What If… The Emergence Destroyed the Earth? — Season 3 Episode 5 Spoiler Review and Recap

One of the most polarizing moments of the MCU remains the Emergence — the moment when a Celestial emerged from the Earth’s core in Eternals. With characters seemingly unwilling to acknowledge the event, it’s mostly disappeared from the popular consciousness. However, What If…? focuses on the impacts of the event in “What If… The Emergence Destroyed the Earth?” Focusing on this maligned moment, along with the choice to center Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne), makes this one of the more intriguing episodes of the season. However, the conclusion of “The Emergence Destroyed the Earth” really raises the importance of the latest What If…? episode.

“What If… The Emergence Destroyed the Earth?” Recap

The Watcher (Jeffrey Wright) laments that some worlds are meant to die, no matter what comes to pass. He checks in a multiverse where The Emergence could not be stopped. The only hope for this reality is Riri Williams, a.k.a. Ironheart. She makes her way through the streets and finds clues in Avengers symbols.

In an old hotel and club, Riri meets with Sharon Carter, a.k.a. The Power Broker. Carter hands an EZ-Bake Oven to Riri as part of a deal, but it’s soon revealed Carter’s double-crossed Riri. Not one to give up, Riri fights her way out of the hotel room floor while blasting Iron suits trying to blast her. After flying out of the hotel, Riri comes face to face with White Vision. Before it can finish her off, the Alliance — led by Ying Nan, Wong, and Valkyrie — opens fire on Vision. Riri lands on the Alliance ship, and Valkyrie takes off.

Ironheart/Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) in Marvel Animation’s WHAT IF…? Season 3, exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel Animation. © 2024 MARVEL. All Rights Reserved.

The camera zooms out, and we see the Earth’s been shattered into pieces. The Watcher tells us The Emergence occurred earlier in these universes before The Eternals could reunite. In the aftermath of Earth’s destruction, Quentin Beck, a.k.a. Mysterio, took control of Stark Industries. Beck used the Iron Federation to destroy as many members of The Alliance as possible. He controls White Vision and remains determined to destroy the group. Beck sends out White Vision to complete his mission.

Riri and The Alliance fly through the wreckage of Earth. As they do, the Alliance admits they’ve been following Riri and watching her. They believe that she’s got the right idea to take out the Vision, and they want to help. Riri tells her she does not trust them, but the Alliance takes her to their base regardless. At their base, they show her all the tools she needs to fight Vision, and she agrees to help.

However, when she’s about to start work, the Alliance receives notice of an incoming threat. They prepare to fight the White Vision, telling Riri they can buy her about seven minutes. White Vision phases through the ship, killing Alliance soldiers at nearly every turn. When he reaches the lab, he cannot phase through the walls. Wong protects the members of the Alliance with a protection spell, but White Vision knocks them out. When he phases through the wall, Riri hurries to finish her weapon and kills White Vision at the last minute.

Mysterio receives the final transmission from White Vision and angrily acknowledges he must fight Riri Williams. The Alliance destroys their old base, while Riri looks over the body of White Vision. The Watcher knows this fight keeps Riri engaged but acknowledges the fight will take her life. Riri interrupts a discussion among the remaining Alliance members to lay out a plan to kill Beck. They need to take out his nanobots and his illusions, which Riri can navigate through the use of White Vision’s body.

The Watcher sighs, knowing this story is playing out the way it always does. Riri will gain more power than any human ever, and Wong worries it will change her. She knows it’s possible, but she’s only ever experienced loss. She needs to take this chance.

Using the new Vision suit, Riri can navigate what weapons are real and which are illusions. Valkeryie guides her ship behind Riri as they fly through the war zone. However, Riri gets hit by a shot in the air, and Valkeryie’s ship is hit as well. On the ground, Ying Nan wakes Riri. The rest of the team is holding off Beck’s forces, and they need to take him out.

Inside Beck’s base, Riri and Ying Nan take out Beck’s soldiers and Stark Industries’ leftover tech. When Riri tries to hack the system, she’s made aware that Beck has crafted an illusion around her. The Ying Nan is not there, but instead, it’s Beck in his throne chair.

(L-R): Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), Ying Nan (Michelle Wong), Wong (David Chen), Okoye (Kenna Ramsey) in Marvel Animation’s WHAT IF…? Season 3, exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel Animation. © 2024 MARVEL. All Rights Reserved.

Beck/Mysterio reveals that he set up a trap for her and that the nanites are integrated with his body. She will not be able to steal them unless he is dead. He also reveals that he’s had control of her Vision tech since she turned it back online. Beck will take Vision’s body for himself and live forever. Riri uses the connection to fight back against Beck and breaks out of her confinement.

Beck turns on his illusions again, and Riri quickly destroys the ones around her. He realizes that the illusions are not hurting Riri, so he takes away the world he created around her. Instead of being in his lair, she’s still in the field, with the bodies of The Alliance strewn around her. She gives up hope as Beck steals her power.

The Watcher feels the tragedy of the moment and questions whether he can watch this again. He walks away, but before he gets too far, he stops. He tells Riri to fight back, and for the first time, she does. When she gets up, she uses all of the energy and steals back the Vision armor from Beck. He screams at her and leaps to kill her. However, she phases through him, stealing his nanites.

Beck tries to convince her that he’ll use his illusions to erase her victory. Riri instead flies into the sky, using the nanites to recreate the Avengers symbol in the ruins of Earth. Doing so inspires rebellion. Slowly, Beck dies.

In an alternate dimension, three other Watchers question what they watched. The Watcher’s intervention is unacceptable and shows that he broke his oath again. They cannot let him continue to defy the rules of their posts. They will continue to watch him, instead of the multiverse.

Is “What If The Emergence Destroyed the Earth?” worth watching?

For most of the runtime, the doom and gloom tone of “What If… The Emergence Destroyed the Earth” does little to inspire a watch. The animation is cool, specifically in scenes featuring Riri Williams. However, most of the characters are given a short shrift outside of Riri. Everyone is not only disposable, but “What If… The Emergence Destroyed the Earth” is also wildly predictable. That takes away the stakes early and submarines most of the episode.

To its credit, “The Emergence Destroyed the Earth” gives us more reason to watch future Riri Williams projects than Wakanda Forever. In that project, she felt shoehorned into the story. In “The Emergence Destroyed the Earth,” she’s far more in control, and taking on the protagonist’s role allows her to rise to new heights. Thorne was excellent in limited screen time, and we cannot wait for Ironheart to give her the real lead role she deserves.

Bringing back Beck is a fun nod, but it feels a little uneven. It’s a cool touch to bring in more Mysterio, but given the fact that White Vision is the primary antagonist of most of “The Emergence Destroyed the Earth,” the antagonist feels lacking. It’s also a very odd spin-out that takes a rather large stretch to understand. “The Emergence Destroyed the Earth” would have made more sense with Stane in the antagonist role and Beck in the Vision role. Unfortunately, as written, it’s a lot of tell and no show.

The real big news in “The Emergence Destroyed the Earth” follows The Watcher. His malaise feels like a tell early on. We’ve seen him intervene several times at this point, and his defeated approach informs us that something will be different. However, introducing other Watchers in “The Emergence Destroyed the Earth” opens an interesting door for us to explore. There are only three episodes left, so we have to wonder how big of a role they’ll come to play. Given the arrival of Jason Isaacs as The Eminence, we’re expecting them to return very soon.

What If… Season 3 releases on Disney+ on December 22. “What If… The Emergence Destroyed the Earth” aired on December 26. New episodes release daily through December 30.