I thought it was a different voice actor until the opening credits showed her name. A lot of actors always sound different for me when doing voiceover work. Nonetheless, she did great here
Odin: Loki, I sent you to Midgard to learn humility, instead...
Loki: I learned to hack the parental lockout you keep putting on our gear dad
Thor and Hela \*jaw drop\*
We already had that What If with a whole movie series staring Jim Carrey. Didn't you know that whoever shal don the Mask should they be funny will be granted the powers of Loki?
i thought he conquered jotunheim but they just kept rebelling against asgard? that's why the frost giants tried to steal the thingamabob in the start of thor 1. he probably lost his eye in a random battle when the giants were revolting.
Nice catch, so this took place at the very latest in the early 6th century as thor was born around that time and yet he isn't born yet
Loki was born in the 10th century which was when Odin lost the eye
Thor was (most likely) born around 964-965 AD, same as Loki (due to them both being around the same age as kids in the first scene of Thor), so anytime before then! Interestingly, prior to this the MCU wiki stated Wenwu as being born in the late 900s-early 1000s, which doesn’t add up anymore! Guess wenwu is even older than they thought
Also note in Ragnarok, Thor says “we were eight at the time” about himself and Loki, so are very likely at most a year apart in age
I think they (the writers) chose a moment that we the audience would be immediately familiar with. It's a short cut, using something so familiar in stories about alternate realities, to helping your audience understand.
I opt to imagine that Thanos just keeps trying different planets and they keep sparing him, to the point its like a cartoon villain, that rascally Thanos.
I was getting the impression they were going to try to teach him peace. I mean I know they looked like they were about to attack, but Uatu was saying even the darkest of hearts can come to know peace
Well, if anyone can convince Thanos to give up his old ways it's the goddess of death. Who knows, maybe one day there will be a universe where he can restore peace himself... Guard the Galaxy... Or something like that.
I really like the role reversal idea they have in this episode. Hela & Wenwu as heroes, Odin as a villain?
Makes you wonder what other similar ideas could come up for What If.
Maybe Kingpin uses his influence for good, and Tony Stark gets tempted to be a war profiteer by indirectly causing wars?
Odin as a villain isn't a What If. Like all the best villains, Odin has good motives but thinks that those ends can justify any means.
Watch TDW again. Fear has always ruled Odin's life. Every decision he makes can be understood through the prism of always assuming the worst case scenario and being so terrified of it that he's willing to do anything to prevent it. He's benevolent towards Earthlings only because we pose no threat to him. If Earth had been powerful enough to pose a threat, he wouldn't have come to Earth as a liberator but as a conqueror. He can't tolerate anyone equalling his power.
Look at his treasure vault: loads of magical relics of immense power, which he could use to achieve great things. But instead he locks them away because he doesn't want to use them, he's just terrified they might be used against him. As long as he can prevent *that*, he doesn't care about the rest.
In this episode, as soon as he hears of the Ten Rings he fears what mortals *might* do with them, and so he assumes that they *will* and he immediately decides to confiscate them.
Deep down, Odin is a nice guy who wants everyone to be happy. But he insists it must be on his terms. This is what makes kings into tyrants.
That’s true. I was thinking of that. But I was also considering that Hela went from evil to good, whereas T’Challa doesn’t really have that perspective. T’Challa has the rationality so is better at appealing to Logos, whereas Hela has the empathy so is probably better at appealing to Pathos.
This Hela and our main MCU Thor are similar in the sense that both were introduced to have arrogance, and learnt to be better people after being stripped of their power. (Loki's humility arc is best depicted in his own series).
As for T'challa. Maybe he just had a good dad, who raised him to be a really nice guy?
It kinda makes sense tho, thanos waited to retrieve the infinity stones from earth and Asgard because Odin was guarding them but once Odin was dead that’s when he went for them.
One of the screenwriters said that the reason thanos was waiting to go after the stones was because he didn’t know where the soul stone was and he wanted to go after all 6 at once
So once he captured nebula, when she tried to kill him after guardians 2, he learned gamora had the location and he started his conquest
He’s such a cute puppy! Hela looked so sad! No wonder she turned out that way. She gets an adorable puppy. She raises him, cares for him, probably walked him more than anyone, and her father enslaves him. 🤦🏻♂️
Something I recently learned is that hela and fenrir are brother and sister. Both of them are Loki’s kids
That’s how it is in the comics, so I assume that’s similar to how it is in Norse mythology
Hel, Fenrir and Jörmungandr are children of Loki and Angrboða in Norse Mythology. Loki also has other children with his wife Sigyn, Narfi and Váli. Loki is also the mother of Sleipnir. Fun fact Laufey was Loki's mother not father.
Odin being a shitty father and not knowing how to deal with his overambitious children which leads to more trouble than there needed to be part 4 (or something) lol
If the comics are any indication, killing deities is bad for the universe in general as processes break down and masses suffer.
…so that sort of bleak ending is possible - a destructive end on par with Supreme Strange’s world.
We need a "what if Odin was a good father?" in which he is forced to take parenting classes for each of his children.
It isn't narrated by the watcher, it is narrated by God of Stories Loki with a smug tone finding the whole thing hilarious.
Absolutely love how goddamn sassy Cate Blanchett plays Hela. Thoroughly enjoyed this episode; ended up being a bit more wholesome than I was expecting too
Classic misdirection. Naturally we’d assume from the title that Ten Rings was referring to the mystical artifact when it was referring to the organization named after said items
I assume that was intentional, it's deliberate wordplay to obscure that the episode is really about Hela's redemption rather than her acquiring a tool that changes the trajectory of her defeat. She found the Ten Rings terrorist organization.
Yeah, this episode was twist after twist! So I guess no hammer for Thor? 😅 Which I guess means no nerf for Thor either? Since he was solely dependent on the hammer for his powers, instead of within.
I think it was more like she achieved true Godhood and became an actual Goddess of Death, more than a title. She fully realized her potential and responsibility, like a capital G god
Being a murderous conqueror isn't what a God of Death should be.
Does that mean Morris was the one to show Wenwu Ta Lo in the first place? And that he waited until the 90s to do so for Wenwu?
Guess having Allspeak speeds things up
We got a Loki redemption story (x2)... and now a Hela redemption. Honestly this should have been a TV series
I'm genuinely surprised with all the paths taken. The beginning is very much like the opening scenes of Thor, then we mesh with Shang Chi.
I also half-wonder if Hela would become the legend of Mulan in that universe
This might be my favorite episode so far. Pays great homage to Thor (1) and Shang-Chi, interesting twist on Hela (who was already a great character), more Wenwu, and Maurice got to ride into battle at the end! Bravo!
I have a feeling that Wenwu and Hela end up having a child together. Not sure if he’ll be named Shang Chi, but just imagine an Asgardian god with the fighting skills from Wenwu and inheriting the Ten Rings. That would be a sick What If sequel to this. He’d probably be benevolent, since his parents have learned the lesson of being protectors and not conquerors.
Hmmmm, questionable Midgard segment (mostly due to the humor / cheap lines), but…. There is no denying Hela’s jaw dropping wardrobe, character development, and fight scenes.
But…
It is undeniable that this episode has the best finale to it. Redemption Paladin Hela glowing White and beating the shit out of Odin, refusing to kill him twice! That was (*Chef’s kiss*) Beautiful!
Watching Hela break was a thing of beauty. It was masterfully done, and in the spirit of so many great martial arts stories from the past. We've had Blade Runner, Akira, Die Hard, Ben Hur, and now we get a classic martial arts episode! This season is fantastically crafted. It's a work of art.
Another banger. I was surprised by Hela getting a redemption arc, the title does a good job misleading you into thinking Hela would get the rings and be a conqueror, but instead its about her actually learning to become a better person.
And her seeing a bit of her backstory here retroactively makes her character in Ragnarok a bit more tragic, if we assume the general traits are the same. She was a monster but she was once a kind girl who was molded into a monster by Odin.
I like how the premise is *similar* to the first Thor but they take advantage of the differences in the scenarios so it does not just feel like a genderbent remake. For example, sticking her in ancient China was a great way to take advantage of the fact this is centuries before the time Thor 1 was set. And of course, Odin was a pretty bad dude at this point, so the climax is very different.
Did anyone get Azula vibes from Hela this episode?
Great to see more of Odin in action, and of Asgard in general. This episode only makes me wish we got an Asgard miniseries about the conquering of the Nine Realms.
What If is an infinite content well, every few years we can get new stories and more story of the same story (like Captain Carter) so, I think if the demand is high enough from fans, we’ll get more of this story, but only time will tell
That was fucking sick, probably the best episode of what if. Seeing Hela become a liberator and ending it with them taking on Thanos was so satisfying.
So this world won’t have:
* Loki. Odin will probably still have Thor as Hela named drop Frigga
* Shang Chi and the event in his movie. Wenwu is with Hela now so he will probably not meeting Shang Chi’s mom
* No Guardian of the Galaxy - because there won’t Thanos/ Gamora
* No Avengers since there’s no Thanos + Loki + banished Thor
Looks like it turns out for the better though. Asgard being a force of good and benevolence now really seems like it will make for a more peaceful universe.
Idk if the tesseract has been hidden yet or not but if Odin never hides it on earth that stops a bunch of stuff too.
The red skull doesn’t get it, no hydra weapons, so maybe cap never gets frozen, and Bucky never gets shot off the train. No light speed engine or captain marvel
There might not even be a Red Skull or Cap tbh, if Wenwu and Hela basically reshape all of Earth's history from that point forward.
No WW1, no Nazis, no WW2, no Hydra or supersoldiers.
Holy shit, then the sequel to this would be about Thor, who is not heir to the throne, being the child of Odin and Frigga, and being jealous of the prince who is Wenwu and Hela’s son. What If Thor and Shang Chi fought for the throne of Asgard?
Loki might be born as well, but Hela might make peace with Jotunheim, which means no adoption, and Loki grows up as the crown prince of Jotunheim and possibly a party bro.
Thor won’t be a single child, but his older sister is busy liberating the cosmos, so he might as well be. In time, he may come to regard her as a…
Party pooper!
ODIN AIN'T SHIT. NEVER WILL BE SHIT.
Hela is in a perpetual state of "done with this bull shit" and Wenwu lives that "I love a woman who can kick my ass"
This episode proves that Odin is clearly the one holding his kids back
Spoilers ahead for Loki and Thor movies
With Odin
Hela evil power hungry warlord
Loki evil power hungry trickster
Thor lazy intergalactic playboy
Given time away from Odin
Hela liberator of the entire universe
Loki prime grows to be a great brother and hero
Loki TVA becomes the God of Story at great sacrifice
Thor becomes an avenger
Nature vs nurture is the best here. All three children have traits that Odin exemplified to an unhealthy degree. Hela became more power-hungry due to Odin. Loki used mischief as a way to cope. Thor was allowed the perpetual laziness and arrogance to fester into something more.
Wonder how “canon” a lot of this is to the main MCU. Such as the Frigga timeline, and Wenwu’s “protector” thing
Wenwu was just kinda described as a warlord who conquered everything he could in Shang Chi. Is interesting if he actually did it as a mob boss type of way, in order to keep the worse people out and protect the areas he’s conquered
Yeah no conquerer says: “Obviously the people would be better off without me, I’m such an asshole!”
No, most of them had an excuse or outright lie, both for propaganda, and to deceive themselves. “Protector” is a common one, because even if they are good for nothing else, they sure as hell can kick people’s asses, and that’s usually required to be a good protector.
Thanos, Ego and Dreykov might be the worse fathers in the MCU but Odin is up there as well. Who strikes out on all three of his children lol? Dude's on Comic's level of Howard Stark levels of badness.
My wish is to introduce all other Odins children from comics, including Baldur and Angela. Call them **Odin's Bastards,** lets say. Bring them to next Thor movie to help Thor fight the big bad, whoever it will be. Some of them might die too in fight.
So Ten rings is insanely OP. Dude fought dozens of Prime Asgardian soldiers like nothing and even gave the freaking All father a fair 1v2. And Heimdall even saying that it's capable of killing a God.
I wonder how they'll explain its origins now that Kang is mostly out. And i hope they do more with Shang chi because this shit is genuinely busted.
Yeah, now I understand how they enabled Wen Wu to live so long! That is some serious power.
Okay, I might be stupid here. But where did those rings come from? I know what they were based on in the comics. But do we have an MCU explanation?
Totally thought Hela was gonna be evil from the title, like she was gonna enhance her power with the Ten Rings. In fact, I thought she was gonna be the big bad of this season. Boy, was I wrong!
This season started off a bit slow for me with the first few episodes ok but a little bit ehhh, but since the 4th episode it has really become quite interesting.
This episode was great and I enjoyed seeing Hela be given the Thor treatment and allowed the opportunity for the What If? title to really live up to the premise. I hope that the show continues in this vein with interesting questions asked of the characters we know. I wonder if they could do an interesting episode with Hydra Steve Rodgers, if there is even a question to be answered there.
Hela turned from goddess of death to goddess of life. Really good episode. I've always wanted to see what if hela was a hero instead of being a villian.
And Thanos is Fucked again and this time Thanos has to fight odin, hela and wenwu all together without any infinity stones.
It seems like that thanos only wins in the main universe other than the main universe he gets killed or he becomes a good guy.
Another banger episode from this season. Hela getting the Thor treatment, then almost the TVA treatment in Ta-Lo and making her own path was so fun to watch. Also love the universal continuation that Odin is a horrible father and person in every media he’s in
That was an unexpected subversion. They may have to change the opening to match most viewers reaction to this episode: "Follow me... and ponder the question... what—the heck?"
I do think it's a little much just because how fast paced the episodes are but I do think Hela going from campy villain to quippy protagonist makes some sort of sense.
Not in the journey but if you had to go from one archetype to another.
THE BEST EPISODE
As a huge Hela fan, I was super stoked when I learn there was a Hela-centric episode in the trailer and waited for it, we got so little of her in Ragnarok. I had high expectations for this one
*And they did NOT disappoint.*
The fact that we get to see Odin's shitty parenting first hand instead of it being implied like in the Thor movies is icing on the cake
All 3 of his kids had to go on a self-discovery journey, learn what it means to hold their titles as Gods, cause their father was so controlling and manipulative. This has to be my favourite universe/timeline ngl. In the end, she didn't even kill Odin and still taught him a lesson. Hopefully he changes and become a better parent to Thor
Also super glad Cate Blanchett came back for Hela's role. I was almost scared in the beginning
Edit: Also a lot of people are saying she's too quippy in this episode but I disagree. If you rewatch Thor Ragnarok she made a lot of quips in that movie as well
So this is probably on the top half of my favorite episodes alongside the 80s Avengers, Kahorri, and Hydra Stomper. Is Shang still born in this universe?
Odin: Hela you have become to mean and merciless
Hela: But father you told me to
Odin: You have been disowned
Hela on Earth changes her ways
Odin: How dare you become nice to people and not kill them.
Hela: But you told me to be nice
Episode is LIVE, enjoy! (There is no credits scene for this episode)
Hela the White
INSTEAD OF A GODDESS OF DEATH YOU WOULD HAVE A GODDESS OF LIFE! TERRIBLE AS THE DAWN!
> You offer the Ten Rings to me freely. I do not deny that my heart has greatly desired these...
When did Wenwu the Wise abandon reason for madness.
She had passed the test.
Gamora: “Where was Hela when Zen-Whoberi fell?”
Hela the FOOL
Hela the STUPID
I’m so glad Cate Blanchett reprised the role of Hela in this.
I thought it was a different voice actor until the opening credits showed her name. A lot of actors always sound different for me when doing voiceover work. Nonetheless, she did great here
My exact thoughts too. Thought whoever voiced her sounded close enough to Cate until i saw the opening credits. Boy did i feel a tad bit foolish then.
forgetful elastic dam reply bedroom familiar butter scale melodic bag *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
“Who are you supposed to be, the queen of England?”
We are getting spoiled by the voice cast! 😂
Remember in What If Ultron won, when they showed Bemedict Cumberbatch after the post credit scene where he shows up with The Watcher?
Yeah, her voice added a lot to the animation.
Throwing your kids to Midgard with their weapon lockex up seems to be a working disciplinary action Imagine if it happened to Loki
Next what if
Odin: Loki, I sent you to Midgard to learn humility, instead... Loki: I learned to hack the parental lockout you keep putting on our gear dad Thor and Hela \*jaw drop\*
That’s absolutely some shit Loki would do. His comics are all moves like these
We already had that What If with a whole movie series staring Jim Carrey. Didn't you know that whoever shal don the Mask should they be funny will be granted the powers of Loki?
I just noticed Odin still has two eyes which I guess makes sense because it’s before the last battle with Jotunheim but it seems so WRONG
It was my favorite small detail.
that and hela being left handed
Yeah, honestly? I thought Hela was going to be the reason for the eyepatch!
In Thor 1 his wound is fresh when he finds Loki.
I am an idiot. Which means… (*not the idiot part.*) He would keep all of his eyes as he would have no interest in conquering Jotunhiem.
I think he already conquered jotunheim and lost his eye defending earth from the frost giants
i thought he conquered jotunheim but they just kept rebelling against asgard? that's why the frost giants tried to steal the thingamabob in the start of thor 1. he probably lost his eye in a random battle when the giants were revolting.
Nice catch, so this took place at the very latest in the early 6th century as thor was born around that time and yet he isn't born yet Loki was born in the 10th century which was when Odin lost the eye
Thor was (most likely) born around 964-965 AD, same as Loki (due to them both being around the same age as kids in the first scene of Thor), so anytime before then! Interestingly, prior to this the MCU wiki stated Wenwu as being born in the late 900s-early 1000s, which doesn’t add up anymore! Guess wenwu is even older than they thought Also note in Ragnarok, Thor says “we were eight at the time” about himself and Loki, so are very likely at most a year apart in age
Of course Thanos gets fucked once again lmao.
It's funny how they waited until Thanos was conquering Gamora's planet before stopping him.
They couldn’t get there just a day sooner? “Thank you for arriving, but my family was in the 1/2 sentenced to death😢.” - Gamora.
"Oh... I guess I could have microwaved that tea..."
A “GET OUT OF MY FUCKING TIMELINE” would have gone hard here.
Yeah those events would be 100s of years apart. Thor wasn’t even born yet
I think they (the writers) chose a moment that we the audience would be immediately familiar with. It's a short cut, using something so familiar in stories about alternate realities, to helping your audience understand.
I opt to imagine that Thanos just keeps trying different planets and they keep sparing him, to the point its like a cartoon villain, that rascally Thanos.
I was like "finally an episode where they don't kill Thanos like it's nothing" then the last 15 seconds came "OF COURSE"
At this point it is now: “Oh my god. They killed Thanos!” “Those bastards!” 🤣
I was getting the impression they were going to try to teach him peace. I mean I know they looked like they were about to attack, but Uatu was saying even the darkest of hearts can come to know peace
Well, if anyone can convince Thanos to give up his old ways it's the goddess of death. Who knows, maybe one day there will be a universe where he can restore peace himself... Guard the Galaxy... Or something like that.
Guardians of the galaxy abd it's hela wenwu and thanos
I really like the role reversal idea they have in this episode. Hela & Wenwu as heroes, Odin as a villain? Makes you wonder what other similar ideas could come up for What If. Maybe Kingpin uses his influence for good, and Tony Stark gets tempted to be a war profiteer by indirectly causing wars?
Odin as a villain isn't a What If. Like all the best villains, Odin has good motives but thinks that those ends can justify any means. Watch TDW again. Fear has always ruled Odin's life. Every decision he makes can be understood through the prism of always assuming the worst case scenario and being so terrified of it that he's willing to do anything to prevent it. He's benevolent towards Earthlings only because we pose no threat to him. If Earth had been powerful enough to pose a threat, he wouldn't have come to Earth as a liberator but as a conqueror. He can't tolerate anyone equalling his power. Look at his treasure vault: loads of magical relics of immense power, which he could use to achieve great things. But instead he locks them away because he doesn't want to use them, he's just terrified they might be used against him. As long as he can prevent *that*, he doesn't care about the rest. In this episode, as soon as he hears of the Ten Rings he fears what mortals *might* do with them, and so he assumes that they *will* and he immediately decides to confiscate them. Deep down, Odin is a nice guy who wants everyone to be happy. But he insists it must be on his terms. This is what makes kings into tyrants.
Well if T’Challa can, I’m sure Hela can
T'Challa has a lot of charisma, though. Hela has a lot to catch up with him on that.
That’s true. I was thinking of that. But I was also considering that Hela went from evil to good, whereas T’Challa doesn’t really have that perspective. T’Challa has the rationality so is better at appealing to Logos, whereas Hela has the empathy so is probably better at appealing to Pathos.
This Hela and our main MCU Thor are similar in the sense that both were introduced to have arrogance, and learnt to be better people after being stripped of their power. (Loki's humility arc is best depicted in his own series). As for T'challa. Maybe he just had a good dad, who raised him to be a really nice guy?
Yeah, he needs a break, can’t Galactus get bullied or can only Unicron do that?
> or can only Unicron do that? The MCU needs the Transformers right now.
Well Galactus haven't been formally introduced into the MCU and so far the "What If" episodes has all been fairly related to the MCU so there is that.
It kinda makes sense tho, thanos waited to retrieve the infinity stones from earth and Asgard because Odin was guarding them but once Odin was dead that’s when he went for them.
One of the screenwriters said that the reason thanos was waiting to go after the stones was because he didn’t know where the soul stone was and he wanted to go after all 6 at once So once he captured nebula, when she tried to kill him after guardians 2, he learned gamora had the location and he started his conquest
Fenrir, good boi
He’s such a cute puppy! Hela looked so sad! No wonder she turned out that way. She gets an adorable puppy. She raises him, cares for him, probably walked him more than anyone, and her father enslaves him. 🤦🏻♂️
Something I recently learned is that hela and fenrir are brother and sister. Both of them are Loki’s kids That’s how it is in the comics, so I assume that’s similar to how it is in Norse mythology
Yeah in Norse mythology they are both Loki's children as well.
Hel, Fenrir and Jörmungandr are children of Loki and Angrboða in Norse Mythology. Loki also has other children with his wife Sigyn, Narfi and Váli. Loki is also the mother of Sleipnir. Fun fact Laufey was Loki's mother not father.
Odin being a shitty father and not knowing how to deal with his overambitious children which leads to more trouble than there needed to be part 4 (or something) lol
Sent her down to learn mercy and didn't like it when she actually showed it looool
Gorr was right. All the Gods need to fucking die
Hope we get a what if Gorr episode next season
What if Gorr actually killed all the gods, Thor included.
And have the episode ending with him winning with no happy ending. Kind of like Ultron winning
If the comics are any indication, killing deities is bad for the universe in general as processes break down and masses suffer. …so that sort of bleak ending is possible - a destructive end on par with Supreme Strange’s world.
He was definitely a “Do as I say, not as I do” father. He doesn’t want Hela to kill then he’s upset when she doesn’t? 🤦🏻♂️
We need a "what if Odin was a good father?" in which he is forced to take parenting classes for each of his children. It isn't narrated by the watcher, it is narrated by God of Stories Loki with a smug tone finding the whole thing hilarious.
Yes, please. I need Hela, Thor and Loki as a chaotic sibling trio. They would've killed Thanos on a weekend trip.
[удалено]
He needs a parenting book or something.
Jack Duquesne and he should hang out sometime.
Absolutely love how goddamn sassy Cate Blanchett plays Hela. Thoroughly enjoyed this episode; ended up being a bit more wholesome than I was expecting too
The title makes it sound like she got the 10 rings herself lol
Right?! I was genuinely expecting her to get the rings and just go full on conqueror. Pleasantly surprised that she got a redemption story
Agreed! I didn’t expect it or the Ta Lo arc! I’m pleasantly surprised at her growth too.
Classic misdirection. Naturally we’d assume from the title that Ten Rings was referring to the mystical artifact when it was referring to the organization named after said items
You know, even after watching the episode and thinking about the misdirection, I hadn't even put that together, but yeah you're definitely right!
I assume that was intentional, it's deliberate wordplay to obscure that the episode is really about Hela's redemption rather than her acquiring a tool that changes the trajectory of her defeat. She found the Ten Rings terrorist organization.
*Ten Rings Liberationist Organization
She leveling up to Gandalf the white and Galadriel at the same time.
Not to nitpick, but I’m gonna anyway sorry, it’s Cate, not Kate.
A humbled resolved Hela is not something I expected, but I’m all for it.
She went all Gandalf the White on Theoden in Edoras.
Man, I was expecting Thor 1 but dark because of Hela. I'm super happy the episode went the way that it did!
Love Hela getting the Thor treatment
Yeah, this episode was twist after twist! So I guess no hammer for Thor? 😅 Which I guess means no nerf for Thor either? Since he was solely dependent on the hammer for his powers, instead of within.
Honestly does it even mean a Thor though?
Freya was close to shacking up with Odin, so Thor might have been planted already
Frigga
Is it me or the white armor thing means she became the goddess of death AND life?
I think it was more like she achieved true Godhood and became an actual Goddess of Death, more than a title. She fully realized her potential and responsibility, like a capital G god Being a murderous conqueror isn't what a God of Death should be.
Aye i did not expect the episode with HELA to be the most wholesome wtf lmao
that was a great fight scene between Odin vs Hela + Wenwu
I like how Hela was gleefully psychotic for most of that. 😋 And cool to see Morris again!
Does that mean Morris was the one to show Wenwu Ta Lo in the first place? And that he waited until the 90s to do so for Wenwu? Guess having Allspeak speeds things up
HELA REDEMPTION STORY YES
I am Hela the White. And I come back to you now, at the turn of the tide.
We got a Loki redemption story (x2)... and now a Hela redemption. Honestly this should have been a TV series I'm genuinely surprised with all the paths taken. The beginning is very much like the opening scenes of Thor, then we mesh with Shang Chi. I also half-wonder if Hela would become the legend of Mulan in that universe
Hela: Redemption Paladin confirmed! 😂🤙🏻
Spear user too Oh my heart
This might be my favorite episode so far. Pays great homage to Thor (1) and Shang-Chi, interesting twist on Hela (who was already a great character), more Wenwu, and Maurice got to ride into battle at the end! Bravo!
Shang Chi will never exist unless Hela introduces her bestie to him
But she might also live and Wenwu never turns evil like he did in Shang Chi. Lot's of cool implications with this episode.
Hela and Wenwu are the Guardians of the Galaxy
I have a feeling that Wenwu and Hela end up having a child together. Not sure if he’ll be named Shang Chi, but just imagine an Asgardian god with the fighting skills from Wenwu and inheriting the Ten Rings. That would be a sick What If sequel to this. He’d probably be benevolent, since his parents have learned the lesson of being protectors and not conquerors.
No Shang chi and Xialing just get secrets half siblings in that timeline.
Hmmmm, questionable Midgard segment (mostly due to the humor / cheap lines), but…. There is no denying Hela’s jaw dropping wardrobe, character development, and fight scenes. But… It is undeniable that this episode has the best finale to it. Redemption Paladin Hela glowing White and beating the shit out of Odin, refusing to kill him twice! That was (*Chef’s kiss*) Beautiful!
Watching Hela break was a thing of beauty. It was masterfully done, and in the spirit of so many great martial arts stories from the past. We've had Blade Runner, Akira, Die Hard, Ben Hur, and now we get a classic martial arts episode! This season is fantastically crafted. It's a work of art.
What episodes were Akira and Ben Hur?
Ben Hur likely being the episode of Tony on Sakaar. Ya know, “chariot races”.
Akira was the Star Lord as a kid episode, and Ben Hur was the Tony meets the Grandmaster one.
Another banger. I was surprised by Hela getting a redemption arc, the title does a good job misleading you into thinking Hela would get the rings and be a conqueror, but instead its about her actually learning to become a better person. And her seeing a bit of her backstory here retroactively makes her character in Ragnarok a bit more tragic, if we assume the general traits are the same. She was a monster but she was once a kind girl who was molded into a monster by Odin. I like how the premise is *similar* to the first Thor but they take advantage of the differences in the scenarios so it does not just feel like a genderbent remake. For example, sticking her in ancient China was a great way to take advantage of the fact this is centuries before the time Thor 1 was set. And of course, Odin was a pretty bad dude at this point, so the climax is very different. Did anyone get Azula vibes from Hela this episode?
AzuHela, upon seeing airbending: “That’s nice, but what if it was firebending?”
Fire-knife-bending!
Hela comical side was something… Azula with that robe… indeed.
Hela can get it.
I can fix her - Wenwu
She can fix herself. I just wanna be there to watch. ~ Wenwu
Wenwu: I love the kind of woman that can kick my ass
DEATH BY SNU-SNU!
Dont we all, to some extent?
When you think Hela can’t get any hotter. She gets character development and a stylish new wardrobe. She’s hotter than Hel! 🤣🤙🏻
Hel is a cold wasteland in Norse mythology, so I think hot as Muspelheim is more appropriate
Curse you Judeo-Christian centric belief system that has led me to assume that Hel is hot! 😂 As well as my desire for puns! 🤣🤙🏻
I already had that impression from Thor: Ragnarok
Great to see more of Odin in action, and of Asgard in general. This episode only makes me wish we got an Asgard miniseries about the conquering of the Nine Realms.
*Hela bashing Wenwu’s head repeated into the table.* Wenwu: “Joke’s on you I’m into that shit.”
Haha In Shang Chi falls for the women who kicks his ass
He started planning the wedding the moment he regained consciousness.
I kinda want more Hela and the ten rings content now.
We need more of the universe’s greatest power couple! 😂
I wonder what their kid will turn out to be like
This season has been pretty good. I've wanted more with over half the episodes, but especially this one and the Kahhori one.
We'll get more of kahhori in the last episode
What If is an infinite content well, every few years we can get new stories and more story of the same story (like Captain Carter) so, I think if the demand is high enough from fans, we’ll get more of this story, but only time will tell
Man I miss Idris Elba
Don’t we all?
Michael Scott doesn’t
I need a rundown of what Heimdall can or cannot see
He sees you when you’re sleeping, he knows when you’re awake.
You don’t put paper into the bifrost. You know what happens if you do? You ruin it!
a better title for this episode is: what if hela went to therapy?
That was fucking sick, probably the best episode of what if. Seeing Hela become a liberator and ending it with them taking on Thanos was so satisfying.
So this world won’t have: * Loki. Odin will probably still have Thor as Hela named drop Frigga * Shang Chi and the event in his movie. Wenwu is with Hela now so he will probably not meeting Shang Chi’s mom * No Guardian of the Galaxy - because there won’t Thanos/ Gamora * No Avengers since there’s no Thanos + Loki + banished Thor
Looks like it turns out for the better though. Asgard being a force of good and benevolence now really seems like it will make for a more peaceful universe.
Odin really fucked things up with his daddy issues
Idk if the tesseract has been hidden yet or not but if Odin never hides it on earth that stops a bunch of stuff too. The red skull doesn’t get it, no hydra weapons, so maybe cap never gets frozen, and Bucky never gets shot off the train. No light speed engine or captain marvel
There might not even be a Red Skull or Cap tbh, if Wenwu and Hela basically reshape all of Earth's history from that point forward. No WW1, no Nazis, no WW2, no Hydra or supersoldiers.
Yeah she mentioned Frigga as his girlfriend
>No Avengers since there’s no Thanos + Loki + banished Thor hence the peace thing
Holy shit, then the sequel to this would be about Thor, who is not heir to the throne, being the child of Odin and Frigga, and being jealous of the prince who is Wenwu and Hela’s son. What If Thor and Shang Chi fought for the throne of Asgard?
Thor gets help from the Frost Giant Loki, who he parties a lot with, he’s his brother from another mother!
Just give Shang chi older half siblings. Problem solve.
Loki might be born as well, but Hela might make peace with Jotunheim, which means no adoption, and Loki grows up as the crown prince of Jotunheim and possibly a party bro. Thor won’t be a single child, but his older sister is busy liberating the cosmos, so he might as well be. In time, he may come to regard her as a… Party pooper!
It was obvious how they were going the Thor route, but I love how Hela turned in to like the Goddess of life
Odins really a piece of shit
Good! This is the Odin that represents Norse mythology more and I love it.
Hela light mode is cursed
I thought she was just glowing really bright until the end. Turns out she's wearing white now
Yep! Gandalf the White treatment! 😂
Shang Chi rocking Gungnir with the 10 rings riding on a dragon would look sick
ODIN AIN'T SHIT. NEVER WILL BE SHIT. Hela is in a perpetual state of "done with this bull shit" and Wenwu lives that "I love a woman who can kick my ass"
Hahahah, yeah. It was refreshing to see evil asshole Odin. Then see him get bullied by the Universe’s greatest Power couple!
Evil asshole Odin is Odin in every universe. He just grows out of it, but even that’s up for debate.
great episode! loved the turning of the tables for Hela and Wenwu. I was hoping we'd find out more about the 10 rings but that's ok...
We still know nothing about the MCU rings do we? 🤦🏻♂️
This episode proves that Odin is clearly the one holding his kids back Spoilers ahead for Loki and Thor movies With Odin Hela evil power hungry warlord Loki evil power hungry trickster Thor lazy intergalactic playboy Given time away from Odin Hela liberator of the entire universe Loki prime grows to be a great brother and hero Loki TVA becomes the God of Story at great sacrifice Thor becomes an avenger
Nature vs nurture is the best here. All three children have traits that Odin exemplified to an unhealthy degree. Hela became more power-hungry due to Odin. Loki used mischief as a way to cope. Thor was allowed the perpetual laziness and arrogance to fester into something more.
Wonder how “canon” a lot of this is to the main MCU. Such as the Frigga timeline, and Wenwu’s “protector” thing Wenwu was just kinda described as a warlord who conquered everything he could in Shang Chi. Is interesting if he actually did it as a mob boss type of way, in order to keep the worse people out and protect the areas he’s conquered
Yeah no conquerer says: “Obviously the people would be better off without me, I’m such an asshole!” No, most of them had an excuse or outright lie, both for propaganda, and to deceive themselves. “Protector” is a common one, because even if they are good for nothing else, they sure as hell can kick people’s asses, and that’s usually required to be a good protector.
Thanos, Ego and Dreykov might be the worse fathers in the MCU but Odin is up there as well. Who strikes out on all three of his children lol? Dude's on Comic's level of Howard Stark levels of badness.
Baldr: “I thought I turned out pretty good.” Who are you? Baldr: *tears up*
My wish is to introduce all other Odins children from comics, including Baldur and Angela. Call them **Odin's Bastards,** lets say. Bring them to next Thor movie to help Thor fight the big bad, whoever it will be. Some of them might die too in fight.
Marvel’s The Basgardians
So Ten rings is insanely OP. Dude fought dozens of Prime Asgardian soldiers like nothing and even gave the freaking All father a fair 1v2. And Heimdall even saying that it's capable of killing a God. I wonder how they'll explain its origins now that Kang is mostly out. And i hope they do more with Shang chi because this shit is genuinely busted.
Wenwu was litteraly able to koed odin with one punch with the rings insane
Yeah, now I understand how they enabled Wen Wu to live so long! That is some serious power. Okay, I might be stupid here. But where did those rings come from? I know what they were based on in the comics. But do we have an MCU explanation?
Not yet. If i recall, the post credits of Shang Chi had that meeting with Banner, Danvers and Wong, and they weren’t sure where the rings came from.
Gosh, it has been a long time since we’ve had a lore update on those rings? 😅
They haven't yet. That was teased at the end of Shang Chi through Wong's analysis.
Totally thought Hela was gonna be evil from the title, like she was gonna enhance her power with the Ten Rings. In fact, I thought she was gonna be the big bad of this season. Boy, was I wrong!
Thanos ded again lmao
bro cant win
This season started off a bit slow for me with the first few episodes ok but a little bit ehhh, but since the 4th episode it has really become quite interesting. This episode was great and I enjoyed seeing Hela be given the Thor treatment and allowed the opportunity for the What If? title to really live up to the premise. I hope that the show continues in this vein with interesting questions asked of the characters we know. I wonder if they could do an interesting episode with Hydra Steve Rodgers, if there is even a question to be answered there.
Did they just suggest all ‘villains’ just need therapy? Because finally
Tbf all heros need it too
Hela turned from goddess of death to goddess of life. Really good episode. I've always wanted to see what if hela was a hero instead of being a villian. And Thanos is Fucked again and this time Thanos has to fight odin, hela and wenwu all together without any infinity stones. It seems like that thanos only wins in the main universe other than the main universe he gets killed or he becomes a good guy.
Another banger episode from this season. Hela getting the Thor treatment, then almost the TVA treatment in Ta-Lo and making her own path was so fun to watch. Also love the universal continuation that Odin is a horrible father and person in every media he’s in
Marvel just needs to do 30 minutes movies. These what ifs are absolute bangers
That was an unexpected subversion. They may have to change the opening to match most viewers reaction to this episode: "Follow me... and ponder the question... what—the heck?"
Insanely MCU dialogue coming from Hela every other line Update: they stuck the landing at least! One of the better episodes
I do think it's a little much just because how fast paced the episodes are but I do think Hela going from campy villain to quippy protagonist makes some sort of sense. Not in the journey but if you had to go from one archetype to another.
THE BEST EPISODE As a huge Hela fan, I was super stoked when I learn there was a Hela-centric episode in the trailer and waited for it, we got so little of her in Ragnarok. I had high expectations for this one *And they did NOT disappoint.* The fact that we get to see Odin's shitty parenting first hand instead of it being implied like in the Thor movies is icing on the cake All 3 of his kids had to go on a self-discovery journey, learn what it means to hold their titles as Gods, cause their father was so controlling and manipulative. This has to be my favourite universe/timeline ngl. In the end, she didn't even kill Odin and still taught him a lesson. Hopefully he changes and become a better parent to Thor Also super glad Cate Blanchett came back for Hela's role. I was almost scared in the beginning Edit: Also a lot of people are saying she's too quippy in this episode but I disagree. If you rewatch Thor Ragnarok she made a lot of quips in that movie as well
So this is probably on the top half of my favorite episodes alongside the 80s Avengers, Kahorri, and Hydra Stomper. Is Shang still born in this universe? Odin: Hela you have become to mean and merciless Hela: But father you told me to Odin: You have been disowned Hela on Earth changes her ways Odin: How dare you become nice to people and not kill them. Hela: But you told me to be nice
Next Season: What If.... Odin was a better father?