WHAT IF Season 2 Episode 8 Breakdown | Ending Explained, Post Credits & Marvel Easter Eggs

Welcome to the Heavy Spoilers show, I’m your host Paul, and in this video, we’re breaking down What If.

The 8th episode of Season 2 is now out, and there’s a lot to unpack from it. The episode sees an alternate version of the timeline set in 1602 that we discover is being racked by world-ending stakes. There’s a lot to talk about, and the basis for this Earth actually has some roots in the comics. Can’t talk about them without giving a spoiler alert though, so if you don’t want to know, then turn off now. If you enjoy it, then please click the thumbs up, and don’t forget to subscribe for videos like this every day.

With that out of the way, huge thanks for clicking this, now let’s get into 1602.

WHAT IF…? SEASON 2 EPISODE 8 BREAKDOWN: AVENGERS 1602

Ok, so back in 2003, Neil Gaiman and Andy Kubert dropped the 1602 storyline, which took place over 8 issues. This saw strange weather patterns happening across the planet, which made many believe that the apocalypse had started.

Gaiman said he always saw the Marvel universe as magic and had really wanted to explore the

Like the episode, there were rifts in time, and it turned out that Steve Rogers had been sent back, which had caused the issues. Things got tied up with Steve going back, but several sequel comics spun out from it, including a Spider-Man book. This was set off because of the energies from the rift, which contaminated a spider that bit Peter at the end.

There are some really cool callbacks to the comics, and medieval universes have also appeared in other stories.

During Jonathan Hickman’s Fantastic Four Run, we watched as Reed Richards built a bridge to look into other worlds. This allowed him to see into other realities in order to try and solve the problems of his own.

For example, something like Civil War went down worse than me missing the first 4 episodes of What If, and Reed wants to see if there’d been a world that fixed it. Thus, he stared into the multiverse and searched for realities that would help his.

So yeah, lots of things going on, and we actually pick up with Peggy already sort of settled into this universe. When we last left her, she had just been pulled into the universe, but here she’s been there for a while, investigating the issues. In the end, it’s another instance where Steve and Peggy can’t be together because reality’s tearing itself apart. It turns out that when Steve was fighting Thanos, he struck the Time Stone and shattered it.

This has caused the early 21st century and the 1600s to become compressed, explaining why the heroes with Steve are back in this time. Everything up to Infinity War was the same, so these figures wouldn’t have been born back in the time.

This is what has caused the issues, and we begin with Loki reciting Hamlet on stage at the Globe Theatre. This is where a lot of early Shakespearian works debuted, and Loki mentions his friend Will later on.

In the upper section, we catch Thor, his sister Hela, Nicky Fury, and Happy Hogan. Hogan ends up going Happy Hulk Hogan later on, and brother… the puns are still A-one.

Now Loki is sucked up into the sky where he’s pulled down by Peggy, but the rift still ends up doing its damage. Pulling Hela up, this now puts Thor in charge, who takes her scepter. This resembles the one that Loki carried in Avengers, but we can see it’s got the Time Stone instead of the Mind one. This is because it’s all tied in with lots of timey-wimey, wibbly-wobbly stuff, with the Time Stone coming back too.

WHAT IF…? SEASON 2 EPISODE 8: EASTER EGGS AND REFERENCES IN AVENGERS 1602

During Secret Wars, they tried to use the Infinity Stones to stop an incursion, but this shattered them all except for the Time Stone. That has somewhat sentience and thus traveled through time in order to survive.

The storms are growing strong, and thus Peggy is deemed as being cursed and causing them to get worse.

I love how when you see Happy come in, you see him go purple for a second because man’s just about to hulk out. Him doing this, of course, was set up in the Die Hard episode, with his purple Hulk probably using the emoji with even more accuracy.

Now the reason that I brought up the Civil War thing before is that after the title sequence, we get a sort of Sokovian Accords split in the teams. However, Thor has replaced Tony, with Tony now being on the side of the rebels.

Peggy, like Cap, is on the run, and we discover that Wanda reached into a neighboring universe to save her own. I do wonder if the reason things are actually getting worse is because of the way that incursions work in the MCU, with them worsening due to Peggy’s arrival. In the movie universe, an incursion happens because

someone’s on an alternate reality for too long. This pulls the Earths together, and I wonder if Peggy being here is what’s causing the added issues.

That’s a theory time, but yeah, in these reality-ending days, it’s definitely worth discussing.

We discover that this universe is dying, and Peggy shows her perception’s improved by hearing the Watcher.

In the comics, he would normally appear when there was a seminal event about to go down, but I think her meeting him before means she can pick him up.

Even is a bit annoyed by his narration, but she refuses to go back to her world. We see Nick going through battle strategies, and ey, Sword and Shield… it works in this universe.

Nick Fury brings up Nebales Observatory and the Isle of Ego, which… ey, you get them. Also, I like how Ego is an island, whereas he’s a planet in the main universe.

Wanda talks about the future person, which has caused the rifts, and ey, makes sense it’s Steve because he’s the man out of time. Overhearing this, we see as Fury is playing both sides as per, and he instructs Peggy to take it as a new mission.

Cutting across to a barn, we meet this universe’s Tony Stark and can catch a Mark 1 armor-type mask on the side. Later on, we see Obadiah’s is being used on Bruce Banner, with him being a play on the man in the iron mask.

Tony and Peggy examine the skull, which came close in contact with the tear.

He also asks her for some of her words, with her saying “Flux Capacitor,” which, ey, I like it. This obviously comes from Back to the Future, and bit of spam, got a big breakdown of the movie on the channel right now.

Cut to Loki, who talks about Shakespeare writing a play about Iago, who was a character that popped up in Othello. The way he talks about him later, it’s clear that Loki’s playing him, but guys… you missed out on a bloody deep cut. Surprised that he didn’t say Cassio, as that’s who Hiddleston played when Kenneth Branagh saw him for the first time. Kenneth Branagh directed the first Thor, and as I’ve been saying… it’s all connected.

All connected shirts now available just below the videos. Helps support the channel.

Anyway, his carriage is ransacked by Rogers Hood and his band of merry men. Rogers Hood… you don’t need me to go over the Robin Hood connection there, do ya mate? Come on, man, promised the wife I’d have the week off for Christmas and New Year.

Pfffft, right so, Robin Hood was a British folktale that originated in Nottingham about a kind-hearted thief who stole from the rich to give to the poor. Here, his band of merry men is made up of Ant-man and Winter Soldier, with Buck even having a black and silver metal arm like how he did around Infinity War. Scott’s got his belt, and we can also see that Cap still has the star in the middle of his armor.

Believing he’s seen a ghost, Steve says that his Margaret passed many moons ago. In the initial reality he came from, she of course died during the events of Civil War, with her passing away from old age at the start of the film.

The pair are still destined to be together, and we see as they have a talk in the bar. This is a location that the pair have often sat and got closer at, with Peggy not really wanting to discuss her Steve.

“No, I don’t think I will.”
Which is beautifully pulling from this moment.

However, it’s broken up by the arrival of the Yellowjackets, which build off the back of Ant-Man’s first major foe.

These assassins force Scott to shrink too, with him riding on the back of Anthony.

Cap’s shield in this also somewhat hints to there being ties to Infinity War, as it’s a similar shape to how it was in that. Man’s also rocking the beard and the slicked-back look too, so we can date him as coming from that time period.

Now, Bucky messes up and makes Happy mad, which… is that… is that why they did the whole thing… to do like a happy and mad pun.

Anyway, the Destroyer from Thor is brought in, with it busting out the eye lasers that we saw in that.

Ant-Man ends up turning this on its own men, and Peggy has to drop in to block the blast.

This gives a similar shot to the famous one from Civil War that appeared not only in the movie but also in the comics.

Cut to Red Skull, who’s now an executioner, and we see as Peggy’s put up in a tower. This is similar to the Tower of London, which was used as a way to hold enemies of the realm… and even queens themselves. Looking at you Lizzy.

Anyway, The Watcher shows up to speak to Peggy, with the man constantly saying “What if.”

Busting free, we get a great one-shot of Peggy rushing through the corridor, taking down the knights.

Coming across the monster in the iron mask, he actually prefers how peaceful it is imprisoned. This is something Hulks actually preferred a lot of the time in the comics, and after World War Hulk, he was kept underground. This was a place Bruce preferred to be, as it meant that the beast couldn’t be unleashed.

However, after Peggy gets the cell fired upon, Hulk busts free, and we see him recovering similar to how he did in Age of Ultron after being brainwashed.

Back at Tony’s lab, we get a nice little nod with some bat-like wings up on the wall. These are based on the ones by Leonardo da Vinci, which later went on to inspire Bill Finger and Bob Kane’s Batman.

Google Bill Finger and Bob Kane Batman if you want to learn more.

Anyway, Steve and the band arrive, with him returning the shield, and they decide to do a heist on the royal court.

A tear comes across in the sky, resembling ones similar to No Way Home and the like, with Hulk busting in and allowing the plan to commence.

Happy and Steve go head to head, with Happy saying, “Taste my steel.” Might be a reach, but I think this is a reference to Scott Pilgrim.

We get a Happy vs. Hulk showdown to see who the strongest Avenger is. You might notice that this Hulk has the beard, whereas the one in the Die Hard episode doesn’t.

Finally making it to Thor, we see as he pulls out a vibranium sword, which we learn was gifted by the Prince of Wakanda.

Saying, “Allfather, give me strength.” This is something Thor has uttered throughout the saga in times of need.

Cap also ends up taking down Red Skull, and it leads to Wanda rebelling and holding Thor in place. Like Civil War, she ends up switching sides, and this allows them to put the stone in the machine. This provides Peggy with a gauntlet that allows her to unleash time energy. This stops the rift from tearing the world apart, and it finally reveals that Steve is the forerunner.

Remembering the fight with Thanos, we get a flash of the end of Infinity War and see how it all went down.

WHAT IF…? SEASON 2 EPISODE 8: ENDING EXPLAINED

Peggy’s desperate to get a happy ending, but alas, it isn’t the case. He says that he’s sure that out there somewhere, they do, and as we know, there is a reality in which they get to be together.

Now all of the heroes are sent back to their time, with Peggy still remaining in the time period. As she wasn’t with them, she hasn’t been sent back, and we get a tease of what’s to come in the finale with Supreme Strange rocking up.

Now, I’m guessing that like the first season of What If, we’ll see these storylines coming together with all the characters making an appearance for that. Strange, of course, showed up in the Kahorri episode, and thus I think both she and Peggy, at the very least, are going to cross paths. Personally, I think it’s going to be a big ensemble, and I can’t wait to see what goes down in it.

Anyway, that wraps up the entry, and thank you again for joining me for it. I do feel bad for missing those first four, but yeah, just couldn’t do it with the team’s time off and wanting some time with the kids.

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With that out of the way, a huge thank you for sitting through the video, I’ve been your host, and I’ll see you next time. Take care, Peace.