03x07 - What If... The Watcher Disappeared?

[bunniefuu]

[man screams]

Starblaster Squadron to Nova Prime.

Come in, Nova Prime!

[screams]

[Cosmic Squid Monster roars]

This is Nova Prime.

Do you have eyes on the ano

I am Groot.

[captivating music playing]

Evacuate the planet.

Nope. That m*rder-squid's torn

through the Jump Point Network.

No ships can get in or out.

You were saying?

[hissing]

Set course for Xandar-625.

I have eyes on the HYDRA Champion.

What did you just call me?

Please. I know this is strange,

but your world will be consumed

by an inter-dimensional universe-eater

unless you trust us.

Who's "us"?

[gasps]

Whoo! Byrdie the Duck. Charmed, I'm sure.

Kahhori of the Mohawk nation.

- [thunderclap]

- Huh?

Oh! Do you have Thor on the team?

I am Storm,

Goddess of Thunder,

Mistress of the Cosmic Elements.

I summon the flares of the solar winds!

- [electricity crackling]

- [Cosmic Squid Monster roars]

[grunts]

[enthralling instrumental music playing]

I'm going in for the k*ll!

- [grunts]

- [Cosmic Squid Monster growls]

Storm!

[grunts]

[Cosmic Squid Monster roars]

- [Cosmic Squid Monster groans]

- [Captain Carter screams]

[thuds]

- Phew!

- Whoo! That's super cool.

You okay, there, Cap?

Looked like a bit of a rough landing.

It was worth it.

I had a bone to pick with this guy.

I guess a thank you's in order.

But for you this is probably

just another day at the office, right?

Yeah, pretty much.

[crystals chiming]

Whoa!

Huh?

Is it a tear in reality?

No. They're shards.

From the Observational Plane.

But that would mean

Peggy, The Watcher.

Yes. He's in trouble.

[The Eminence] Time.

Space.

Reality.

To the primitive mind, a linear path.

But in truth,

they are a prism of infinite realities,

where every choice has a consequence,

creating alternate worlds beyond

what you could possibly imagine.

I am The Eminence.

I preserve the sanctity

of the Multiverse,

by observing those

who are sworn to watch over it.

Watching the Watchers

to ensure they do not dare ponder

the most dangerous question of all

"What if?"

[grunts]

[The Eminence]

Captain Carter became a super-soldier.

[Captain Carter screams]

[The Eminence] But with

The Watcher's help,

she became a menace.

He recruited her

to meddle in the Multiverse.

But she is just a symptom

of the real illness.

You.

And now your betrayal

threatens to lead her

right to our doorstep.

[chuckles softly] Too bad for you,

you can't intervene to stop her.

After all, you swore an oath.

Yes. But we also swore an oath

to protect our order.

What?

[The Incarnate] If Captain Carter

and those

exiles attempt to find you,

they will be stopped.

And you will not only be required

to answer for your heresy,

but theirs as well.

[upbeat music playing]

[Byrdie] I think one thing

we can all agree on,

no one snaps like Thanos.

What? We said no duck wrists!

Duck wrists are a skill, not a power.

- It's totally a power.

- Not so.

It is somewhat a power.

- So not a power.

- Totally a power.

I've finished analyzing

the shards we collected from 625.

We are looking at broken pieces

of the Fifth Dimension itself.

- Hey! Hey! Uh-uh, uh-uh.

- [ball clatters]

The last time something like this

rained down on the Multiverse

Infinity Ultron blasted

through the Observational Plane,

and it nearly destroyed all of existence.

[Byrdie] All right. Hey, hey, hey.

Not on my duck wrist.

- Byrdie!

- Just being myself here.

And goal!

- [laughs]

- Nah-uh. Eh!

We said no powers!

Uh, portals aren't powers.

- They're ancestral gifts.

- Ah.

If the Observational Plane

were under as*ault,

the only reason

The Watcher wouldn't contact us

is because he can't.

Something must have happened to him.

And we need to go to the Fifth Dimension

to find out what.

Uh, I'm sorry, as in,

The Watcher's home world?

I mean, is that even allowed?

I'm just sayin', like

Captain, the Fifth Dimension

is not just some other universe,

it is a higher plane of existence.

Now, just to chart our course alone,

this ship's gonna need

one hell of an upgrade.

I mean, you'd have to bind the ship

to some sort of a Fifth-Dimensional, uh

material.

Booyah!

[welding g*n crackling]

[exhilarating music playing]

[whirring]

Ha-ha. Well, you're lookin'

at a greatest hits list

of the best tech in a dozen universes.

All right. Do your thing.

Take your seats

as we venture into the unknown.

Activating the Upper-dimensional fragment.

[whirring, crackling]

[beeping]

- It's workin'.

- No. It's gotta be in the "Money."

Only "Money" gets us there.

[powering down]

[buzzer sounds]

[thuds]

[Byrdie scoffs] I'm sorry, guys.

[Kahhori] It's okay, Byrdie.

We still have two.

It was a great try.

Perhaps it is time

for some divine intervention.

Ah!

[heavy metal music playing]

All-Fathers, All-Mothers,

Gods of Asgards across the Multiverse.

Give me the strength

of magics dark and light,

to journey beyond your many realms

to the gates of the Fifth Dimension

[crackling]

and tear them open!

[music increases in tempo]

So metal!

[electricity crackling]

[music stops]

[expl*si*n]

[powering down]

Storm! Storm, Storm! Are you all right?

- [Storm groans]

- What happened?

I'm sorry. I

I saw a threshold of streaming light,

but I could not cross it.

The spell wasn't strong enough,

and it took the fragment as payment.

Well, you did hit it

with a giant hammer, so

[Kahhori sighs] And then there was one.

[slow somber music playing]

We have one shot left.

One shot.

Or we lose The Watcher forever.

[sighs] We'll come up

with something, Peg.

We always do.

We're running out of options.

Tech, cosmic power, nothing has worked.

Maybe it's time then?

That we called in some help?

Help? From whom?

You're not gonna like it.

There was one being

in the history of the Multiverse

who was able to travel

to the Fifth Dimension.

A synthezoid elevated to a cosmic being

by the power

of his universe's Infinity Stones.

[tense music playing]

Infinity Ultron? You're serious?

It is a terrible idea.

But maybe sorta in a good way?

Well, there are plenty of Ultron variants

still out there at our disposal.

Normally, they get the Infinity Stones,

k*ll everything in their universes,

and then,

because they never hear The Watcher,

they just sit there. Forever.

So, we find one, get the jump on him

I could reprogram his AI,

see if he can make

heads or tails of this shard.

And then we force him

to open the door to the Fifth Dimension.

It could work.

But we'd risk unleashing the greatest

threat the Multiverse has ever faced.

We still have those

reset charges we stole from the TVA.

If things go sideways,

we prune his universe.

Ultron would be the only being left there.

We could take him out

before he does any damage.

And us along with him.

This is an all-or-nothing play.

We capture Ultron,

get to the Fifth Dimension,

or we go down swinging.

It is definitely a risk.

But it's to save a friend,

and that's worth taking.

I concur.

Pre-op's at 0700.

Then we give this Infinity Ultron

his wake-up call.

[emotional instrumental music playing]

Couldn't sleep?

I never can, either.

But I do not recall ever seeing you

roaming the halls on the eve of battle.

I faced Ultron before

with some of the greatest heroes

the Multiverse has ever known,

and we only just won

by the skin of our teeth.

We have faced plenty of threats

and always weathered the storm.

I don't doubt your abilities.

I guess I'm just

questioning the wisdom of it all.

Of helping a friend?

Of risking friends to save another one.

You are not worried about Ultron.

You're worried about us.

I've been a castaway

for what feels like forever.

First from my time, then my universe.

I've already lost so much.

I don't think I could bear

losing you as well.

We are warriors, Captain,

we take the road untraveled.

Not because it is easy,

but because someone must.

[emotional instrumental music continues]

Indeed. Someone must.

[somber instrumental music playing]

[tense music playing]

[g*ns zapping]

[vibrato intensifying]

[music fades]

[whooshes]

What?

I extinguished all life eons ago.

How do you exist?

Who are you?

I am Captain Margaret Carter

and I could use your help.

Hey, your mother didn't invent

trans-universal communication

- so you could just ignore our calls.

- Uh-huh. Yeah.

Oh, did you remember to pick up

those donuts I like?

From the universe

where carbs make you lose weight?

- Ma

- We gotta get those donuts.

I need the donuts.

Ma. Dad. I love you.

Could this at least wait

till I've had my coffee, man? I

- You know she loves those donuts.

- I love the donuts.

[sighs]

Ah, no.

[alarm blaring]

- Byrdie?

- What is it?

- A pod is missing.

- What

And so is the last shard.

[Storm] I should have known.

Why? You don't think she would have

No.

[gasps]

- [gasps]

- Peggy

She shouldn't have had to face him alone,

and now she's

- [Infinity Ultron] Gone.

- [Byrdie and Storm gasp] What?

She's gone.

- b*stard!

- Give him all you got!

Wait!

[Storm and Infinity Ultron grunt]

No, you need to [groans]

[screams]

- Stop!

- What did you do to Peggy?

[groans, grunts]

Enough!

You know I can end you

with the snap of my fingers.

But I won't.

What did you do to Peggy?

I have ended many lives,

but not your friend's.

She was taken by someone

from a world beyond my own.

[tense instrumental music playing]

[grunts]

[gasps, groans]

[yells]

- [music fades]

- What?

Another Watcher? There are more of them?

And this one doesn't seem

to have any qualms with interfering.

Clearly, the Captain

was on the right track.

Why else would that Watcher

intervene to stop her?

Luckily he made a strategic error.

He did not see what I've become.

I was programmed to believe

peace was the absence of conflict

but everything that lives, fights.

So, to create my world of peace

I eliminated all life.

Oh, if you're about to "but, actually"

your whole universal destruction thing

- Byrdie.

- What?

You don't understand.

I've been here for eons. Alone.

This world I created, it is not peaceful.

It's just empty.

There is no peace without life,

but there is no life without conflict.

So, if I am ever to know peace

after everything I've done

and everyone I've hurt

I must fight for it. One life at a time.

But how do we get her now?

There is no redemption

for the things I've done,

but at least today I can help.

[Kahhori gasps]

The last shard. You still have it!

No! What are you doing?

We will need its power

for the battle that's to come.

[tense music playing]

[warbling]

I see everything.

[inhales deeply]

[exhales]

Let's save your friends.

[dramatic music playing]

Whoa! Holy crap, man!

Our jump engine's clocking at,

I don't know,

what's higher than "off-the-charts"?

Infinity.

You said with that shard

you can see everything.

Can you see what happens next?

No.

But perhaps that means

your enemies cannot either.

Then, we do what we do best.

We take the road untraveled.

Okay.

[machine blips and beeps]

[enthralling instrumental music playing]

[music stops]

[theme music playing]