What If...?

[RangerWickett]

And I say 'bah' to that. She had to 'die' because he needed the motivation to become Sorcerer Supreme or else he couldn't time travel, and that would be a paradox. But there's no indication the universe cared about killing her except that it would ensure the paradox didn't happen.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

@RangerWickett you must not like Doctor Who either, as that show also uses the "fixed point in time" reason for why the various Doctors cannot just travel back in time to change some specific events.

 

[RangerWickett]

@RangerWickett you must not like Doctor Who either, as that show also uses the "fixed point in time" reason for why the various Doctors cannot just travel back in time to change some specific events.

The Doctor isn't a wizard who can create illusions. And frankly, yeah, there are a fair number of Doctor Who episodes where the justification for not cheating with time travel is flimsy.

 

[MarkB]

Go and watch the episode again. He tried to change things up, even did not show up for their date. She still died, just in ways other than the car crash. She was destined to die in that timeline and nothing could change that. And when he tried, he destroyed that universe.

It was only a fixed point because changing it would cause a paradox. Because without her death he doesn't gain access to the powers he'll need in order to save her.

Preserving the motivation while changing the actual event should be a valid solution.

 

[Stalker0]

It was only a fixed point because changing it would cause a paradox.

That’s the assumption strange makes, but at the end of the day it’s a fixed point because it’s a fixed point, because the universe says so. You don’t really need more explanation than that

 

[Rune]

That’s the assumption strange makes, but at the end of the day it’s a fixed point because it’s a fixed point, because the universe says so. You don’t really need more explanation than that

That may be correct. But I think there’s room for the reverse to be true, instead. The Ancient One assumes that the Absolute Point is unalterable and Strange defies that assumption in anger, frustration, and grief – choosing a path that he knows will ultimately break time (if successful), even if he doesn’t understand or believe that doing so will also destroy the universe.

If he were thinking clearly, though, he might instead have been able to find a different solution to the puzzle. Like going even further back in time and preemptively crushing his hands, perhaps.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

If he were thinking clearly, though, he might instead have been able to find a different solution to the puzzle. Like going even further back in time and preemptively crushing his hands, perhaps.

The problem with this is we are seeing an alternate version of Strange, one where the hand crushing never happened and has nothing to do with why he sought training in the mystic arts. In the movie, the core MCU timeline, he was alone in the car, so there was no one dead to save.

 

[Ryujin]

The problem with this is we are seeing an alternate version of Strange, one where the hand crushing never happened and has nothing to do with why he sought training in the mystic arts. In the movie, the core MCU timeline, he was alone in the car, so there was no one dead to save.

And for some reason he seemingly failed to notice the other fixed point in this incident; that he didn't also die.

 

[Rune]

The problem with this is we are seeing an alternate version of Strange, one where the hand crushing never happened and has nothing to do with why he sought training in the mystic arts. In the movie, the core MCU timeline, he was alone in the car, so there was no one dead to save.

That doesn’t really prohibit the future variant Strange from going even further back (before the accident) and changing the specific absolute point to a different one that works just as well.

Assuming that the Absolute Point is actually based on paradox, that is, and not just some arbitrary law of the universe. As my example explicitly assumed.

Of course, doing so might mean paradox anyway, because the changed Strange would be a variant in a different timeline…

 

[Mirtek]

Well this time issue is a bit different. the TVA were pruning alternate timelines, creating just the one. The Watcher was talking about once an alternate timeline has been set and The Ancient was talking about key events, that can't be changed. In this case that key event is what created the alternate.

But if that key event is fixed, then how can the timeline created from it be the alternative? Must this then not by definition be the sacred timeline?