What If? Season 2, episode 7, is all about Hela’s transformation of character. Hela was the firstborn of Odin and the mightiest warrior on Asgard. Together with her father, Hela conquered the nine realms, which further increased her greed for power. In this episode, we caught glimpses of some of the films, like Thor: Part 1, Thor: Ragnarok, and Shang Chi. Just like in Thor: Part 1, where Odin had sent Thor to Midgard, in this episode of What If? Hela was sent to Earth by Odin after her greed for violence and bloodshed escalated.
Spoilers Ahead
Whom Did Hela Meet In Midgard?
After Odin took away Hela’s power and threw her helmet into Midgard, Hela sought to recover her precious helmet back and went to earth. There, she found herself surrounded by the Ten Rings army led by Xu Wenwu, who initially launched an attack on Hela. Hela pretended to be a helpless woman, and then, grabbing a chance, knocked down all of the soldiers in the army, which impressed Wenwu. Wenwu agreed to let her go if Hela, who was claiming herself to be a goddess, could lift the helmet and prove that she was a powerful divine being. However, having lost the power, Hela failed to lift the helmet, prompting her to surrender herself to Wenwu.
Wenwu’s army was about to execute her, but he didn’t want to kill Hela, as he had fallen in love with her. Wenwu took her to his palace and gave her some clothes to put on. As Hela understood that Wenwu was falling for her, she decided to use that as an opportunity to escape the place. As Hela and Wenwu got closer to kiss each other, Hela beat him up and managed to flee the palace right away. However, Wenwu didn’t mind at all; rather, he ordered his army to catch Hela and bring her back alive.
Hela escaped the place, and with the help of her guide, Morris (first introduced in Shang Chi), she arrived near a jungle and eventually arrived in the village of Ta Lo, where Jiyai, the guardian of the village, welcomed her. Jiyai was already aware of Hela’s identity, and she knew that Hela would eventually come this way. Realizing Jiyai was not an ordinary human but possessed extraordinary strength and magical power, Hela demanded to learn it. She begged for Jiyai to teach the superpower to Hela so that she could take revenge on her father.
How Did Hela Become Worthy Of Her Helmet Once Again?
On the other hand, in Asgard, Hemdal informed Odin that Hela had been spotted in Midgard, in a village named Ta Lo. Odin decided to conquere the Midgard and take the Ten Rings from Xu Wenwu.
Meanwhile, in Ta Lo, Hela was getting impatient in her desire to learn to harness this special power quickly. She couldn’t wait much to finally confront her father, but while she was practicing, she lacked a sense of purpose in her pursuit. Jiyai asked Hela if she knew what the exact cause was that she was fighting for, which took Hela back to her memories and made her revisit her childhood days to realize why she wanted to take revenge on her father. When Hela was only a little girl, her dog, the wolf, was taken away by Odin. Odin chained the dog and kept it away from his daughter, which broke Hela’s heart. Hela once again felt the pain and realized that she wanted to gain freedom, freedom from control, and to choose her own path. This is the reason why she wanted to take revenge on Odin. As Hela finally learned the actual purpose of her life, she began to concentrate on her practice and excel gradually. However, in the meantime, Odin had attacked Midgard, sending his army in an attempt to take over the Ten Rings. When Hela learned about her father’s arrival on earth, she realized that this was the perfect opportunity for her to prove her worth to her father and gain her freedom.
Jiyai stood in her way, asking her to reconsider as Hela wasn’t yet ready to battle against Odin. Hela was not only determined to fight against her father but also requested that Jiyai take part in the war. However, in response to that, Jiyai said that she’s a protector, not a fighter, so Hela would have to go into this battle all by herself. Hela, donning her armor and clutching her weapons, finally confronted Odin on the battlefield. There, she was also backed by the Ten Rings leader, Xu Wenwu, who was more than happy to see Hela back.
Hela initially wanted to harness the power of Jiyai and use it to dethrone Xu Wenwu to grab his Ten Rings, which were so powerful that they could even kill gods. However, as Xu Wenwu teamed up with Hela, she focused on defeating Odin more than anything else. With Wenwu, Hela fought against Odin with valor but repeatedly got defeated by the mightiest god. However, Hela wasn’t ready to give up, so she stood in her father’s way and asked her father to stop the bloodshed, which kind of shocked Odin, as Hela, the God of Death, was asking her father to stop the violence. It seemed like the superpower that Hela earned from Ta Lo wasn’t only changing her physical strength but also altering her personality. She was transformed into a divine being who really cared for both the gods and mortals. Her change of persona made her worthy once again, so the helmet started flying and eventually landed on Hela’s head. Hela was soon transformed into an angelic being in white armor, which proved that she had changed for good. Hela’s entire physical and mental transformation stunned Odin, who acknowledged that his daughter had finally eclipsed him and had become worthy to rule Asgard. However, Hela didn’t want to rule Asgard, as she had set her sights on something bigger. She didn’t want to be in anyone’s control, so taking Wenwu with her, she set out on her journey to liberate the oppressed all around the universe.
In the concluding scene of What If? season 2 episode 7, we saw Hela and Wenwu on their voyage to defeat Thanos, who was with his little Gamora in his realm. The episode concluded with Hela’s army approaching Thanos to defeat the titan in the conquest of Zen-Whoberi.
