Season 1 / Episode 4: What If... Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?

When Uatu calls your white privilege having ass out ...
Very necessary comment, I'm sure. Thank you for helping me understand what was going on there. I stupidly thought it was just a grief-ridden guy doing stupid things to bring back the lady he loved.
 
Someone who made this has definitely watched/played/read Steins;Gate before lol.

I'm a bit confused about the fixed points in time here though. How can Christine's death be fixed/unchangeable for this universe given what we've seen of how the multiverse works and the fact we know she didn't have to die at that time in what was the 'sacred' timeline?

I assume it's a fixed point in this 1 specific universe and in the "sacred" timeline, Strange getting his hands mangled is a fixed point in that universe.
 
I assume it's a fixed point in this 1 specific universe.
How does that work though? What causes it to become fixed? And wouldn't at least the rules for how new universes are created have to remain consistent for a multiverse to work?

Also wonder what set Strange of the path of looking for a cure to death. I can understand that as a man of hard science he went out looking for a cutting edge medical technology that may fix his hands and eventually in desperation look for alternative cures and finally be convinced by Jonathan Pangborn's story to try looking for Kamar-Taj. But I wonder what this man of hard science thought to find out about bringing his loved one back from the dead in science and what the equivalent story was that would convince him of Kamar-Taj. Did he find someone who was brought back from the dead there?
 
I'm assuming yeah his motivation to go there was to learn how to change the past...

Good question about whether he found a story where someone was brought back (or even rumours of such an incident).
Or maybe just that time travel can happen and he put one and one together.
 
How does that work though? What causes it to become fixed? And wouldn't at least the rules for how new universes are created have to remain consistent for a multiverse to work?

I don't think there's really any rhyme or reason for fixed points. Since we have a multiverse of infinite universes, it could very well just be random.. Its like in Doctor Who, even though that show is all about time travel, there are certain events in history that cannot be changed whatsoever.
 
As short as it was, the Doctor Strange vs Sorcerer Armani fight was probably my favorite so far in the show.
 
If the shoe didn’t fit you wouldn’t have been so bothered with my opinion.
No. Race has nothing to do with someone acting on grief, arrogance, pain and anger, and doing what Strange does. That's a normal human problem. White, black, asian, middle eastern etc. the world is filled with people who think they have the right to play God, when they so obviously don't. I think it's ignoring basic human nature to say otherwise and is factually incorrect.
 
At a certain point in the episode when Doctor Strange is absorbing the mystical creatures the Watcher contemplates intervening but he then states: “the fate of this universe is not worth risking the safety of all others”.

Later on when everything was doomed he confronted DS saying: “Honestly, if I could fix this, if I could punish you instead, I would. But I can't interfere. You, more than anyone else, should understand that meddling with time and events only leads to more destruction.”

It seems clear the Watcher will eventually interfere when the stakes are high enough and I bet he will recruit Evil Doctor Strange from his pocker dimension.
 
Is it a new time travel concept? Here time travel could lead to universe ending paradox (saving Christine will prevent Strange from being a sorcerer in current timeline) whereas in MCU time travel leads to a new timeline (killing baby Thanos won’t prevent the snap in current timeline).

according to the MCU time travel rule, saving Christine will lead to a new timeline/branch whereas Strange won’t become a sorcerer but no impact on the current timeline whereas sorcerer Strange travels back in time to mess with another timeline. The Christine in his timeline is still dead thus no paradox.
 
Last edited:
Is it a new time travel concept? Here time travel could lead to universe ending paradox (saving Christine will prevent Strange from being a sorcerer in current timeline) whereas in MCU time travel leads to a new timeline (killing baby Thanos won’t prevent the snap in current timeline).

according to the MCU time travel rule, saving Christine will lead to a new timeline/branch whereas Strange won’t become a sorcerer but no impact on the current timeline whereas sorcerer Strange travels back in time to mess with another timeline. The Christine in his timeline is still dead thus no paradox.

This episode was basically an "homage" to The Time Machine movie... hell, it's basically the same plot. It's the same time travel concept
 
So the one change from the sacred timeline was Christine getting in the car?
 
So the one change from the sacred timeline was Christine getting in the car?

A bit more than that I'd say: In his movie they had already split up at the start. He did ask her to to go with him to to the dinner thing and she refused (he thought she was dating the incompetent surgeon). She even named her 'no dating colleagues' rule after him.

While we can say Strange did have feelings for her nothing suggested he'd go on an ends of the earth mystic quest if he ever lost her. And the way the first death/accident occurred he couldn't even blame himself.

For this story it seems they are still a couple and he is very much in love with her. Like Hope van Dyne being recruited by Shield off screen in the past for the previous episode, Strange & Christine's relationship was improved off screen in the past. Least that's the way I saw it at any rate.
 
Terrific episode, with great visuals and all the actors - especially McAdams and Cumby - really knocking it out of the park. With her comedy chops Rachel is a fantastic fit for the MCU, so I'm really hoping Raimi gives her something to do in the sequel. I would love to see her turned into Tigra or something. My one quibble is I wish Uatu would stop with the " one change" spiel in his intro, since each timeline we've seen so far has multiple adjustments
 
Last edited:
Nice how even the oficial DS Twitter page also changed its name and image.

 
Damn, that was dark. In terms of quality, this was the best episode so far. The animation, visuals, story, and acting were top notch.

Hopefully this is a glimpse of what to expect in Multiverse of Madness, especially with the monster/horror aspect. This is where Raimi excels at
 
The “anglerfish” sequence in this episode has to be one of the best things I’ve seen in this series so far. The way Doctor Strange Supreme tricks DS by appearing from the shadows and pulling DS into the “underworld” was sudden and scary.
 
Nice how even the oficial DS Twitter page also changed its name and image.


Mua2FPGGtyNAUybOA3hQt9k5KK23yUIztKFWxwUyHak.jpg
 
I’m really curious about the “time” hierarchy in the MCU/MCM because the Watcher is clearly observes the vast realities but cannot intervene. I know in the comics he’s assigned this role, but in this format, is he aware of the TVA or is he a part of the timelines themselves versus being independent? I wonder if Kang is aware of his existence.
 
Wow.

When Uatu calls your white privilege having ass out for the reckless, cataclysmic, universe destroying decisions you made, you know you really f***ed up.

If they let Raimi really cut loose in Multiverse of Madness and have him showing demons and let him do his horror thing, I’ll be really impressed.

Very pleasantly surprised by this dark, creepy and engaging episode.

The fast and loose and unexplained in the light of Endgame's Time Travel rules issues not withstanding...

This was a fantastic episode, far better than it deserves to be and part of it was how less episodic cartoon it was and much more cinematic all around. The voice cast were all very much on point and the live action performers doing the voice work here added a lot.

This was very much, along with the previous ep, a real taste of what the What If...? Comics were, a mix between Twilight Zone and super heroes.

Cumberbatch's casting keeps paying off in this role.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top
monitoring_string = "afb8e5d7348ab9e99f73cba908f10802"