.
.
.
SPOILERS, SPOILERS, AND MORE SPOILERS
Episode Four is basically a morality tale. As with all the tales from What If…?, the premise centers on the repercussions of altering a single moment from what we can assume is the Sacred Timeline. In this episode, the love of Doctor Strange’s life, Christine Palmer, dies in the fateful car accident that originally claimed the function of his hands. He spends the remainder of the episode seeking the power to alter the timeline to save her.
The story serves as a lesson in ignoring the consequences of a self-serving decision. Strange does not heed the warnings of both the Ancient One and Wong, and he seeks out the Lost Library of Cagliostro to undo what the Ancient One described as an absolute point in time, meaning it cannot be altered. His choices effectively destroy his entire universe, including Christine.
WHO IS CAGLIOSTRO?
One of the major plot points of the episode revolves around the Lost Library of Cagliostro. The ancient sorcerer is said to be the only being to ever alter an absolute point in time, fueling Strange’s desire to conjure the spell himself. There is more to the name Cagliostro than this one spell. In 2016’s Doctor Strange, it is Cagliostro’s book that Kaecilius steals in the opening scene.
So who is this all-powerful sorcerer?
Debuting in 1974, Cagliostro began as a wizard with the power to combat Dracula during the Lord of Vampires’ Marvel run from the Bronze Age. The magician would later become part of the normal Marvel continuity after he taught Doctor Doom to master the mystic arts. With his ties to both vampires and Doom, he could extend outside Doctor Strange’s corner of the MCU. That means his first appearance could suddenly become a hot commodity.
DRACULA LIVES #5
With both Doctor Strange and now What If…? giving direct references to Cagliostro, it would appear that Marvel Studios has more planned for the sorcerer. In fact, it would seem that he may have been more powerful than even Doctor Strange, considering the Sorcerer Supreme is following Cagliostro’s playbook.
Could we see him in the flesh in Multiverse of Madness? That is a possibility, and it would have a major impact on his first appearance in Dracula Lives #5. Actually, we may have met him in Episode Four.
The librarian Strange interacts with is named O’Bengh, and that just happens to be Cagliostro’s original name.
[caption id="attachment_141299" align="alignright" width="287"]
This is a sleeper pick of the highest order. In the past four years, only seven graded 9.8s have traded hands online, the most recent of which was in July for $250. Aside from that, the only other grade of Dracula Lives #5 to sell in 2021 was a 9.4 that brought $90 in May.
On the raw side of things, the last one to swap owners online went for $14.99 on August 19. Prior to that, there was a $56 sale from July 23.
THE BIG PICTURE
O’Bengh may have appeared to die during Episode Four, but in the world of magic and mysticism, death is not exactly permanent. He very well could have been Cagliostro in disguise all along, and he may have had more influence on Strange’s choices than we realized.
The bigger picture is that Cagliostro has now been name-dropped twice in the MCU, and it appears he is a powerful character. Whether or not we will hear from him again is anyone’s guess, but the possibilities abound for the oft-mentioned sorcerer.
