‘What If…?’ Season 2 Episode 7 Summary and Ending Explained: What If Hela Found the 10 Rings?

‘What If…?’ Season 2 is slowly reaching its end. So far, over the course of the six episodes, we’ve seen some of the most outlandish scenarios imaginable. We’ve seen Happy Hogan saving Christmas by turning into a purple Hulk. We’ve seen a brand new original MCU superhero taking on the Spanish crown, and today, we’re going to see what would happen if Hela managed to get her hands on 10 Rings. Let’s go!

Hela was cast out from Asgard

The story of Hela in ‘What If…?’ begins much like that of her MCU counterpart. Hela and Odin conquered the nine realms, and when it was time to give up the fight and rule them, Hela wanted more and urged Odin to conquer the entire Universe, or else she would do it herself.

However, in this version of the story, Odin, instead of dooming Hela to Hell, cast her out from Asgard completely. He shattered Mjolnir and put an enchantment on her helm that when she gets to know mercy, she will be able to wield her godly powers. Something similar happened to Thor as well, so this was a nice detail. In any case, Odin’s rationale was that a god that has so little appreciation for life shouldn’t be a god of death, and he was right.

Hela fails to pick up her crown

Hela was cast out to ancient China, and she landed in an area where Master Xu Wenwu just so happened to come across a weird crown that he was fascinated with. His army quickly spread over the perimeter and this is when Hela approached them. She claimed to be the goddess of Death but also noticed that Wewu had some strange artifacts around his arms.
Hela threatened to use her powers of Wewu and his army but fail to notice that she was completely depowered, she also noticed that she was bleeding mortal blood for the first time in ever.

Still, being a warrior, Hela attacked Wenwu’s men and was about to kill some of them when Xu used ten rings on her. Hela stated that 10 rings are none of this world, and Xu retorted that neither was she. Her pride wounded, Hela told Wewu to bring her to her crown and she would show him what is real power and to her surprise Wenwu did exactly that. He led Hela to her crown and watched in cringe as she failed to even pick it up. Hela begged Odin not to do this to her, to give her back her powers, but the heavens stayed silent.

Hela tricks Xu Wenwu despite a reasonable deal being offered to her

Hela was captured by Wenwu’s men, and she was brought to his palace at once; he invited her to dinner and even provided a gorgeous crimson gown for her. He obviously had a thing for her, and Hela quickly saw through it and attempted to use it against him. Wenwu explained that 10 rings were a gift, a gift that he used to conquer and protect the people and he also wanted to utilize Hela for that goal as well.

Hela explained that her father used to say the same until her ambition outgrew his own; Wenwu tried to convince Hela that he was not afraid of her ambition and that he was not her father. So Xu offered Hela to conquer the world at his side, and the two were about to kill when Hela attacked Xu and attempted to steal the 10 rings before being interrupted by Xu’s men.

Hella attempted to escape but fell through a roof and this is where she met Dijiang, who offered to help her escape. Hela stole a horse, packed Dijiang on it, and attempted to flee China to reach Scandinavia, where people still worshiped Asgardian gods.

Dijiang leads Hela to Ta Lo

Soon after escaping from Wenwu, Dijiang leads Hela through the enchanted bamboo maze to Ta Lo. Once there, she realizes the danger and pushes through the maze until she breaks into the enchanted valley. There Dijiang abandons her, and she is severely beaten by Jiayi. At that moment, Heimdall notices that Hela has fallen from his view; this is because she is now outside of the Universe in the pocket realm.

Hela will be trained by the council of Ta Lo

As soon as Hela wakes up, she is brought before Jiayi, who explains who exactly the council of Ta Lo is and what their purpose is. Hela immediately wants to strike a bargain with them, asking them to take up arms for her so she can get vengeance on her father, Odin, Wenwu, and Odin’s new girlfriend, Frigga. Jiayi explains that you cannot fight darkness with more darkness, and Hela, once against, has a plan on how to utilize Ta Lo for her own gain. She explains that she is the goddess of death, and what better way to protect the Earth from the underworld than to recruit someone who is literally the underworld? Jiayi says that she will train Hela and that her training begins at Zenith and Shunyuan protests.

Jiayi says that she is certain that Hela won’t attempt to do anything silly as Great Protector roars into the sight.

Asgard is worried about Hela

Heimdall goes to seek Odin to let him know that he no longer sees Hela on Midgard. Odin assumes the worst that she has been killed at the hands of mortals. Heimdall explains that there might be something capable of producing enough power to kill a god, the Ten Rings. Odin is worried because if someone on Midgard truly does has access to Ten Rings, the peace he fought so long to protect might be in danger.

Hela realizes what she is training for

Hela’s training has begun, and it is mostly related to breathing techniques and meditation, which is something that Hela doesn’t like at all. Jiayi tries to explain the value of inner peace and balance, but Hela does not have it until Jiayi forces her to go back to childhood and remember what she is fighting for. Hela want’s to master their martial arts to conquer Wenwo and take the 10 rings from him so she can conquer her father and the rest of the universe.

Hela remembers how Odin chained Fenris when he was a pup because he was about to become dangerous, and a good warrior needs to teach his subjects how to fight for him and not against him. At that moment, Hela realized that she wanted to fight for her freedom, the freedom to choose.

Odin attacks Midgard

Hela notices a bright flash of light in the distance which means that the rainbow bridge has been opened. She dons her armor and is ready to fight her father and asks Jiayi whether she will join her. Jiayi explains that they are guardians and not an army and that Hela needs to walk this path alone.

Hela meets with Wenwo again, who is in the middle of combat with Odin, and he is losing. Odin is surprised to see Hela alive, but he doesn’t plan on abandoning his own pursuit. He explains that mortals having 10 Rings is too dangerous because they are primitive. Wenwo and Hela are ready to fight Odin, and Hela explains that he needs to be separated from Gungnir.

A fight ensues, and Hela and Wenwo throw everything imaginable at Odin, but Gungnir keeps returning to him. Even Jiayi joins the fight and Hela utilizes some learned techniques to finally separate Odin from Gungnir, instead of delivering the killing blow, Hela offers peace to her father and begs him to end this violence once and for all.

Hela learns the value of mercy and gets her crown back

After offering Odin peace, he attacks Hela and is ready to choke her, but Hela has finally found her resolve and repeats Odin’s own words back to him. No god should have dominion over death who holds life in such a small regard. At that moment, Hela is reunited with the crown, and she is transformed into a Goddess of life and Queen of Asgard, ready to take over her father’s throne. Following this, the Watcher narrates that Hela’s empire spanned the cosmos, and instead of war and death, she brought peace.

In the last scene, Thanos can be seen claiming Gamora, and Hela and Wenwo rushing to stop him in his tracks.

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