Thor grows up without Loki. Loki’s feelings towards family and his own identity are shaped by his childhood and adolescence in Asgard. It’s the relationship between him and Thor that shapes him into the trickster he shines as in the MCU. It’s also the resentment, confusion, and isolation he feels after learning of his true Jotunheim identity that spirals him to commit the acts he does and propels him to come into contact with Thanos in the first place. Without being raised in Asgard, Loki would have never landed on Earth, a battle for humanity wouldn’t have occurred and the Avengers would have never been formed.
Without Iron Man being a part of the Avengers, it’s likely that he would never have a reason to create Ultron (he wouldn’t have partnered with Bruce Banner to start the Ultron Program) and Ultron wouldn’t be able to create Vision. It’s these missing events that make the shocking appearance at the end of What If…?’s seventh episode feel entirely misplaced. Still, there are ways to justify the being’s arrival.
It’s very possible that the Ultron/Vision hybrid is itself from another universe, perhaps in one that What If…? has yet to explore. The animated series has left off a few of its episodes with sneak peeks or stingers into other events in the universe — typical for MCU to do. They’ve all been different in tone or calibur, from a sweet team-up between the US and Wakanda to a zombified Thanos decked out with the Infinity Gauntlet. With only two more episodes remaining in the season, What If…? has to start wrapping up whatever arc the anthology series is crafting through these endings, and have about an hour of screen-time left to do it in.
The Ultron/Vision hybrid could be the start of the end, even teaming up with other enemies fans have seen in passing during What If…?’s run. It could be a must-see television event if there was a face-off between the multiverse’s wildest villains and its mightiest heroes — especially since fans have had to sit with a similar idea in a recent teaser for the series. Whatever happens in the last two episodes, let’s hope there’s an explanation for “What If… Thor Were an Only Child?”’s ending and pray it’s not just written off as a fun, but unfounded story choice.
What If...? is streaming on Disney Plus with new episodes on Wednesdays.