1000 CE - What if... ? - Season 2, Episode 7: Hela Found the Ten Rings?
- Apr 25
- 5 min read
Updated: Jun 2
Watch Party
Deep Dive
In an alternate timeline branching from the early history of the Nine Realms, the Allfather Odin deviates from his established path of absolute containment. Rather than imprisoning his firstborn daughter and former executioner, Hela, in the lightless void of Hel to suppress her insatiable bloodlust, he opts for a transformative punishment rooted in humility. This decision serves as the nexus point for a reality where the Goddess of Death is stripped of her divine armor and her necro-powers, then cast down to Midgard to learn the value of life among those she once sought to conquer. Banished to medieval China, Hela finds herself in a world where her titles carry no weight and her physical strength is bounded by mortal limitations, forcing a confrontation with her own identity and the legacy of violence she inherited from her father.
As Hela navigates this unfamiliar landscape, she encounters the immortal warlord Xu Wenwu and the clandestine power of the Ten Rings. Her journey takes her from the fortified compounds of the Ten Rings to the mystical, hidden realm of Ta Lo, where she undergoes a rigorous internal and external transformation under the tutelage of the master Jiayi. This shift from conqueror to student allows Hela to reclaim her agency, ultimately defining her own "worthiness" through the lens of mercy rather than conquest. When Odin learns from Heimdall that the Ten Rings possess the power to kill Asgardians, he descends upon Midgard not as a conqueror seeking to claim the rings, but as a ruler acting out of fear, determined to neutralize the threat they represent to his reign. Hela must stand as a defender of the world she was sent to, leading to a new cosmic order where the armies of Asgard and the Ten Rings unite as liberators rather than oppressors.
Universe Designation
This story takes place in the Marvel Continuity: Earth-TRN1092
Characters in the Episode
Character Name | Voice Actor/Status | Role and Description |
Jeffrey Wright | The multiversal observer who narrates the divergence and provides the foundational premise. | |
Cate Blanchett | The protagonist of the timeline; transitions from the Goddess of Death to the Goddess of Life/Liberation. | |
Jeff Bergman | The King of Asgard; functions as the primary antagonist whose fear of the Ten Rings' threat to Asgard drives him to invade Midgard. | |
Feodor Chin | Leader of the Ten Rings; an immortal warlord who seeks an alliance with Hela. | |
Lauren Tom | Master of Ta Lo and mentor to Hela; teaches the philosophy of mercy and internal balance. | |
Idris Elba | Guardian of the Bifrost; Triggers Odin's invasion of Earth. | |
Non-Speaking | A Dijiang from Ta Lo who guides Hela through the bamboo forest's magical defenses. | |
Non-Speaking | The dragon spirit of Ta Lo; its presence serves as a deterrent against Hela's potential betrayal. | |
Non-Speaking | Appears during the epilogue's invasion of Zen-Whoberi; challenged by the new alliance. | |
Non-Speaking | Witness to the intervention on Zen-Whoberi; her life trajectory is fundamentally altered. | |
Non-Speaking | Hela's wolf companion; shown in flashback being chained by Odin out of paranoia, and reunited with Hela in the epilogue as her steed. |
In-Universe Date
Date: Medieval China, approximate era of Xu Wenwu's active conquest period, broadly 500–1000 CE
Defense: No specific year is given on screen. The episode is set during Wenwu's active warlord years, before he encountered Ta Lo. In the Sacred Timeline, Wenwu's conquests span thousands of years with the Ten Rings organization founded approximately 1,000 years before the present day, suggesting a rough window of 900–1100 CE for an episode set in medieval China during his active campaigns.
Date Confidence: TIER 3. Contextual inference from parent Sacred Timeline. No on-screen date. The alternate nature of this timeline makes any placement inherently approximate. The Medieval China setting and Wenwu's characterization (still actively conquering, pre-Ta Lo) is the only anchor available.
Comic Roots
Lee/Kirby Influence on Hela
Hela first appeared in Journey into Mystery #102 (1964). Her iconic headdress is a hallmark of Jack Kirby’s style. The "Hela the White" costume introduced here serves as a visual antithesis to her classic design, symbolizing her rebirth.
Ten Rings and Ta Lo
The Ten Rings draw from the "Mandarin’s Rings" first seen in Tales of Suspense #50 (1964). The mystical realm of Ta Lo finds its roots in Thor #301 (1980), which explored the interaction between Asgardian and Chinese deities.
Recommended Reading
Journey into Mystery #102 (1964) by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
First appearance of Hela in Marvel Comics. Her original depiction as a cold, imperious ruler of Hel is the baseline from which all later characterizations descend.
Thor: God of Thunder #1–11 (2012–2013) by Jason Aaron
Explores what makes gods worthy or unworthy of their power — the central theme of this episode. Hela appears in later arcs of Aaron's run as well.
Thor by J. Michael Straczynski (2007–2009)
The most direct comics companion to this episode's premise — Asgardian gods reclaiming power and throne through personal transformation.
Shang-Chi and the Ten Rings (2022) by Gene Luen Yang
Provides background on the Ten Rings organization, Wenwu's legacy, and Ta Lo that contextualizes this episode's setting.
Iron Man #50 (1972) — The Mandarin's early issues
The Mandarin in comics is Wenwu's deepest source material. Understanding the original character clarifies how radically the MCU reimagined him as Wenwu.
The Snark File - Easter Eggs, Callbacks, and Technical Tidbits
Thor's Arc
The episode's structural backbone is a deliberate retelling of the first Thor film with Hela in the protagonist role. Like Thor in the Sacred Timeline, Hela is stripped of her powers and cast out from Asgard, with Odin delivering a speech bearing very similar words to the one spoken to Thor, including casting her out "in the name of my father, and his father before." The rain-soaked backdrop, the failed attempt to reclaim her power source, and the lesson in worthiness all mirror Thor's arc beat for beat. The helmet enchantment is a direct translation of the Mjolnir enchantment: power granted to whoever shows the right quality, mercy here instead of worthiness there.
The Mjolnir Reversal
In Thor: Ragnarok, Hela's first act on screen is catching and destroying Mjolnir with one hand. Here, when Hela hurls Mjolnir at Odin in desperation, Odin simply catches it and crushes it with one hand, turning the iconography of that moment directly back on her. What Hela did to Thor's symbol of power, Odin does to hers.
Jiayi and the Ying Li Parallel
Hela's first encounter with Jiayi mirrors Wenwu's first encounter with Ying Li: a Ta Lo warrior who defeats a powerful would-be intruder with seemingly effortless grace before training them in the ways of the realm. Jiayi functions as the Ying Nan of this episode, serving the same spiritual mentor role Ying Nan served for Shang-Chi, but the courtship energy between trainer and student deliberately echoes Wenwu and Ying Li's origin.
The Bamboo Forest
As Hela and her horse venture toward Ta Lo, the trees close in around them, the same supernatural defensive mechanism that forced Shang-Chi's team to abandon their vehicle on the road to Ta Lo. The forest recognizes threats in both timelines. And, of course, Morris the Dijiang, the headless, furry creature from Shang-Chi who guided the heroes to Ta Lo, reprises exactly that function here, finding Hela after she escapes Wenwu's compound and leading her to safety. He remains the MCU's most dependable guide animal across realities.
