1: Keyhole Scene (Doctor Strange’s Limited Perception)
The Ancient One: “You’re a man looking at the world through a keyhole. You’ve spent your whole life trying to widen that keyhole… to see more, to know more. And now, on hearing that it can be widened in ways you can’t imagine, you reject the possibility.”
Doctor Strange: “No, I reject it because I do not believe in fairytales about chakras or energy or the power of belief. There is no such thing as spirit! We are made of matter and nothing more. You’re just another tiny, momentary speck within an indifferent universe.”
The Ancient One: “You think you know how the world works? You think that this material universe is all there is?”
(She then touches Strange’s forehead, sending him into an astral and multiversal journey.)
2: The Ancient One’s Final Conversation Before Death
(As the Ancient One lies dying in the Astral Plane, Strange joins her in a slowed-down moment in time, watching the snowfall over the hospital.)
Doctor Strange: “I’m not ready.”
The Ancient One: “No one ever is. We don’t get to choose our time.”
Doctor Strange: “Then why are you doing this?”
The Ancient One: “Because I’ve spent so many years peering through time… looking at this exact moment… but I could never see past it. I dreaded facing this moment. Because I can’t see past it.”
Doctor Strange: “You think this is where you die?”
The Ancient One: “You’re so afraid of failure and pain that you never even tried to learn the simplest lesson of all.”
Doctor Strange: “Which is?”
The Ancient One: “It’s not about you.”
(They stand in silence as Strange watches the snow fall.)
The Ancient One: “You have such a capacity for goodness. You always excelled, but not because you wanted to serve others, but because of the fear of failure. That’s what made me so proud of you. And the arrogance keeps you from moving forward.”
(She looks out into the snow, her voice softer now.)
The Ancient One: “I’ve prevented countless terrible futures, but never once did I stop to think about my own. I was wrong, and I know now that it’s not about my life or my death. It’s about what I leave behind.”
(She looks at Strange one last time.)
The Ancient One: “We never lose our demons, Strange. We only learn to live above them.”
(She takes one last breath, and her astral form vanishes into the wind, leaving Strange standing alone in the snow-filled moment in time.)
