What If...?

[ART!]

Maybe, maybe not. This is a variant who managed to overcome his self-absorption sufficiently to maintain a stable relationship. Maybe he wouldn't be driven to such desperation by his hands' injuries.

This is the only real problem I have with this show: each episode seems to have not just one turning point, but multiple turning points.

 

[Rune]

except that we know that if we break Strange's hands, he will become Dr. Strange as well.

The reason we (some of us) the audience are balking at the Absolute Point claim is because we KNOW it can be done differently.

Except that the moment he did things differently, he would create a variant timeline. The original (from the perspective of the episode) would continue on as scheduled. It’s that original timeline that concerns the Ancient One.

 

[Umbran]

except that we know that if we break Strange's hands, he will become Dr. Strange as well.

That's not necessarily true.

If you break OUR Strange's hands, he will become the Sorcerer Supreme. But the Strange in "What If...?" was emotionally a different man. The major difference is seen in how he had embraced an loving romantic connection ours did not. The point of variance isn't in the death of his girlfriend, but earlier, before the show, when he opened his heart to her.

It is possible that, with that connection, broken hands wouldn't lead him on that journey - he'd have someone else to lean on, and not have quite so much drive to regain what he had lost, but instead find a way forward with his damaged hands.

Edit: Whoops, someone already made this argument. Sorry for the repetition.

 

[Umbran]

This is the only real problem I have with this show: each episode seems to have not just one turning point, but multiple turning points.

Life has multiple turning points.

 

[Umbran]

Another sad episode.

Plenty to nitpick. Zombeye's good bow arm should have rotted off by the time he got from San Francisco to NYC
It's pretty far fetched that he and ZombCap happened to wander from the west coast to the east coast. That's a long hike for random shambling. Maybe strange popped them over to "help" before losing control.

Well, zombie Strange still has his powers - so he can fetch them after he becomes a zombie.

 

[Stalker0]

...That's a long hike for random shambling. Maybe strange popped them over to "help" before losing control.

All the zombie heroes seemed to have good control of their powers despite being zombies. though without that, zombie avengers wouldn't be more dangerous.

I don't think that's a nitpick but a plotpoint. These are not your stereotypical dumb zombies, the infected seem for the most part to maintain some rationale and drive. And the Avengers being the super extra driven people they are...it makes sense that they are still getting around.

In fact the one thing I give this episode props for, this is an actual believable zombie apocolpype. The fact that people maintain a good amount of their intelligence and speed, combined with the super super super fast spread of the infection.... yeah this is actually a world killing zombie plague, as opposed to most zombie plagues where a well supplied and trained fighting force could easily take out.

 

[Umbran]

... yeah this is actually a world killing zombie plague, as opposed to most zombie plagues where a well supplied and trained fighting force could easily take out.

Ever read (not watch, but read) World War Z? The Battle of Yonkers....

 

[ART!]

That's not necessarily true.

If you break OUR Strange's hands, he will become the Sorcerer Supreme. But the Strange in "What If...?" was emotionally a different man. The major difference is seen in how he had embraced an loving romantic connection ours did not. The point of variance isn't in the death of his girlfriend, but earlier, before the show, when he opened his heart to her.

It is possible that, with that connection, broken hands wouldn't lead him on that journey - he'd have someone else to lean on, and not have quite so much drive to regain what he had lost, but instead find a way forward with his damaged hands.

Life has multiple turning points.

Sure, great, but we're not talking about "life", we're talking about drama, and in this case drama trimmed down to 30 minutes or so, with parts of a 2-hour movie for some context. The turning point in the Dr. Strange What-If..?. episode is some change in his character at some unknown point in his past that the story doesn't explain or even reference, but instead treats the death as a the turning point, which it isn't. It's an odd story-telling choice.

That said, it's probably my favorite What-If...? ep so far.

 

[Umbran]

Sure, great, but we're not talking about "life", we're talking about drama, and in this case drama trimmed down to 30 minutes or so, with parts of a 2-hour movie for some context. The turning point in the Dr. Strange What-If..?. episode is some change in his character at some unknown point in his past that the story doesn't explain or even reference, but instead treats the death as a the turning point, which it isn't. It's an odd story-telling choice.

That said, it's probably my favorite What-If...? ep so far.

So, I think it is good to think of "What If..?" episodes as short stories rather than novels. The short story, as a medium, makes great use of implied story, rather than explicit story.

 

[Blue]

There is no mandate on a happy ending, but a satisfying ending is still desired. The rules of modern storytelling (at least from an American culture perspective) is that the ending is crafted in part by the actions of the Protagonists.

In the last episode, this occurred. Strange's obsession is what led to the end, as was the inability of his twin to stop him. So even though it was a dark ending, I found it a satisfying one.

In this one, we see the heroes go for a cure.....and then Thanos just snaps his fingers and probably messes up everything they did... completely separate from the actions of the Protagonists. Its the storytelling equivalent of "rocks fall you all die"

Is that a realistic ending?....sure. Its just not a satisfying one.

Um, Thanos didn't snap. He doesn't have the Mind Stone yet. We know the heroes have it, and it was quite obvious it is missing from the glove. That scene was foreshadowing that Zombie Thanos is coming, not undoing anything the protagonists did. And it was an appropriate capstone for starting with the Children of Thanos showing at the beginning of the episode.