What If..? Theory: Collector Killed Hela

Marvel’s latest phase four project What If….? has been taking the fans by surprise with each new episode. The series will answer some of the craziest questions regarding multiverses and the existence of different timelines. There will be many alternate realities that are going to be explored, and it is certain that each one will be a different take on some of the famous storylines in both the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the Marvel Comics. It was released on Disney+hotstar and is available for streaming. 

The first episode of the series dealt with Captain Carter (the name assumed by Peggy Carter after being injected with the super soldier serum). The second episode showed us the scenario where T’Challa becomes Starlord. The third episode dealt with Hank Pym killing the members of the Avengers, before they even became the Avengers. The fourth and most recent episode saw Dr. Strange messing up his universe in an attempt to bring his dead girlfriend to life. Each of the episodes followed a well known story that turns out to be drastically different from the MCU stories, all due to a single event. Likewise, the third episode saw Yondu and his Ravagers abducting T’Challa from Wakanda instead of Peter Quill. The episode saw many easter eggs and MCU references within it. One big easter egg was the collector, Tivan being in the possession of Hela’s helmet. Read on to find out more.

The second episode of What If...? not only sees T'Challa taking on the role of Star-Lord but also features a very different version of Tiwan, The Collector. In the episode, Tiwan is seen to have “collected '' many artifacts from various Marvel heroes and villains, including Thor's mighty hammer the Mjolnir, and Hela's helmet and Necrosword. All these are undoubtedly mythical objects considered to be immensely strong, and it raises the question as to how he managed to gain them. Especially Hela, the Goddess of death’s helmet. Something which can only be obtained by killing her. And this isn’t any normal being we’re talking about, it’s Hela, who managed to shatter the Mjolnir to pieces in the MCU. Taiwan, after all, is a mere mortal. So how DID he get the helmet?

 One theory that makes the most sense is that Hela's defeat came from her location and his massive and deadly collection. It is established in the MCU that Hela is at maximum power when she’s within Asgard, as shown in Thor: Ragnarok. Therefore it is safe to assume that she was somewhere far away from Asgard when she died. But this still does not explain how the Collector killed her, considering that even in her weakened state, Hela was still able to destroy Mjolnir and overpower Loki and Thor at the same time. This is where the Collector’s collection comes in. 

Considering that the Collector possessed the Mjolnir, it was obvious that he had killed Thor to obtain it. Not just Thor, but Captain America as well. It therefore shows that the Collector had enough weapons and army to take on gods as well. It is also no surprise to assume that the Collector could easily kill Hela with his army and weapons, as she would be already be weakened; being away from Asgard.