Let’s Talk about What If…? Episode 2-6

The Tesseract has proven formidable in multiple MCU stories.

In the latest episode of What If…?, takes an intriguing approach to the premise, though.

What would happen if the Tesseract broke and accidentally empowered an entire community?

Let’s talk about What If…? episode 2-6, the one where noble Kahhori reshapes the world.

Siblings in a Village

This episode focuses on one of the Five Nations from pre-colonial America.

A young woman named Kahhori and her brother, Wahta, live a happy existence with their tribe.

Sadly, the Mohawk village suffers tragedy when conquistadors invade, hoping to discover the mythic Fountain of Youth.

The unique aspect of this What If…? episode is that it presumes there’s some truth to the legend. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

First, we meet Kahhori and her brother, who are playing on a beautiful day.

Kahhori persuades her brother to chase her up a steep mountain path.

Once they arrive at the summit, they notice the body of a long-dead warrior.

Wahta reminds his older sister that they aren’t supposed to approach the old battlefield, which their village believes is cursed.

Perhaps that spooky legend proves accurate. I say this because when the siblings return home, they discover “monsters.”

Specifically, the aforementioned conquistadors have overtaken the village and engulfed parts of it in flames.

Kahhori instructs her brother to flee. In their desperate attempt to find safety, they push deeper into the battleground.

There, they discover what proves to be a “fake lake,” that they initially describe as the “Forbidden Lake.”

Moments later, they discover that body of water in a cave…and the waters are glowing.

A conquistador spots them and chases them throughout this endeavor.

Eventually, Wahta hides but makes too loud a sound in the cave.

A conquistador with a gun threatens him, but Kahhori uses herself as bait to distract him.

The assailant fires at her, and the blast knocks Kahhori into the glowing water…and then she just keeps falling.

The Lost Mohawks

While Kahhori doesn’t know this, she falls straight into the Tesseract and winds up on the other side.

This place looks like the previous forest, but it’s more…alive. A stranger greets her and welcomes her to “Sky World.”

Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.

The Watcher appears to explain what we’re witnessing. After Asgard fell, the Tesseract fell from the sky and broke.

In the process, the Infinity Stone spread its powers among all the Mohawk people in the area.

Others took note of what happened and explored the area, only to discover no signs of the lost Mohawks.

War broke out among the new arrivals, thereby creating the so-called cursed battlefield.

The cave waters of the Forbidden Lake possess mysterious powers thanks to the shrapnel from the Tesseract.

To a Spanish conquistador, those waters could easily be mistaken for the Fountain of Youth.

So, the leader of these invaders, Rodrigo Gonzalo, explores the area where Kahhori had been.

Alas, she too has become one of the lost Mohawks, but she has traveled here alone.

The conquistadors take her brother, Wahta, prisoner.

While Kahhori doesn’t know this either, she remembers leaving her brother in peril.

The adventurous woman finds herself caught in a magical realm that is slightly similar to Casita Madrigal in Encanto.

However, she desperately needs to return home to assist her brother.

Rise of Kahhori

A kindly Mohawk warrior and presumably the leader of the Sky World welcomes Kahhori.

He quickly shows her the mini-Infinity Stone shards and explains how they power the people of the Sky World.

The man identifies himself as Atahraks and discusses the immortality that the Tesseract has given his people.

The one catch is that they can never go home. Atahraks points out a portal in the sky that is far too high to reach.

However, the Sky World leader accidentally provides hope for Kahhori when he shows her a game his people play.

Their blue glow powers allow them to influence their surroundings.

Kahhori quickly uses this knowledge to climb the tallest tree in the area. Then, she starts trying to build a bridge to the portal.

Kahhori isn’t successful, with Atahraks informing her that the most steps anyone has taken is 14.

During her early attempts, Kahhori gets nowhere near that many, but we all see where this is going.

First, she needs to do something superheroic, though. And that’s where the tusked bison characters enter the conversation.

Apparently, the Sky World people love playing a game for the “best prize on the rock.”

The camera shows a sleeping monster akin to an Adamantoise from the Final Fantasy franchise…but this one bears “fruit.”

That fruit happens to be more Tesseract shards. Atahraks describes it as the best prize on Sky World.

The entire village attempts to gather shards from the many giant bison-like creatures sleeping in the area.

Imagine the running of the bulls in Pamplona, only with magic and bulls with ten-foot-long horns.

Losing this game via horn impaling might challenge the notion of immortality.

The Voyage Home

The Sky World people use their super speed to glide in and out among the creatures.

Kahhori instantly proves to be the fastest of all, but she nearly runs into a rock formation.

The young warrior veers quickly, taking her directly into the path of the stampeding monsters.

Reflexively, Kahhori uses her powers to…elevate them. It’s kinda like levitating Godzilla.

Kahhori exits the area with the largest hoard of Tesseract shards anyone has ever seen. Oh, and she’s levitating them.

With her newfound power and confidence, Kahhori attempts to access the portal again. And she obviously succeeds.

That’s important because Wahta’s situation has grown precarious.

Rodrigo Gonzalo watches helplessly as his men enter the water of the Fountain of Youth, only to be sucked into the Tesseract.

He thinks some underwater monster has taken them and orders that the villagers be imprisoned to return to Spain, presumably as slaves.

Meanwhile, the conquistadors arrive in Sky World, believe they’ve entered the promised land, and dully attempt to enslave it via bullets.

Guess who stops those bullets! Yup, Neo from The Matrix has nothing on Kahhori, who creates Sky World’s first bullet time camera effect.

That’s when she decides to return home. Ahtaraks and the other Sky World Mohawks immediately agree to help her.

Then, Kahhori wills the portal to the ground. While her new people have no interest in war, they know right from wrong.

The Sky World Mohawks arrive at Earth’s side of the Tesseract portal, and Kahhori quickly uses her speed to take the lay of the land.

Warrior Queen

On the island, Earth’s Mohawks are being transported to ships.

Then, the conquistadors hear and see movement from the forest.

A flittering blue light is visible…and that’s Kahhori throwing a blue stone projectile.

Rodrigo knows a witch when he sees her and orders his troops to shoot her. We already know how well that will work.

So, the Spanish invader wades back to shore and plans to attack. After a moment, he gets an idea, albeit a treacherous one.

Rodrigo orders the ships to fire cannonballs at Kahhori. While she blocks several, one eventually knocks her to the ground.

As the conquistador approaches and prepares to sword-stab her, more eyes appear in the forest.

The Sky World people have returned home.

Let’s just say that the Spanish armada doesn’t have a chance in this fight.

In a matter of moments, the route is on, with Kahhori also freezing Rodrigo in the sand.

Wahta and Kahhori reunite, and she saves their people. She also introduces her new friends.

At court, a soldier reports to the Spanish queen that they have lost the New World.

She refuses to believe until Kahhori and her people port in and inform the queen that they must work together.

The queen isn’t happy about the idea, but Kahhori makes her point with Tesseract power.

We expect the Sky World people to live their lives in harmony, but the episode throws us a curve.

The multiversal, soul-swallowing, theoretically redeemed Dr. Strange appears. He needs Kahhori’s help.

I’ll go ahead and spoil that this doesn’t end well for her…but it’s much worse for him.

This was a gorgeous, creative episode, and I loved everything about it!

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