What If Season 2 Episode 2 Ending Explained

What If Season 2 Episode 2 Explained

Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for What If...? Season 2, episode 2

What If...? Season 2, episode 2 ends with the dawn of an exciting and new version of the MCU, thanks to an early assembly of Avengers in 1988. As seen in "What if...Peter Quill Attacked Earth's Mightiest Heroes?" a young Peter Quill arrives on Earth in a reality where Yondu Udonta delivered the future Star-Lord to Ego after the death of his mother, rather than raising him on his ship to become Star-Lord and lead the Guardians of the Galaxy as seen in the main MCU. Instead, Peter seemingly became an extension of his Celestial father at eight years old.

In What If...? Season 2, episode 2, it quickly becomes apparent that not even Earth's Mightiest Heroes from the late 1980s can keep the world safe from a Celestial child as powerful as Peter Quill nor his father who ends up arriving on the planet himself. Assembled by Peggy Carter and Howard Stark of SHIELD, Hank Pym's Ant-Man joined Bill Foster's Goliath, Mar-Vell, The Winter Soldier, King T'Chaka's Black Panther, and Thor Odinson, though their combined power was not enough. Here is What If...? Season 2, episode 2's ending explained in detail.

How The 1988 Avengers Stopped Peter Quill In What If...? Season 2

Peter Wasn't The True Celestial Threat

Following his initial arrival on Earth, the 1988 Avengers team first faced young Peter Quill at Coney Island, only to find that his Celestial powers from Ego made him extremely powerful. It was only through the surprise entrance of Thor and a blast of lightning that the newly assembled team was able to get Peter contained. Thanks to the Asgardian warrior, the Avengers learned about Ego's seedlings and The Expansion, confirming the dark Celestial's efforts to turn the entire universe into extensions of himself (with Peter's help).

However, Hank Pym's daughter Hope bonded with Peter and learned that he only wanted to go back home to Missouri. This motivated the 1988 Avengers to try and help Peter while hoping that they could convince him to help take down his father before the Expansion could begin on Earth. As a result, Hank Pym connected with Peter by offering him a way forward through his pain and loneliness along with a new family. At the same time, Howard Stark was able to get through to the Winter Soldier, convincing him to ignore his orders to kill Peter which were coming from his Soviet handler Vasily Karpov.

Peter Quill's New Defeat Of Ego Explained

Using one of Ego's own seedlings, Peter Quil used the power himself to destroy his father, providing him with enough energy to decimate Ego and end The Expansion. This also served to be a defining moment that officially made him Star-Lord in this new alternate reality, referencing the name his mother always called him. Pointing his hands into the shape of a gun, Ego was based with the full force of his own cosmic power, seemingly being destroyed on Earth for good (though it is mentioned his planet is still around)

It's also notable that Peter Quill claimed that he'd always have a piece of Ego's power with him via the seedling he absorbed. As such, the implication is that this reality's Peter Quill still has his Celestial power and abilities, unlike the main MCU's Star-Lord who lost his power and immortality in his own battle where he defeated his father. To that end, it's quite possible that Peter Quill became one of the youngest Avengers in the entire multiverse following this new What If...? episode.

What Happened To 1988's Avengers Roster?

In the aftermath of the battle with Ego, The Winter Soldier was confirmed to have disappeared, presumably due to a piece of his past coming to the surface thanks to Howard Stark who invoked Steve Rogers' name while he was trying to get through to Bucky during the battle. Seeing as how Bucky Barnes was no longer wearing his mask or dark face paint, it does seem as though he'd begun the process of breaking his Hydra brainwashing, albeit a couple of decades before he did in the main MCU.

Additionally, the rest of the team elected to stay together and help Thor avenge those who were lost in The Expansion. Likewise, it's also implied that Peter Quill started living with Hank and Hope, along with Mar-Vell's cat Goose whom she gives to the kids in the episode's final scenes. However, the very final moment of this particular What If...? tale sees the 1988 Avengers roster in its entirety, a rather impressive collection of Earth's Mightiest Heroes who came together in the face of a crisis as significant as the one faced by the 2012 Avengers in the main MCU timeline. ( what-if-season-2-episode-2-ending-explained )

Peter Quill Still Becomes Star-Lord And Finds A Family (Even Without The Guardians)

In this alternate MCU reality, Peter Quill was never raised among the stars to become a legendary outlaw where he eventually formed the Guardians of the Galaxy as a new team of space-faring heroes (and his newfound family). However, Peter still became a Star-Lord in this new What If...? episode while also finding a family to call his own with the 1988 Avengers. As such, it's quite the heartwarming and satisfying ending for Quill in this alternate universe, even if he did get delivered to Ego at the onset.

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