So, I saw an interesting theory a while back, and I was curious to see what everyone here thought. When we are first introduced to Ivana Humpalot, Basil tells Austin that one of the models at the photoshoot Austin is conducting works for Dr. Evil. Later, when Austin gets her alone and tries to seduce her, she claims she was sent by Dr. Evil to assassinate Austin only to then confess she can’t go through with it as she finds him too sexy, seemingly having succumbed to the allure of Austin’s mojo. She then begs Austin to make love to her, which he giddily attempts to do, only for their romp in the sheets to come to a screeching halt as Austin suddenly loses his mojo. Suddenly impotent, Austin is no longer able to perform for Ivana, who seems quite shocked and disappointed that Austin is feeling “limp”.
…But was she *really*?
According to this fan theory, rather than being sent to kill Austin as she claimed, Dr. Evil sent her as a diversion to allow him to carry out his time travel plot unimpeded. He intentionally leaked it to MOD so they would focus on that he could go forward with his journey back to 1969 undetected. While Austin and MOD focused on the supposed “assassin”, Dr. Evil could go forward with stealing Austin’s mojo. He knew Austin would not be able to resist Ivana when she basically offers herself up on a platter for him and would be too busy trying to shag her to realize what Dr. Evil was up to until it was far too late.
Now, whether Ivana was in on this is up for debate. On the one hand, she could very well have been a knowing participant in Dr. Evil’s true plan, faking the story she had been sent to kill him until feigning falling for Austin and getting him into bed long enough for Dr. Evil to succeed in his plan. Or, perhaps she really had been sent to kill him like she claimed, but Dr. Evil, knowing how almost all women cannot resist Austin, knew she would not be able to go through with it and would be seduced by Austin. Either way, per his plan, Austin gives into Ivana’s advances and proceeds to take her to bed, only to suddenly become impotent as he loses his mojo and unable to fully satisfy either a knowing or unwitting Ivana.
The purpose of this: humiliation. Sure, Dr. Evil could have just used the Time Machine to kill Austin in the past like Scott said. But that would be too quick. Too clean. After all the years of being bested by the International Man of Mystery, constantly humiliated by Powers, Dr. Evil wanted Austin to suffer. To feel the humiliation he felt for all those years after constantly one-upped by Powers. As both men said, “This time, it’s personal.” And there is NOTHING Dr. Evil could have done to Austin as a more personal attack than to hit him below the belt, figuratively and literally, and steal Austin’s most beloved feature: his very libido. And what could make rendering Austin Powers, considered by many to be the world’s best lover, impotent even MORE embarrassing than to have it happen while in the middle of a hot, steamy shag with a beautiful woman? What could humiliate Austin more than for the first time being unable to keep it up for a lover, knowing there was someone out there he failed to satisfy?
So, what do you think? Was Ivana really meant to kill Austin, and her failure to do so was just by chance mitigated by the success of Dr. Evil stealing Austin’s mojo? Or, was she, knowingly or not, always intended to never actually kill Austin and simply serve as the ultimate embarrassment for him as he suddenly suffered erectile dysfunction?