Warning: Contains spoilers for Marvel’s What If…? episode 7.

Tony Stark doesn’t appear in What If…? episode 7, “What If… Thor Was An Only Child?,” but Ultron’s appearance with all six Infinity Stones gives a clue to where he is. Party Thor’s invasion of Earth might be a light and ridiculous episode, but its closing moments get suddenly very dark. Beyond the implied future for this rendition of Thor, it tells the audience a lot about what else has been going on in this off-shoot of the main MCU timeline.

Disney+’s What If…? episode 7 primarily focuses on how Thor (Chris Hemsworth) not having Loki (Tom Hiddleston) as a sibling to challenge him would affect his character. In this timeline, Thor is not banished to Earth and, therefore, is not part of the Avengers. When his party gets out of control, the hero that S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) calls on is Captain Marvel (Alexandra Daniels, standing in for Brie Larson). After Thor tidies up his mess and is chastised by his mother (Frigga, with Josette Eales standing in for Rene Russo), the happy ending is nipped in the bud by a fully powered Ultron appearing, complete with his vibranium body that became Vision in the main timeline, an army of Ultron bots, and all six Infinity Stones.

Related: How Powerful Ultron Would Be With The Infinity Stones Compared To Thanos

The fact that Ultron has the vibranium body suggests that without Thor, the Avengers were not able to stop him. In Avengers: Age of Ultron, Thor’s lightning is the power source that brings Vision to life and the new creation is instrumental in the defeat of Ultron. This might mean that Ultron simply defeated the Avengers; however, Ultron’s possession of the Soul Stone takes this a step further. For Ultron to have claimed the Soul Stone on Vormir, he would have had to pay the price, in Red Skull’s words: “In order to take the stone, you must lose that which you love. A soul…for a soul.” Ultron has few connections to creatures with souls, but the only one that he could have arguably sacrificed to attain the Soul Stone would be Tony Stark himself. Therefore, after creating Ultron, Iron Man must have died on Vormir for the end of the What If…? episode to work.

Ultron uses the infinity Stones in What If

At first, the possibility of Ultron loving a soul enough to be able to claim the Soul Stone at all might seem unfeasible. However, the scene probably played out in a similar way to the Avengers: Infinity War scene between Thanos and Gamora. When hearing that Thanos must sacrifice someone he loves, Gamora laughs at him, mocking him for not loving anyone but himself without realizing that his love for her qualifies. Similarly, in the What If…? timeline for episode 7, Tony would presumably mock Ultron, but the situation raises the question of what would be defined as love for a sentient AI. If Vision is capable of loving Wanda, then Ultron must too be capable of those emotions. Tony Stark, as Ultron’s creator, could be seen to be loved by Ultron in the same way a child may love a dysfunctional parent. Ultron was programmed to want to save humanity and to care for it, so while it would be part of his larger plan he would still see Tony’s death as a sacrifice.

The Avengers’ defeat and Tony Stark’s death in this timeline are also supported by one other detail. When Thor is rampaging across Earth, many characters are seen, but none of the Avengers are in evidence and it would be hard to keep Tony Stark away from such a party. When S.H.I.E.L.D. needs to stop Thor, it doesn't have a team to call to stop him, and instead they have to jump directly to calling Captain Marvel herself. If Tony Stark or the Avengers were still available in this What If…? timeline, they certainly would have been Nick Fury or Maria Hill’s first call.

Next: The MCU Just Forgot Mjolnir’s Rules

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

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