What Fans Think That Shocking Ending Of What If...? Episode 7 Really Means

"What If...?" Episode 7 gives fans a surprisingly fun episode as "What If... Thor Were an Only Child?" shows how different the God of Thunder is without having Loki (Tom Hiddleston) in his life during his formative years. He turns into the ultimate frat bro, and his wild parties are capable of destroying planets. SHIELD sends Captain Marvel (Alexandra Daniels) to persuade Thor (Chris Hemsworth) to leave Earth using her fiery abilities, but fighting Carol Danvers is far too entertaining for the Asgardian.

Thankfully Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) and Frigga (Josette Eales) persuade Thor to leave the planet. It's an interesting way of changing the main Marvel Cinematic Universe because it also means Loki doesn't attack Earth with the Chitauri — so the Avengers don't have a reason to band together. Or do they?

The episode leaves fans on a tantalizing cliffhanger, as a bizarre version of Ultron — who is wielding all the Infinity Stones — marches through a portal with a group of drones. The Watcher (Jeffrey Wright) is even surprised by the villain's arrival, which isn't exactly a good sign. This is going to spill into future episodes and beyond. But some fans think the ending has bigger ramifications than you might think.

It appears as if this version of Ultron is from a completely different universe. Remember, if Thor is an only child, Loki doesn't work with Thanos (Josh Brolin) to conquer Earth with the Scepter and the Mind Stone — which means Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) and Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) wouldn't be able to create the robotic villain in the first place. And with just a few episodes left until Season 1 wraps up, it seems likely that this alternate Ultron (Altron, anybody?) could be the threat that forces the Watcher to finally intervene.

Fans on Reddit were quick to discuss the episode and its surprising ending, with xSparkyBoomManx saying, "That ultrons from another universe. The show is building up to the finale, which is what if Ultron succeeded in merging with Vision's body." This makes sense since the villain builds Vision in "Avengers: Age of Ultron" for himself. The Reddit user also added, "In that universe, Ultron merges with Vision then defeats the Avengers. Then he collects all of the infinity stones, becomes aware of the multiverse, and decides to destroy it."

Since the multiverse was busted wide open in "Loki," it seems reasonable that "What If...?" might crossover into live-action in the future, possibly in 2022's "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness." And Reddit user Werdkkake thinks a new war is on the horizon, "the multiverse is branching out wildly, the Watcher is now having to oversee many different realities as a new multiverse war begins." The Redditor also adds, "I think we're about to see a phase of trippy multiverses colliding, but in the end a more powerful player will emerge and force them all into some battleworld game." Only time will tell.