It’s odd to see such recognizable relics in the wrong hands, especially when we have no idea how they got there. But for every Marvel Easter egg, there’s an explanation — usually, although sometimes years later. In this case, we don’t know exactly how Cap’s shield got to the Collector in Knowhere, but we do have some theories.

Because T’Challa is able to convince Thanos not to vanish half of the galaxy’s population and is able to convert Thanos to the good side, this means that the Avengers may have never existed.

They formed in response to Loki coming down to Earth in Avengers, but who was Loki working for? Thanos. In addition, the superheroes and supervillain join back up together in order to defeat Thanos, but without a common enemy, there’s no reason to fight together in the first place.

Thor may have left Earth once he and Jane broke up, which would make him much more accessible for someone like the Collector. Not to mention, the Collector and the Grandmaster from Thor: Ragnarok are brothers. So it’s possible that Thor still ends up on the planet Sakaar, but the Collector and Grandmaster are much more powerful and fully aligned, which could be how he gets Mjolner.

The truth could just be the simplest explanation. Maybe the Collector gains so much power that he can actually defeat the Avengers. Or maybe Captain America is never brought back from his cryogenic state since there’s no need for the Avengers. If that’s the case, could the Collector have simply bought his shield off of the U.S. government?

If Captain America is woken up in this reality, perhaps he joins S.H.I.E.L.D. anyway without the Avengers. There are other galactic threats, but without the Avengers assembled, Captain America might have been much easier to defeat. Either way, the shield in the Collector’s possession proves that Episode 2 also takes place in a world without a Captain America.

New episodes of What If...? drop every Wednesday on Disney Plus.