Warning! Spoilers ahead for Marvel's What If…? episode 8.

The Watcher is finally breaking his own rules in Marvel's What If...? and setting up a better season 2. Marvel has gone multiversal in Phase 4, with the first MCU animated TV series What If...? introducing viewers to countless branching timelines. The Watcher - voiced by Jeffrey Wright - serves as the viewers' guide through the infinite possibilities of the Multiverse, acting as a "Voice of God" who explains just what's going on.

As in the comics, the Watcher is bound by an oath of non-intervention. Unfortunately, What If...? episode 8 finally brought the so-called "observer's paradox" into play, when a version of Ultron gained the power of the Infinity Stones, and ascended to a level of cosmic awareness that allowed him to sense the Watcher's presence. Ultron attacked the Watcher in his home at the nexus of all reality, overwhelming him, and forcing the Watcher to take unprecedented steps. What If...? episode 9 is expected to see the Watcher break his vow of non-interference, assembling the Guardians of the Multiverse to defeat Ultron. In doing so, he's setting up a much-improved second season.

Related: Every MCU Easter Egg In What If? Episode 8

What If...? has been an interesting idea, but unfortunately season 1's anthological approach really hasn't worked all that well; each episode involves a little too much setup, sometimes the underlying concepts have been vague and unspecified, and the overall quality has varied dramatically as a result. But What If...? season 2 can improve on this by keeping the Guardians of the Multiverse, using them as the MCU's version of the Exiles - a dimension-hopping superhero team who don't just observe, but instead actively interfere. In the comics, the Exiles are based at the Panoptichron, a crystalline structure at the heart of the Multiverse - that seems visually identical to the Watcher's home in What If...? episode 8.

This would allow Captain Carter stepping in to help during another Multiversal adventure. Cameos like these help make What If...? feel as though it isn't just an aside, used as "filler" while Disney waits for some more live-action MCU content on their streaming service, but instead is a crucial part of the MCU's overarching narrative.