This Explain-All has been something I’ve wanted to do for a while but with Avengers: Endgame just around the corner this comes as the perfect time. With Captain Marvel being the 21st movie of the MCU, it’s easy to see how some many casual fans maybe confused on the nature and abilities of the Infinity Stones, where were they in the MCU leading up to Thanos getting them, what are they to begin with? So lets begin with the first and most prominent of the 6 we’ve seen…
1. The Tesseract ( The Space Stone)-
Introduced in the end credits of Thor but expanded upon more in Captain America: the First Avenger and the Avengers . This stone contains the vastness of Space itself. Essentially distance becomes nothing- hence why Thanos can get from Titan to Earth in like 2 seconds. It transported Red Skull to Vulmir and with this Loki was able to transport Thano’s army to Earth from galaxies away. The Asgardians held it after the end of Avengers, it found it’s way back to Loki and eventually back into Thano’s grasp.
2. Loki’s scepter / Vision’s brain ( The Mind Stone)-
Besides the Tesseract, Loki was granted a scepter by Thanos for his attack on Earth. Besides emitting energy blasts, it had the eerie ability to control people, including Hawkeye. After getting the scepter off of Loki, Tony Stark and Bruce Banner were experimenting with it while programming Ultron. The scepter helped taint the program leading to his going rogue in Avengers: Age of Ultron ; to create his perfect offspring, Ultron breaks the weapon, using the Mind Stone inside for Vision’s brain, explaining his extreme intelligence and incredible powers. It was the final stone Thanos needed, resting in Vision’s skull.
3. The Aether ( The Reality Stone) –
The Aether is a strange specimen, the essence of reality itself. Unlike the other 5, this doesn’t have a set shape. Introduced in Thor: The Dark World , Jane Foster gets infused with it and Maleketh tries to break it out of her to pretty much crash realms together. After Thor beat the dark elf, his friends handed the stone off to the Collector for safe keeping, as wishful thinking as that was…
4. The Orb ( The Power Stone) –
Speaking of the Collector, the Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) tried selling this artifact to him, unknowing what was inside. Ronin wanted the stone for it’s immeasurable power; the Guardians together used it to destroy him and hand it off to the Nova Corps. Thanos laid waste to Zandar to acquire it and with just that he beat Hulk within an inch of his life. It was the first he got hold of.
5. The Eye of Agomotto ( The Time Stone)-
What would any of us give to be able to control time itself, what not even the almighty Dormammu can fight against as Doctor Strange ( 2016) proved when he caught him in a time loop. The Ancient One and the sorcerers she trained protected it for ages in this amulet only an extremely powerful sorcerer can unlock. After defeating the Ancient One’s old student, Strange and Wong possessed it until the battle of Titan. After seeing the near countless failed outcomes in the fight to come, Strange surrendered the stone in exchange for Iron Man’s life.
6. The Soul Stone-
Before Avengers: Infinity War this was the stone unaccounted for. Essentially this stone is ultimate life and death; traditionally in the comics Adam Warlock wields the stone and while his creation was hinted at the end of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) , Gamora led Thanos to the distant reaches of Vulmir for it. A barren Red Skull tells Thanos a sacrifice must be made to possess the stone- those who desire it must sacrifice what they love the most. Thanos, despite the millions of deaths and thousands of worlds he’s brought down, deep in his heart, he loved his adopted daughter Gamora, ending her life so he could bring order to all…
I hope this Explain all helps before Endgame comes this spring. Also, I’m dedicating this entry to my newly engaged lil sis and her fiance who requested this a while ago- this is for you guys. May the gaming gods bring you glory.
