| For other uses, see What If... Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands? (disambiguation) |
- "In this universe, Stephen Strange didn't lose his hands... but his heart. Grief-stricken, Strange sought answers across the world and in the mystic arts."
- ―Watcher
What If... Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands? is the fourth episode of the first season of What If...?
Synopsis[]
A grief-stricken Doctor Strange uses the Eye of Agamotto in a dangerous effort to change the past.
Plot[]
Stephen Strange arrives to pick up his lover Christine Palmer for a night out at a dinner party, but while driving on the coastline, they are involved in a collision. Palmer is killed, leaving Strange completely heartbroken. Searching for answers, he eventually comes across the Masters of the Mystic Arts and learns their ways. After the Ancient One is killed, Doctor Strange acquires the Eye of Agamotto and uses it to defeat Dormammu, saving his reality from the Dark Dimension.
Despite this, Doctor Strange remains haunted about Palmer's death. Using the Eye, he transports himself back two years to the moment he picks up Palmer and tries to avoid any vehicular incidents. However, Doctor Strange gets into yet another crash that kills Palmer. Remaining determined to alter the fate of his lover, Doctor Strange continues to rewind time, but his efforts are proven futile as Palmer constantly dies in every scenario, in different circumstances. First, he tries to take an alternate route to the gala, only for her to still be killed in another crash. When they make it to the gala safely, she drops dead from a heart attack. When he talks her into going to a pizzeria instead, she is gunned down in an armed robbery. When he stands her up, she is killed in a building fire.
Eventually, the Ancient One approaches the devastated Doctor Strange and informs him that Palmer's death is an Absolute Point in time, warning him against changing the past, for that would usher in the end of the universe. Doctor Strange is defiant towards the Ancient One's warning, demanding more power in order to alter the Absolute Point and save Palmer. But when he attempts to use the Eye to reverse time again, the Ancient One intervenes and blasts a bolt of dark magic at Doctor Strange. He wakes up in an unfamiliar land. Doctor Strange discovers a temple and ventures inside, being greeted with an enchantment that casts him further into the structure, where he encounters O'Bengh, the librarian for the Books of Cagliostro. As Cagliostro knew how to break Absolute Points, Doctor Strange uses his library to research his work on time manipulation.
Reading that the key to breaking Absolute Points is through absorbing the powers of other life-forms, Doctor Strange summons a tentacled creature and attempts to bargain for its powers, but the hostile entity attacks him. O'Bengh informs Doctor Strange that mystic beings do not bargain, which leads him to forcefully absorb the powers of the various creatures he summons. As Strange Supreme continues to attain power, Watcher continues to not interfere, stating that the sorcerer's love for his lost flame has gone to his head. Strange Supreme is able to overhear the Watcher's comments.
Strange Supreme freezes himself in time for centuries, bringing increasingly demonic entities to Earth only to take their souls. After killing the tentacled creature he had first encountered, Strange Supreme visits O'Bengh, who is dying from old age. Refusing Strange Supreme's assistance with the Eye of Agamotto, O'Bengh reveals to him that there was another Doctor Strange in this universe. Indeed, that Doctor Strange had refrained from using the Eye to rewind time and reunite with Palmer, deciding to move on from her death.
The actions of Strange Supreme have caused this reality to begin dissipating. As Doctor Strange watches on, he is visited by a vision of the Ancient One, who reveals that her dark magic bolt had split the Stranges into two, allowing for two times to co-exist in one universe. Before vanishing, she decrees that the only one powerful enough to stop Strange Supreme is Doctor Strange himself. A vanishing Wong helps Doctor Strange to protect himself with a spell, before the latter is abducted and confronted by Strange Supreme, who claims that the two must merge in order to be able to save Palmer.
Strange Supreme takes Doctor Strange back to the crash site, but the latter refuses to follow his darker self, warning him that restoring Palmer back to life by creating a paradox would destroy the universe. Growing impatient, Strange Supreme attacks Doctor Strange, sparking a fight. During this, Doctor Strange's Cloak of Levitation sacrifices itself to buy him time to escape. Strange Supreme conjures an illusion of Palmer in a final attempt to turn his alternate self, but Doctor Strange manages to see through it. Thus, Strange Supreme manages to chip away his alternate's protection spell and absorb him.
Strange Supreme unleashes a cascade of energy with the Eye, breaking the Absolute Point and resurrecting Palmer from the dead. However, she begins vanishing as the universe collapses, a direct consequence resulting from the paradox. Finally realizing the mistake he made, he desperately attempts to hold the reality intact, reaching out to the Watcher for help, but he refuses to interfere due to his oath only allowing him to observe the Multiverse. Chastising the sorcerer for not abiding by the warnings, the Watcher thus leaves the universe to its doom. Strange Supreme helplessly watches as Palmer is erased from existence in his arms, her last words was asking him what he had done. Strange Supreme had ultimately failed to save the one person he dedicated much of his time and energy to, now serving penitence for his reckless actions. As the Watcher gives a grim warning of how one simple action could spell the end of a reality, the universe ultimately comes to an end.
Cast[]
Starring Cast:
- Jeffrey Wright as Uatu/Watcher
- Benedict Cumberbatch as Stephen Strange/Strange Supreme / Stephen Strange/Doctor Strange
- Rachel McAdams as Christine Palmer / Stephen Strange/Strange Supreme (disguise)
- Benedict Wong as Wong
- Tilda Swinton as Ancient One
- Ike Amadi as Cagliostro/O'Bengh
- Leslie Bibb as Christine Everhart
Guest Stars:
- Chuck Billy as Additional Voices
- Robin Atkin Downes as Additional Voices
- Fred Tatasciore as Additional Voices
Non-Speaking Characters:
Appearances[]
Locations[]
Events[]
Items[]
- Eye of Agamotto
- Infinity Stones
- Cloak of Levitation
- Tao Mandalas
- Sling Ring
- Inter-Dimensional Portal
- Eldritch Whip
- Guardian Vishanti
- Book of Cagliostro
- Tao Fan
Concepts[]
Vehicles[]
Sentient Species[]
Creatures[]
- Mystical Beings
Organizations[]
- Masters of the Mystic Arts
- CND
- Order of the Watchers
- Vishanti (mentioned)
Mentioned[]
Music[]
| Song title | Artist | Location(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Doctor Strange Theme | Michael Giacchino | Christine Palmer is resurrected by Strange Supreme |
| Manhattan Calling | Extreme Music |
|
| Midnight Serenade | APM Music |
|
| Bugle Call Rag (New Orleans Rhythm Kings cover) |
Benny Goodman |
|
Videos[]
Trivia[]
- This is the first What If...? episode where all of the returning characters are voiced by their live-action actors.
- This episode introduces the concept of absolute points, a specific and fixed event in the timeline that cannot be altered. This concept was later depicted in the first season of Marvel Animation's X-Men '97.[2]
- However, in X-Men '97, absolute points are said to be "events that occur across all timelines" which contradicts the concept established in What If...? where they are meant to be an unavoidable event in one specific timeline. Head writer Beau DeMayo explained that, when they developed the first season, Marvel Studios decided to use "common language" that audiences were already familiar with, but that, ultimately, the show and the MCU are not "connected on the same [Multiversal] tree."[3]
References[]
External Links[]
What If... Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands? on Wikipedia- What If... Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands? on IMDb
- What If... Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands? on Disney+
- What If... Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands? on Marvel Database
