Timing, part thirty-four.

Dr. Strange's mentor, the Ancient One, was like a thousand years old when he started training Strange. Did AO have any pupils prior to Strange and Baron Mordo, that maybe didn't achieve the rank of Sorceror Supreme? Or did he wait until he was ancient before he even thought about training a replacement?

Strange, then, is the product and caretaker of centuries, if not millenia, of mystic arcana, training, and belief. Cable, even without Sorceror Supreme on his resume, could be seen as the end of that line, since in his future there aren't any mystical beings. I'm not even slightly religious, but you have to figure anyone of any faith would have a hard time with the notion that their faith could be completely forgotten in the future. It's even worse than that for Strange: he was also defending the earth, if not the universe, from any number of horrible extradimensional things. If the post of Sorceror Supreme was vacant, Dormammu or worse could move right in.

So, you can see why Stephen might be a little emotional. But, it's kind of his fault; he really needs to get to training an apprentice or two. Good luck doing that in a manner that doesn't immediately reek of "Barry Lotter."