- "The end of the world began with a birth of the Celestial that had been gestating deep beneath the surface. In this universe, the Emergence occurred years before the Eternals could unite to stop it. But one man saw the chaos as an opportunity. The brilliant but ego-maniacal engineer, Quentin Beck, who took over Stark Industries. What followed was a long and protracted war between an Alliance of resistance fighters and Beck's Iron Federation. And with victory within his grasp, Beck was determined to ensure the Alliance took its last breath before he did."
- ―Watcher
What If... The Emergence Destroyed The Earth? is the fifth episode of the third season of What If...?
Synopsis[]
Riri Williams embarks on a deadly mission to take down the authoritarian Quentin Beck.
Plot[]
Mysterio rules the world
Without Eternals uniting to save the world, Tiamut the Communicator's birth comes unhindered and his Emergence destroys the Earth, leaving the planet as a wreckage. The humanity faces an unprecedented chaos and devastation, during which Quentin Beck seizes an opportunity to take over Stark Industries and gain control over its technology. Using his illusion technology, the Iron Legion, and White Vision, Beck establishes his Iron Federation and rules over the remnants of the world with an iron fist. The Alliance of freedom fighters fight back against him, but Beck's forces overwhelm them and drive the Alliance to the brink of destruction.
Ironheart on a mission
Hiding from the Iron Legion, Riri Williams arrives on a secret meeting with Sharon Carter to purchase a Kiddy Cake Cooker, which had a part she needed to complete her weapon. However, Carter betrays Williams and sells her out to the Iron Federation, so she has to escape from the Iron Legion and White Vision. Williams manages to survive thanks to her suit, before Ying Nan, Wong, Okoye, and Valkyrie rescue her. They tell Williams that the Alliance is aware that she is building a weapon to neutralize White Vision and ask for her help to fight against Beck's tyranny.
The Alliance unite
The Alliance brings Williams to their last base, aboard the RMS Titanic, although Williams initially hesitates with making a decision. At that time, the Alliance receives an intruder alarm and tell Williams to finish her device, while they buy some time for her. White Vision infiltrates the base and lays waste to the Alliance forces, killing every member he encounters including Brock Rumlow, while Ying Nan and the others protect the workshop. White Vision manages to pass through Wong's spell and confronts Williams, but her weapon finally works and she destroys White Vision, to Beck's displeasure.
Ironheart becomes synthezoid
The Alliance torches up the base and grieves over their fallen comrades, while Williams finds a determination to bring down the Iron Federation once and for all. She gathers the Alliance members and tells them that without White Vision, Beck's stronghold is as vulnerable as ever, so they need to launch an offense. They argue that Beck's illusion network is still a major threat, but Williams insists that she can use White Vision's remaining parts she collected to circumvent illusions and gain access to Beck's mainframe. Although Wong warns her of how dangerous her plan is, Williams refuses to back down and integrates White Vision's parts into her own body, becoming a synthezoid hybrid.
Ironheart leads the charge
Williams lead the Alliance forces to Beck's stronghold, her upgrades allowing to see past Beck's illusions and differentiate which threat is real or fake. However, during the attack, William's neural network malfunctions and Beck's anti-aerial system shoot the Alliance down. Williams gets woken up by Ying Nan who tells her that the rest of the team is holding off Beck's forces, while they need to hurry up and finish the mission. Williams and Ying Nan make their way through the Iron Legion to Beck's central network hub but once Williams tries to connect with it, she discovers that all of it, including Ying Nan, was just an illusion conjured by Beck.
Being trapped in a holding cell, Williams encounters Beck face to face, and fails to understand how did he trick her, since she followed the signal to the central network. Beck reveals that he injected the nanites into his own body and controls his illusions directly, although the process took a serious physical toll on his body. Beck tells Williams that after witnessing her bonding with a synthezoid body, he realized that he can do the same to survive, and tortures Williams. She manages to use the connection between their systems against him and fights back, but Beck's illusions make it impossible for her to fight him properly. She demands Beck to get down and face her, to which Beck replies that if his illusions cannot break her, he will use the truth.
Uatu cannot bear to watch
Beck reveals that all that time, she did not even reach his headquarters and was still in the fields, while her Alliance comrades were long dead by that point. Williams reaches her breaking point and gives up her fighting spirit, which Beck uses his nanites to absorb the synthezoid parts from Williams and augment himself with them. The Watcher, who has been witnessing that universe, remarks that Williams' failure was an inevitable outcome, and as much as it pains him, he cannot interfere. As Beck is about to finish Williams off, the Watcher decides that he cannot let that happen again and breaks his oath, communicating with Williams directly and encouraging her to fight back.
The Order of the Watchers observe Uatu
Williams manages to reverse the process and absorbs Beck's nanites, taking full control over his illusion network and leaving Beck defenseless. He taunts Williams that even though she won, he still remains the absolute ruler of the world and there was nothing she could do with that, but Williams replies that she can give the people hope to resist. She uses her illusion powers to light up a giant Avengers logo in the skies, inspiring the humanity that they are not alone in their fight, so they rise against Beck's reign, while Beck's body can no longer sustain itself and he dies. The Eminence, the Incarnate, the Executioner witness the Watcher break his oath of not interfering once again, which they can no longer stand and set their sights on him.
Cast[]
Starring Cast:
- Jeffrey Wright as Uatu/Watcher
- Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams/Ironheart
- Alejandro Saab as Quentin Beck/Mysterio
- Emily VanCamp as Sharon Carter/Power Broker
- Tessa Thompson as Brunnhilde/Valkyrie
- Michelle Wong as Ying Nan
- DC Douglas as Incarnate
- Darin De Paul as Executioner
- Kenna Ramsey as Okoye
- David Chen as Wong / Additional Voices
- Jason Isaacs as Eminence
Guest Stars
- Terri Douglas as Additional Voices
- Matt Yang King as Additional Voices
- Andrew Morgado as Additional Voices
- Kari Wahlgren as Additional Voices
- Debra Wilson as Additional Voices
- Shelby Young as Additional Voices
Non-Speaking Characters
Appearances[]
Locations[]
Events[]
Items[]
- Ironheart Armor: Mark I
- Iron Legion
- Kiddy Cake Cooker
- Vibranium
- Dragonfang
- Mysterio Suit
- B.A.R.F.
- Arc Reactor
- Nanites
- Guardian Vishanti
Concepts[]
Vehicles[]
Sentient Species[]
- Watchers
- Humans
- Synthezoids
- Asgardians
- Celestials
- Eternals (mentioned)
Creatures[]
- Dogs (sticker)
- Butterflies (stickers)
- Unicorns (sticker)
Organizations[]
- Iron Federation
- Stark Industries
- Alliance
- Order of the Watchers
- Avengers (logo)
- Vishanti (mentioned)
Mentioned[]
- Riri Williams
- Quentin Beck (indirectly)
- Vision (indirectly)
- Casper the Friendly Ghost
Videos[]
Clips[]
Trivia[]
- Several scenes used in this episodes have been duplicated from prior episodes.
- The scene of Alliance soldiers running up the stairs used around the 9:21 mark is duplicated from What If... Captain Carter Fought the HYDRA Stomper? when STRIKE agents are running up the stairs around the 8:25 mark.
- The scene containing soldiers smashing open the door at around the 9:20 mark is a duplicated, but flipped, shot from What If... The Red Guardian Stopped the Winter Soldier? at around 21:15.
- The scene with Alliance soldiers roaming around the RMS Titanic at around the 9:24 mark is duplicated from What If... The Red Guardian Stopped the Winter Soldier? again around the 24:15 mark when the Red Room's soldiers are searching for Alexei Shostakov and Bucky Barnes. However, the lighting has been changed to fit the scene.
- The scene with the Alliance solider searching for White Vision at around the 9:27 mark is duplicated from What If... Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark? around the 11:17 mark when Ulysses Klaue's mercenaries search around the Salvage Yard for any intruders. However, the scene has been darkened and is played in reverse.
- The scene where Brock Rumlow and several Alliance soldiers point their guns down a hallway at around the 9:31 mark is duplicated from What If... Captain Carter Fought the HYDRA Stomper? when Brock Rumlow and several STRIKE agents point their guns at the HYDRA Stomper around the 9:43 mark. However, the scene has been darkened and has been flipped horizontally.
Behind the Scenes[]
To be added
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