In Doctor Strange, Kaecillius allowed Dormammu, the ruler of the Dark Dimension, to gain access to Earth where he threatened to absorb the planet and the universe. Strange used the Time Stone, housed within the Eye of Agamotto, to enter the Dark Dimension where he trapped Dormammu in an endless time loop in which every time he killed Doctor Strange he reappeared to start the battle again. After many iterations of this, Dormammu gives in and agrees to banish himself and his followers from Earth in exchange for being freed from Strange’s time loop.

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In the original film, the final fight can feel like it's won too easily by a simple trick. However, What If…? episode 4 demonstrates why Dormammu was defeated seemingly quickly. With little characterization of the dimensional entity, all that is really known about Dormammu is that he wishes to absorb other universes to grow his power. What If…? took the significantly more fleshed-out character of Doctor Strange and put him through the same time loop process at his own hands. While Dormammu’s dream was to gain power, this timeline’s version of Strange dreamed of saving his lost love. It's unclear how many attempts Strange actually made (in a similar way to Phil Connors’ repetitions in Groundhog Day), but the repetition of an unavoidable tragedy broke him completely. This reiterates that what Dormammu went through wasn't a simple annoyance, but rather a death of hope as his plans were shattered.

Additionally, the new scene in What If…? demonstrates that beyond being a trick in Doctor Strange, the confrontation is truly a battle of wills. Doctor Strange’s repeated deaths at the hands of Dormammu could easily wear him down, but his desire to save his reality pushes him to keep going. Dormammu’s loss ultimately comes down to having less at stake than Strange. While the Stephen Strange at the start of the movie had been motivated by sheer ambition, by the time of his fight with Dormammu he is moved by deeper empathetic drives, while Dormammu’s goal remains his own ambition and power.

This can make it easier to understand the change that has taken place in What If…? The Strange in this timeline is less of a narcissist and has been able to recognize his feelings toward Christine Palmer, and this emotional element of love creates a breaking point for the character. While he was able to go through endless sacrifices of his own life versus Dormammu and was able to envision 14 million realities where Thanos destroyed half the population of the universe, in the What If…? episode, he has found something that he cannot bear to lose. It's finally being told that after trying so hard, not being able to bring her back breaks the Doctor Strange of this reality.

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