Doctor Strange Just Broke The Ancient One’s One Rule

Warning: This article contains spoilers for What If…? episode 4.

In Marvel’s What If…?, the Marvel Cinematic Universe oddly breaks a solemn rule about the Ancient One set in 2016’s Doctor Strange. What If…? episode 4 puts Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Dr. Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams) through the wringer. Rather than lose his hands in his tragic car crash, Strange loses Palmer instead in What If…?. After seeking out the mystic arts, Strange goes back in time to reverse Palmer’s death. However, the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) explains that Palmer’s death is an absolute point in time, and reversing it could destroy the universe. To stop Doctor Strange, the Ancient One splits him into two, allowing a good Doctor Strange and an evil one to live out two different timelines. The bad Strange wins in the end, and reality collapses.

Absolute points are a new concept for the MCU. According to the Ancient One, reversing an absolute point, a.k.a. an event that must always happen, causes a temporal paradox that can destroy reality. This reality-destroying paradox comes to fruition in What If…? episode 4. In the MCU, Iron Man’s (Tony Stark) death may also be an absolute point. After all, Doctor Strange said it was the only way to defeat Thanos (Josh Brolin). In addition, Black Widow’s (Scarlett Johansson) death may qualify too. Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) tried to reverse Black Widow’s death when using the Infinity Stones. However, he learns he can’t bring her back.

In What If…? episode 4, the MCU seemingly ignores a rule about the Ancient One. During the episode, a ghostly version of the Ancient One visits the good version of Doctor Strange, telling him that the evil Strange is trying to reverse Palmer’s death, which is an absolute point. However, Tilda Swinton’s Ancient One is dead at this point in the story, making her appearance odd. In fact, Doctor Strange establishes that the Ancient One can’t see beyond her death. “I can’t see past it,” the Ancient One tells Strange in the 2016 film before she dies. However, What If…? conveniently seems to forget that to move the plot along.

The moment sets a dangerous precedent in the MCU. One of the saving graces of the MCU is that all the shows and movies work together to tell a unified narrative. However, if Marvel doesn’t honor the previously established rules of the MCU, the whole experiment doesn’t work. Instead of movies and shows working together, everything becomes mayhem, with rules repeatedly written and rewritten. The resulting story feels cheap, and twists, such as the Ancient One returning, are used for shock value instead of making narrative sense.

In the big scheme of the MCU, the Ancient One returning is a minor transgression. Casual Marvel fans likely don’t remember the Ancient One’s line from Doctor Strange about not seeing past her death. For them, it’s no harm, no foul. However, the MCU is about to open up the Multiverse, allowing multiple versions of characters and timelines to interact at once. For that to work, the MCU needs to stick to its previously established rules. If not, the results could be chaos. While chaos may work for characters like the God of Mischief, it’d just be a headache for everyone else.

Marvel’s What If…? releases new episodes Wednesdays on Disney+.

About The Author

Bill Bradley
(524 Articles Published)

Bill is an experienced reporter who’s covered entertainment and fandom since 2014. He’s done everything from unearthing the discarded Game of Thrones pilot script in a library in Texas to finding out why Steve left Blue’s Clues. He also enjoys eating Taco Bell and drinking chocolate milk.

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