Stone Strategy
Hello people! This is my maiden blog for this particular topic. My name is Eric and I’m here to talk about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so I combined the two to create the Ervel Cinematic Universe, or ECU for short. With formalities out of the way, I’ll explain why I decided to create this blog. As you can imagine, I’m a big fan of the MCU and Marvel characters. For the last 23 days, I watched the entire MCU catalog in timeline chronological order, ending with Spider-Man: Far From Home. This specific entry is about one of the most important aspects of the first 3 phases, the gathering of the Infinity Stones, which first took place in my favorite MCU movie to date, Avengers: Infinity War.
It’s obvious that Thanos was the biggest threat to the heroes and universe itself. Many of the other movies led up to this moment. We know that he sent Loki (with his scepter containing the Mind Stone ), to Earth to bring back the Tesseract way back in the first Avengers movie. Little did we know at the time that everyone’s favorite cosmic blue cube housed the Space Stone. Due to the Avengers, Loki failed, leading Shield to collect the Mind Stone and the Thor brought Loki and the Tesseract to Asgard. Thanos started with one Infinity Stone and his MO was to get two. Unfortunately for the Mad Titan, he ended up with none.
Two years later, Thanos looked to his adopted daughters Gamora and Nebula to assist the Kree hired gun Ronan the Accuser to retrieve the Orb. Gamora and the rest of the newly formed Guardians of the Galaxy brought it to Knowhere to leave it with The Collector, who informed them that the Orb contained the Power Stone. Ronan was hired to get the Orb in exchange for Thanos decimating the planet Xandar, where the Nova Core was. Ronan decided to betray Thanos when he learned the Orb housed an Infinity Stone. The Guardians defeated Ronan and saved the Universe, bringing the Orb to the Nova Core on Xander, before fooling Yondu into thinking they gave it to him. This was yet another time someone failed to get an Infinity Stone to Thanos. During the credits following Avengers: Age of Ultron, we see Thanos putting his hand into what we learned was the Infinity Gauntlet, which was created to hold all 6 Infinity Stones, and menacingly declared; “fine...I’ll do it myself.” In Avengers: Infinity War, he did just that.
I have a theory that Thanos gathered the Infinity Stones in the order that he did for a reason. There was a strategy to it, it seemed. When Infinity War began, Thanos and the Black Order were in the midst of attacking the surviving Asgardian filled ship. Thanos bested the Hulk, killed Heimdall, and then Loki after getting the Tesseract, which houses the Space Stone. However, Thanos had already acquired the Power Stone. Later, Thor informed the Guardians of the Galaxy that Thanos destroyed Xander to attain it. I believe the reason Thanos acquired the Power Stone first was that he would be strong enough to decimate the Asgardian refugees. Thor was the only one that survived but Thanos probably figured he’d be dead after blowing up the ship. I believe that’s how he was able to defeat the Hulk, although it didn’t seem like he was using the stone at the time. By acquiring the Tesseract, and within that, Space Stone, Thanos was then able to travel throughout the Universe at will. It’s also possible that Thanos knew the Space Stone was on the Asgardian ship when he arrived. For all Thor knew, the Stone was destroyed along with Asgard but Loki wouldn’t be Loki without taking the Tesseract. We all saw how he looked at it in Orin’s vault on his way to the Eternal Flame to awaken Surtur and enact Ragnarok in order to defeat Hela.
The next stop for Thanos was the Reality Stone, also known as the Aether, on Knowhere. I thank Thanos knew he’d need that Stone next in order to At this point, Thor had met the Guardians of the Galaxy and was saved by them. Gamora figured that Thanos would be going to retrieve the Reality Stone from the Collector so she was wanted to get it before he did. Thor, on the other hand, took Rocket and Groot with him on Starlord’s pod to Nidavalir to have Eitri forge a weapon strong enough to kill Thanos. Of course, Rocket was intrigued because he always thought of Nidavalir as a myth. Meanwhile, Gamora, Starlord, Drax, and Mantis headed to Knowhere. Upon arrival to Knowhere, the Guardians saw Thanos torturing the Collector for information on the Reality Stone. The Collector insisted that he sold the Stone and didn’t know what it was. The Guardians went in for the sneak attack but Drax got overzealous, leading Mantis to make him sleep, causing Drax to fall to the ground and get the attention of Thanos. However, it was all a ruse, as Thanos had already destroyed Knowhere and got the Reality Stone, using it to his advantage. Thanos knew that Gamora was likely to show up. He also found out that Gamora knew where the Soul Stone was and would need to hear it from her and have her guide him to its location. Earlier, Gamora made Starlord promise to kill her, should they run into Thanos, as she was concerned about the fate of the universe. When Starlor begrudgingly tried, Thanos used the Reality Stone to turn Starlord’s gun and bullets into bubbles, before using the Space Stone to transport himself and Gamora to his base. Thanos also used the Reality Stone to briefly turn Drax into blocks and Mantis into ribbons.
Thanos had to make a stop first before going for the Soul Stone. After Gamora refused food and yelled at Thanos about her childhood and killing her parents, he showed her where her adopted sister Nebula was. As we learned in Guardians of the Galaxy, Thanos forced Gamora and Nebula to fight. Unfortunately for Nebula, she lost every time, leading to Thanos replacing a part of her body with machinery to make her “better.” Thanos was torturing Nebula in order to get Gamora to tell him where the Soul Stone was. Gamora claimed she never found it was sorry for disappointment Thanos. However, Thanos used Nebula’s machinery in her head to show that Gamora lied to Thanos about the Soul Stone’s whereabouts. Gamora couldn’t bear to watch Nebula being tortured so she confessed that the Soul Stone was on the planet Vormir. Gamora led Thanos there and they came upon a being that would lead them to it. It turned out to be the Red Skull, former leader of Hydra and main antagonist to Captain America. Red Skull’s unworthiness to hold the Space Stone cast him out and transferred him to Vormir, doomed to lead others to a treasure he couldn’t gain himself. He informed Thanos and Gamora that the Soul Stone required a sacrifice, losing that what you love, a soul for a soul. Unfortunately, in an ironic twist of fate, Thanos threw Gamora off a cliff, losing the daughter he loved the most, in order to gain possession of the Soul Stone. Though Avengers: End Game would show another scene at Vormir, that’s a whole different topic for a future blog.
Now that Thanos had the Soul Stone, his next move was to his home planet Titan. I believe once he gained the Soul Stone, he was after the Time Stone. He had sent Ebony Maw to Earth to retrieve the Time Stone and bring it to Titan. While Maw’s ship did end up on Titan, along with the Time Stone, Thanos was saddened to learn of Maw’s death, as he was greeted by the Time Stone’s keeper, Dr. Strange. Dr Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme, guarded the Time Stone, which was housed within the Eye of Agamotto. Little did Thanos know, that Iron Man, Spider-Man, Starlord, Drax, and Mantis were also awaiting the Mad Titan. The Avengers and Guardians fought Thanos in order to keep the Time Stone safe. Though Dr. Strange told Iron Man that he’d let him die before giving up the Time Stone, he begged Thanos to let Tony Stark live if he gave it to him. Thanos then used the Space Stone to go to Earth for the last Infinity Stone. Dr. Strange had used the stone to see over 14 million futures to see how many outcomes they would win against Thanos, seeing only one that was successful. After watching this scene, we as the collective audience figured that was why Strange gave up the Stone so easily and to save Iron Man’s life.
The last Stone left was the Mind Stone, which was in Vision’s head. Vision and the rest of the Avengers headed to Wakanda to meet up with the Black Panther, King T’Challah. Vision volunteered to die and have Wanda, a.k.a. Scarlet Witch, destroy the Stone in order to preserve the Universe. However, Wanda didn’t want to lose Vision, and Captain America said that they didn’t trade lives. So, they had Shuri attempt to remove the Mind Stone another way. Thanos soon arrived in Wakanda to help his Outriders and the Black Order fight the Avengers and gather the last Infinity Stone for his gauntlet in order to wipe out half the Universe with a snap of his fingers. I believe Thanos collected the Time Stone before the last, just in case plans went awry. Sure enough, that’s exactly what happened. As a last minute decision, Wanda agreed to destroy the Mind Stone, and Vision in the process, before Thanos got to him. Thanos approached as Wanda was nearly done destroying the Stone. She had to use the rest of her powers to hold a five-Infinity Stole Thanos off. Even though Wanda succeeded, it drained all her powers briefly. Thanos wasn’t done yet, as he used the Time Stone to reverse time before Vision was killed, and then killed Vision himself as he plucked the Mind Stone from his head. Thor then attacked Thanos with Stormbreaker and came close to killing him. However, because Thanos had all six Stones, and pointed out that Thor “should have gone for the head,” he snapped his fingers and used the Space Stone to get away. Soon after, we watched as half of our heroes, and people in general, were turned to dust.
To recap, this is what I believe was the strategy Thanos utilized to gather all of the Infinity Stones. First, he needed the Power Stone from Xandar in order to be strong enough to take down the Asgardian refugee ship and take the Space Stone. Once he acquired the Space Stone, he used it to retrieve the Reality Stone from the Collector on Knowhere. The strategy there was to use the Reality Stone to lull Gamora into a false sense of security so he could capture her and make her lead him to the Soul Stone. Once Thanos got the Soul Stone after sacrificing his daughter, he went to retrieve the Time Stone on his home planet of Titan, where he instructed Ebony Maw to bring it. It’s important that Thanos got the Time Stone before last as a backup plan. Upon gathering the final stone, the Mind Stone, he used the Time Stone to reverse time and gather the Mind Stone for himself. He then snapped his fingers and we were all saddened to watch half the living creatures in the Universe turn to dust.
I have a theory that Thanos gathered the Infinity Stones in the order that he did for a reason. There was a strategy to it, it seemed. When Infinity War began, Thanos and the Black Order were in the midst of attacking the surviving Asgardian filled ship. Thanos bested the Hulk, killed Heimdall, and then Loki after getting the Tesseract, which houses the Space Stone. However, Thanos had already acquired the Power Stone. Later, Thor informed the Guardians of the Galaxy that Thanos destroyed Xander to attain it. I believe the reason Thanos acquired the Power Stone first was that he would be strong enough to decimate the Asgardian refugees. Thor was the only one that survived but Thanos probably figured he’d be dead after blowing up the ship. I believe that’s how he was able to defeat the Hulk, although it didn’t seem like he was using the stone at the time. By acquiring the Tesseract, and within that, Space Stone, Thanos was then able to travel throughout the Universe at will. It’s also possible that Thanos knew the Space Stone was on the Asgardian ship when he arrived. For all Thor knew, the Stone was destroyed along with Asgard but Loki wouldn’t be Loki without taking the Tesseract. We all saw how he looked at it in Orin’s vault on his way to the Eternal Flame to awaken Surtur and enact Ragnarok in order to defeat Hela.
The next stop for Thanos was the Reality Stone, also known as the Aether, on Knowhere. I thank Thanos knew he’d need that Stone next in order to At this point, Thor had met the Guardians of the Galaxy and was saved by them. Gamora figured that Thanos would be going to retrieve the Reality Stone from the Collector so she was wanted to get it before he did. Thor, on the other hand, took Rocket and Groot with him on Starlord’s pod to Nidavalir to have Eitri forge a weapon strong enough to kill Thanos. Of course, Rocket was intrigued because he always thought of Nidavalir as a myth. Meanwhile, Gamora, Starlord, Drax, and Mantis headed to Knowhere. Upon arrival to Knowhere, the Guardians saw Thanos torturing the Collector for information on the Reality Stone. The Collector insisted that he sold the Stone and didn’t know what it was. The Guardians went in for the sneak attack but Drax got overzealous, leading Mantis to make him sleep, causing Drax to fall to the ground and get the attention of Thanos. However, it was all a ruse, as Thanos had already destroyed Knowhere and got the Reality Stone, using it to his advantage. Thanos knew that Gamora was likely to show up. He also found out that Gamora knew where the Soul Stone was and would need to hear it from her and have her guide him to its location. Earlier, Gamora made Starlord promise to kill her, should they run into Thanos, as she was concerned about the fate of the universe. When Starlor begrudgingly tried, Thanos used the Reality Stone to turn Starlord’s gun and bullets into bubbles, before using the Space Stone to transport himself and Gamora to his base. Thanos also used the Reality Stone to briefly turn Drax into blocks and Mantis into ribbons.
Thanos had to make a stop first before going for the Soul Stone. After Gamora refused food and yelled at Thanos about her childhood and killing her parents, he showed her where her adopted sister Nebula was. As we learned in Guardians of the Galaxy, Thanos forced Gamora and Nebula to fight. Unfortunately for Nebula, she lost every time, leading to Thanos replacing a part of her body with machinery to make her “better.” Thanos was torturing Nebula in order to get Gamora to tell him where the Soul Stone was. Gamora claimed she never found it was sorry for disappointment Thanos. However, Thanos used Nebula’s machinery in her head to show that Gamora lied to Thanos about the Soul Stone’s whereabouts. Gamora couldn’t bear to watch Nebula being tortured so she confessed that the Soul Stone was on the planet Vormir. Gamora led Thanos there and they came upon a being that would lead them to it. It turned out to be the Red Skull, former leader of Hydra and main antagonist to Captain America. Red Skull’s unworthiness to hold the Space Stone cast him out and transferred him to Vormir, doomed to lead others to a treasure he couldn’t gain himself. He informed Thanos and Gamora that the Soul Stone required a sacrifice, losing that what you love, a soul for a soul. Unfortunately, in an ironic twist of fate, Thanos threw Gamora off a cliff, losing the daughter he loved the most, in order to gain possession of the Soul Stone. Though Avengers: End Game would show another scene at Vormir, that’s a whole different topic for a future blog.
Now that Thanos had the Soul Stone, his next move was to his home planet Titan. I believe once he gained the Soul Stone, he was after the Time Stone. He had sent Ebony Maw to Earth to retrieve the Time Stone and bring it to Titan. While Maw’s ship did end up on Titan, along with the Time Stone, Thanos was saddened to learn of Maw’s death, as he was greeted by the Time Stone’s keeper, Dr. Strange. Dr Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme, guarded the Time Stone, which was housed within the Eye of Agamotto. Little did Thanos know, that Iron Man, Spider-Man, Starlord, Drax, and Mantis were also awaiting the Mad Titan. The Avengers and Guardians fought Thanos in order to keep the Time Stone safe. Though Dr. Strange told Iron Man that he’d let him die before giving up the Time Stone, he begged Thanos to let Tony Stark live if he gave it to him. Thanos then used the Space Stone to go to Earth for the last Infinity Stone. Dr. Strange had used the stone to see over 14 million futures to see how many outcomes they would win against Thanos, seeing only one that was successful. After watching this scene, we as the collective audience figured that was why Strange gave up the Stone so easily and to save Iron Man’s life.
The last Stone left was the Mind Stone, which was in Vision’s head. Vision and the rest of the Avengers headed to Wakanda to meet up with the Black Panther, King T’Challah. Vision volunteered to die and have Wanda, a.k.a. Scarlet Witch, destroy the Stone in order to preserve the Universe. However, Wanda didn’t want to lose Vision, and Captain America said that they didn’t trade lives. So, they had Shuri attempt to remove the Mind Stone another way. Thanos soon arrived in Wakanda to help his Outriders and the Black Order fight the Avengers and gather the last Infinity Stone for his gauntlet in order to wipe out half the Universe with a snap of his fingers. I believe Thanos collected the Time Stone before the last, just in case plans went awry. Sure enough, that’s exactly what happened. As a last minute decision, Wanda agreed to destroy the Mind Stone, and Vision in the process, before Thanos got to him. Thanos approached as Wanda was nearly done destroying the Stone. She had to use the rest of her powers to hold a five-Infinity Stole Thanos off. Even though Wanda succeeded, it drained all her powers briefly. Thanos wasn’t done yet, as he used the Time Stone to reverse time before Vision was killed, and then killed Vision himself as he plucked the Mind Stone from his head. Thor then attacked Thanos with Stormbreaker and came close to killing him. However, because Thanos had all six Stones, and pointed out that Thor “should have gone for the head,” he snapped his fingers and used the Space Stone to get away. Soon after, we watched as half of our heroes, and people in general, were turned to dust.
To recap, this is what I believe was the strategy Thanos utilized to gather all of the Infinity Stones. First, he needed the Power Stone from Xandar in order to be strong enough to take down the Asgardian refugee ship and take the Space Stone. Once he acquired the Space Stone, he used it to retrieve the Reality Stone from the Collector on Knowhere. The strategy there was to use the Reality Stone to lull Gamora into a false sense of security so he could capture her and make her lead him to the Soul Stone. Once Thanos got the Soul Stone after sacrificing his daughter, he went to retrieve the Time Stone on his home planet of Titan, where he instructed Ebony Maw to bring it. It’s important that Thanos got the Time Stone before last as a backup plan. Upon gathering the final stone, the Mind Stone, he used the Time Stone to reverse time and gather the Mind Stone for himself. He then snapped his fingers and we were all saddened to watch half the living creatures in the Universe turn to dust.
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