The Multiverse Chaos
4 years after Iron Man died during Avengers: Endgame's heartbreaking ending, What If...? season 2 episode 4's ending undermined his tragedy. Worse still, the same MCU TV release had done the same thing just four days earlier in episode 1. In both cases, the imaginative animated series challenged one of the fundamental story details of Robert Downey Jr's final appearance as Tony Stark.
What if Season 2 Gamora
While What If...? is very much an Elseworlds-style multiverse release offering a glimpse at some of the millions of universe branches created by the countless Nexus events of everyday MCU existence. Now that the TVA are no longer pruning branches created by these Nexus events, the multiverse can be as chaotic as it yearns to be. The result, as Sylvie indirectly predicted in Loki season 1, is that an infinite number of branches exist, creating universes where Nebula joined the Nova Corps, where Happy Hogan became the Purple Hulk, or where the Avengers formed early in 1988. Crucially, though, each of those branches still adhered to every rule of the Sacred Timeline established before they branched off.
The Grandmaster in What if Season 2
What If...? Season 2 Episode 4 Ending Explained
In What If...? season 2 episode 4, Marvel answers the question of what would have happened if Iron Man's near-miss sacrifice at the Battle of New York hadn't been avoided. Instead of Stark falling back through the portal above New York after destroying the Chitauri mothership, in this branch, he was trapped on the other side of the portal and ended up being teleported to Sakaar instead of being killed. Don't ask why, the show doesn't actually answer it: it's more just a set-up to have Stark entwined in The Grandmaster's endless gladiatorial games.
Valkyrie sits on her throne, looking bored
While Thor: Ragnarok saw Chris Hemsworth's God of Thunder and Hulk taking part in battles for their life with other gladiators, Iron Man arrives at a different point in Sakaar's confusing timeline. At this point, The Grandmaster presides over rigged Death Races, in which the likes of Valkyrie, Korg, and (inexplicably) Gamora all compete. Stark hatches a plan to escape, but also to overthrow The Grandmaster and end his reign of tyranny on Sakaar. The Grandmaster confirms time doesn't work traditionally on Sakaar, confirming he's aware that he'd seen Iron Man's future defeat of Thanos.
What If...? Season 2 Episode 4 Ending Explained
The Implications on Iron Man's Fate
In an interesting twist, after Iron Man is successful and beats The Grandmaster in their Death Race, Valkyrie is crowned king of Sakaar. That suggests that Valkyrie's multiversal destiny is to be a king, effectively adopting the logic of Canon Events from Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse. That raises the possibility that every character in the multiverse remains fated, despite the destruction of the Sacred Timeline, which also fits with The Grandmaster confirming Tony Stark's future defeat of Thanos, even in this branched universe.
Without getting too deep in the multiversal soup, it's Gamora's murder of her father that compromises Iron Man's Endgame ending. In Endgame, Doctor Strange tells The Avengers that of the millions of possible futures he saw, only one led to their victory at the Battle of Earth. That single possibility is tied inherently to Tony Stark's sacrifice, with the suggestion that any other plan to take out Thanos (like Rhodey's suggestion to kill him as a baby) wouldn't have worked, somehow.
