What If...? (2021) s03e05 Episode Script

1
Let's begin near the end.
The final act of a tragic story.
When you've seen as many wars
as I have, you get used to it.
The hard part is watching
worlds fall that don't need to
because a hero can no longer
rise to meet their moment.
[metal footsteps]
[sighs]
But I swore an oath.
And so I watch.
In every variation
of this universe,
Riri Williams is
its last best hope.
But in every one I've watched,
no matter how hard she fights,
and how long she struggles,
she always fails.
Always.
You're late.
[Riri] Patrols are everywhere.
And I'm not exactly popular
with the Iron Federation, so
Well, blowing up their
convoys probably didn't help.
You have the money?
You have my score?
Strictly analog,
just like you asked.
This looks intact. How
many more can you get me?
You're willing to risk a lot
for someone who doesn't
strike me as the baking type.
Unless the rumors are true,
and what you're really
cooking up is a weapon.
I don't know what
you're talking about.
I'm just looking to
make a Bundt cake.
Tread carefully, Williams.
'Cause once the Federation has you
in its sights, the story's over.
[distant whirring, footsteps]
Nothing personal.
It's just business.
Yeah, well, that's the problem
with everyone these days.
You never know who's
real and who's a fake.
[pulsing, glass shatters]
[Riri Williams grunts]
Come on, come on.
Why won't it start?
Fake! Fake!
Aah!
Guess that one was real.
- Y'all keepin' it real, too? Bingo.
- [pinging]
Come on! Come on!
- Come on! Come on, just start.
- [sputtering]
[screaming]
[groans]
[clanging, powering down]
Please be a hologram.
Please be a hologram.
[screams, groans]
[strains] Okay. I guess not.
[choking]
[screams]
[thuds, groans]
Who are you people? What
the hell is goin' on?
I'm Admiral Ying Nan
with the Alliance.
He is coming about.
Mystic support!
Captain Valkyrie, let's move.
[The Watcher] Welcome to Earth.
What's left of it anyway.
[The Watcher] Time.
Space.
Reality.
It's more than a linear path.
It's a prism of
endless possibility,
where a single choice can branch
out into infinite realities,
creating alternate worlds
from the ones you know.
I am the Watcher.
I am your guide through
these vast new realities.
Follow me and ponder
the question
"What if?"
The end of the world began
with a birth of the Celestial
that had been gestating
deep beneath the surface.
In this universe,
the Emergence occurred years before
the Eternals could unite to stop it.
But one man saw the
chaos as an opportunity.
The brilliant but ego-maniacal
engineer, Quentin Beck,
who took over Stark Industries.
What followed was a
long and protracted war
between an alliance of resistance
fighters and Beck's Iron Federation.
And with victory
within his grasp,
Beck was determined to ensure the Alliance
took its last breath before he did.
[breathing heavily]
The Alliance is down
to their last brigade.
Go to their base
and end them.
[breathing heavily]
We pick up all kinds of
stuff floating around here.
- Drink?
- [exhales]
This used to be someone's,
and now it's just
wreckage.
Hard to see what we
have to drink to.
We are still here.
After the Emergence, that
seems as good a reason as any.
So why am I here?
Or did y'all go through all this
trouble just to make me feel special?
[chuckles]
Our ears on the ground say
the magnetron you acquired
from the Power Broker
is for a weapon of
great interest to us.
A weapon to destroy the Vision.
So, what, you've
been spying on me?
Yes.
- For a long time, actually.
- [sighs]
Our intel indicates
your weapon powers down
Vibranium, decouples it.
But to take out a synthezoid,
you are going to need
a lot more than one busted
part from a Kiddy Cake Cooker.
Wow, okay. Y'all really
have been spying on me.
We just saved your life.
I think you can trust us.
[Riri] Well, that's the thing.
I don't trust anyone.
And from what I've heard, the
Alliance is kind of a sinking ship.
Hmm. Well, you are
right about that one.
Our ship sank a long time ago.
The Vision has ravaged our
forces across the Federation.
This base is all that
remains of the Alliance.
Just when you thought things
couldn't get any more hopeless.
The planet may have
been destroyed,
but the world carries on.
What you decide to
make of the pieces
- [opens]
- well, that is up to you.
Damn, this is
[Ying Nan] Everything?
Everything you will need
to build your weapon.
That is, of course,
if you're interested.
A lot of people died
for all of this.
If you really think there is
no hope left in this world,
then make some yourself.
Y'all got any snacks?
I work better with brain food.
- [chuckles]
- [man] Admiral, we have incoming.
What's the molecular density?
- [man] Reads as variable.
- [sighs]
[Ying Nan] Eyes up, everyone!
Secure the perimeter!
- Nothing gets through to the lab.
- [soldier 1] Let's go.
- [soldier 2] Go, go, go!
- Two by two, two by two.
[indistinct chatter]
He is already here.
[Valkyrie] Copy that.
How long do you think you'll
need to build that weapon?
- About 12 hours.
- Hah!
Well, how long do I have?
Seven-and-a-half minutes.
I'm sorry, what?
That's how long the Vishanti
protection spell is going to hold.
No. What? What?
[gunfire, man screaming]
[grunting]
[ricochets]
Seven-and-a-half
minutes. Really? Really?
[thuds]
[Wong] Sorry, Casper.
You're not getting through. At
least not for the next five minutes.
[Valkyrie, Ying Nan scream]
Guess I need to be an
engineer and a magician. Cool.
[both continue screaming]
Just building a totally theoretical
weapon on the fly. What could go wrong?
[grunting]
Come on. Come on. Come on.
[Wong screams]
[Riri] Cool, cool!
Tick tock, Riri!
In seven-and-a-half minutes.
You can't grill a hamburger
in seven-and-a-half minutes,
but sure, fine!
Come on. Come on. Come on!
Yeah. Yeah, come at me,
you dead-eyed son of a
What?
No, no, no, no, no, come
on, come on, let's go!
Increase the frequency
wave, reverse the polarity.
- Come on, let's go!
- [charging, pulses]
[gasps] You did it.
Without his guard dog,
Beck's illusions are gonna
have a lot less bite.
Perhaps there's a little hope
left in this world after all.
Good, we will need it.
This location has
been compromised.
We will need to wipe away any last
traces of our operation and move out.
What about the rest of the crew?
[Ying Nan] He killed them all.
Reverse the polarity. Come on, let's move!
Reverse the polarity. Come on, let's move!
Reverse the polarity. Come on, let's
move! Reverse the polarity. Come on
[Beck] This shouldn't
be possible! [coughing]
Reverse the polarity.
Come on, let's move!
Who the hell is Riri Williams?
[Ying Nan] Our fallen
allies came from many lands,
but they united for one cause.
May their sacrifice be a light
of hope seen across the stars.
- Light the fuse.
- Mm.
[crackling]
Where's Riri?
[The Watcher]
She's lost so much.
Friends, family, the
world she once knew.
She's clung to this
fight to sustain her.
But in the end, it will be
the fight that kills her.
As it always does.
The Vision news
has spooked Beck.
He's reinforcing his Iron Legion on
every province in the Federation.
Any chatter on the
encrypted channels?
Dead silence. We are
all that is left.
Hmm. Well, it's only a matter of
time before Beck finds us, too.
So we take the fight to him while
we're still here and finish him.
With Vision gone, Beck
has never been weaker.
The illusion network is all he has
left. I say we take that from him, too.
What exactly are you proposing?
Beck's entire operation is
run on a nanotech network.
To take it down, we need
to drop behind enemy lines,
blow the nanites powering his
illusions, and then it's over.
His reign, his terror.
Him.
His headquarters are located
on a planetary fragment on the
fast side of the asteroid ring.
Even if we were to
survive the approach
A base like that will
be heavily guarded.
We'd be entering a world of
illusions completely blind.
I can get us past the illusions.
I can plug myself into the
system running Beck's holograms.
Such technology
Is impossible.
But not for Riri.
It's a big swing, no doubt.
That's why you
gotta have vision.
And wouldn't you know, I
got all his spare parts.
[The Watcher sighs]
Here we go again.
Riri Williams always thinks she can
build her way out of her problems.
And with this latest invention,
you wouldn't blame her
for believing she can.
More than a suit of armor, it's
a fusion of human and machine,
elevating her to new
levels of consciousness
no living person has ever known.
You'll be a human synthezoid.
There's no telling how
that power will change you
or if you can ever turn back.
Growing up, I lost a lot.
And then the world ended
and I lost everyone else.
If this will help me take the
fight to Beck, I have to do it.
'Cause this fight
is all I have left.
[The Watcher] But even with the powers
of the Vision flowing through her,
she still can't see that
this is how it ends for her.
Always.
We are approaching
Beck's airspace.
[Wong] Looks like a heavy
ground-to-air barrage.
Guess that means
you're up, Riri.
Are you ready for
this? What do you see?
It's working, yeah.
I can see what's
real and what's fake.
Just stay on my wing
and you'll be fine.
[whirring]
[Riri] Fake!
Fake! Fake!
Fake!
That's real! Light 'em up now!
[groans] Whoa, whoa!
- What?
- What's going on?
Why are you slowing down?
Something's off. My neural
network is sputtering.
But I can fight through it.
Come on, Riri. You can
do this. I know you can.
- [explosion]
- [Riri Williams screaming]
[Wong] Oh, oh, oh!
[Riri Williams
continues screaming]
[grunts]
[Ying Nan] Riri. Riri!
[screams]
Come on. Are you with
me? What's your status?
There's something wrong
with my neural network.
I can't see through
the illusions.
Can you still hack
the control hub?
If we can actually
make it there.
Where's the rest of the team?
They're holding off Beck's forces to
give us a chance, but not for long.
We need to finish this, Riri.
[exhales]
[panting]
[distant explosions]
[charging]
[clanging]
I've led you this far.
This is where you end it.
[Riri Williams panting]
Wireless connection's
still dead.
Old-fashioned way it is.
Just the fate of the literal
world at your fingertips.
No presh.
You might wanna take cover.
This is about to get
What? No.
No, no, no!
No! Ying Nan!
No, no, no, no, no, no, no!
[Beck laughing]
Come on, Riri.
You should know in this world,
you can't trust anyone.
No, this doesn't make any sense.
We navigated the holograms,
followed the coordinates.
The nanite network
should be here!
And it is
because I am the network.
What the
You're not the first person
to give themselves a
high-tech makeover, Riri.
I had my nanites
uploaded into my body
so I could control
all my illusions
with the blink of an eye.
So if you came to
take them from me,
I'm afraid you're gonna
have to pluck them
out of my cold dead body.
By the looks of it, I won't
have to wait very long.
The tech has come at a price,
but it was worth it because now,
you are all that
remains of the Alliance.
No. These are all lies!
Easy, Riri. I shut down
your phasing capabilities.
I programmed Vision, remember?
And from the moment you
brought his tech back online,
I've allowed you
to do just enough
to come right to me.
- [electricity crackling]
- [screaming]
Then why bring me here?
So I can live to
enjoy my victory.
I didn't think I had much
time left in this world
until I saw this brilliant little
glow-up of yours and realized
I don't need my body
when I can have Vision's.
[screaming louder]
It'll be so much faster
if you don't fight, Riri.
See? Almost done.
It's too bad. I was starting to
feel like we had a connection.
That's the thing
about connections.
- They go both ways.
- [powering down]
[grunting]
[screaming]
If you hadn't noticed,
I'm kind of stubborn,
and I've come too
far to give up now.
[Beck] Oh!
But you will.
[laughs]
[screams]
Beck, put away these magic
tricks and stop hiding!
You're right.
If my illusions
will not break you,
perhaps the truth will.
You never left the fields.
[gasps]
[sobbing]
[Beck] Your team is dead.
The Alliance is dead.
You failed.
You failed your friends.
You
You have nothing
left to fight for.
[The Watcher] This is it.
The moment where it always ends.
Her spirit is exhausted.
She's seen too
much, lost too much.
Her will to fight is all Riri Williams
felt she had left in this world,
and now she's lost that, too.
- [pulsing]
- [Riri Williams screams]
[The Watcher]
Finally, at the end,
without any hope left,
I just
I don't know if I can bear
to watch it one more time.
- Yes!
- [groaning, grunts]
Oh, thatta girl, Riri.
You don't have to
resist anymore.
No.
Fight.
Riri.
Fight.
- Fight back.
- [panting]
[crackling]
What?
What What's happening?
[gasps] No, no!
No, no, no, no!
No, no, what are you doing?
Finishing this.
I beat you!
[screaming]
No! No, no, no, no!
My nanites!
[gasps, coughs]
[gasping heavily]
I see through your reality.
No, no, no. [coughs]
And I'm shutting it down.
I am the master of illusions!
I can make it like your
little victory never happened.
The people will never know.
They will because I'm going to
give them a vision of the future.
With what?
Hope.
No.
No. No.
[people cheering]
[thudding]
[gasping]
[gurgles]
[The Eminence] What has he done?
[The Incarnate] He has
broken his oath. Again.
[The Executioner] We
cannot allow this to stand.
No.
So from here on, we must
continue to watch
him.
[upbeat instrumental
music playing]