Throughout Marvel's What If...?, the Watcher struggles to stick by his oath to avoid intervening in the atrocities he is forced to witness. His inability (and refusal to do so) has caused tension between the Watcher and other heroes, especially Doctor Strange. Because the Watcher praises himself for knowing all about the many universes and their conflicts, the Watcher would have known about the role he would be forced to take in the animated series' ninth episode.

Prior to "What If... The Watcher Broke His Oath," the Watcher was baited into a fight with Ultron in What If...?'s eighth episode. Upon gaining the infinity stones, Ultron becomes aware of the Watcher's existence and vows to find him. Ultron lives up to his word, leading to a fight between Ultron and the Watcher, which sends them crashing through various universes (giving a sneak peek of what may come in the Multiverse of Madness). In order to rectify Ultron's presence, the Watcher is forced to do something he vowed never to do.

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In the Watcher's first verbal confrontation with Ultron (the moment Ultron becomes aware of the Watcher), the Watcher reminds everyone that he has seen everything that has already happened, the potential to happen, or will happen in the future. Even with that knowledge, the Watcher is baffled by the idea of Ultron's power being unleashed upon the Multiverse. Unable to fathom the destruction that may take place, the Watcher insists that "There is still hope for the universe. One last hope." As it is doubtful that the Watcher (who seemingly knows all) would need to have a backup plan, the Watcher should have already known the answer to his Ultron problem, but it's posed more of a hypothetical than his actual power.

The Watcher and Doctor Strange in What If...?

Ultimately, the Watcher has his own fight with Ultron before he goes to Doctor Strange for help. It would seem that going to Doctor Strange was the Watcher's plan all along and that he would've done so sooner had Ultron not successfully located him. It's then a matter of determining whether the Watcher thought he could assemble the team before Ultron's arrival, or if he knew he had to fight him first. Because the Watcher's knowledge of time was not fully explored, it's hard to know which answer is the right one. Whether he knew or not, the Watcher did know that he had to turn to Doctor Strange for help.

In Doctor Strange's own episode of What If...?, he becomes aware of the Watcher himself. Reeling from the many times he has had to live with Christine dying, Strange tries everything in his power to rectify this, but always comes up short. Despite the warnings that Christine's death is an Absolute Point in time, Strange continues to try and save her, which costs him even more. While Strange becomes frustrated with the Watcher for merely allowing all of this destruction to occur, the Watcher reminds him that Strange decided not to heed the warnings placed before him and that the Watcher has taken an oath not to intervene. He continues by insisting that meddling with time only leads to more destruction.

If the Watcher has indeed seen everything that has or will happen, and knows that meddling with time creates more destruction, does he know what is in store for the Multiverse now that he has meddled with time? On top of his own vow to never intervene in the fates of the universes he has been tasked to watch, he has not only guided Strange to band a group of heroes together to be the Guardians of the Multiverse, but he has physically involved himself in a fight with Ultron. If the Watcher's warnings throughout the series are true, then there should be a greater conflict arriving than Ultron to threaten the Multiverse.

This has already been built upon in both WandaVision and Loki. Through both series, there have been major consequences that have already begun to arouse because they have tampered with time. All of these events are leading up to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and while What If...? is an animated series, the Multiverse present within it is also now subject to change. If not as a result of the events within WandaVision, Loki, or the Multiverse of Madness, it will be because of the Watcher's own choice to meddle with time.

Loki provided a glimpse of someone like the Watcher already. Throughout the series, Loki and Sylvie tried to hunt down the Time Keepers, who they discovered were being ordered by He Who Remains. Upon meeting him, they learn that He Who Remains knew what was going to happen on their timeline and put certain actions into place in order to keep it stable. By implementing factions like the TVA, He Who Remains believed he was protecting his universe from the destruction he knew it would face in the wake of another Multiversal war. Because He Who Remains was able to see and predict so much in regard to time, it is likely that he knew of his own demise and the re-opening of the Multiverse that Sylvie caused. Sylvie's choice to meddle with time will have directly impact the future of the MCU, especially in the upcoming Multiverse of Madness movie.

Wanda meddled with time and reality in her own way in WandaVision and she has already begun to pay for that subconscious choice. Now that she's the Scarlet Witch (and much more dangerous), she will continue to make the Multiverse a difficult place to navigate. Of course, Wanda and Loki are not alone in their time meddling, as the Spider-Man: No Way Home trailer showed Doctor Strange doing the same thing. A spell that went wrong (perhaps at the same time as Sylvie re-opening the Multiverse) appears to have opened another bout of Multiversal issues for Doctor Strange to try and correct both in No Way Home and the Multiverse of Madness.

So, even if the Watcher's own abilities in regard to time were not explored expansively throughout What If...?'s short season, it is possible that it will continue to be explored through future seasons of the animated series. Marvel projects always piggyback off one another to create a long-term story, so this likely isn't the last anyone has seen of the Watcher in any form.

What If...? is now streaming on Disney Plus.

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