Marvel Cinematic Universe: Infinity Stone Review
All throughout Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos is after one thing. . . more like six. These are the infinity stones. Once they all come together, they make who ever wields them the most powerful being in the world. Thanos's main goal is to provide unlimited resources to the universe by using these six stones in a gauntlet, the infinity gauntlet, and snapping his fingers and erasing half of reality. At the end of Infinity War, we see Thanos achieve this goal and witness the deaths of beloved heroes like Spider-Man and Black Panther. Even though the gauntlet is destroyed, it seems as though the stones remain in one piece. Infinity War ends with Thanos watching a sun rise just as he told Doctor Strange he would do. The infinity stones are still a large part of the marvel universe and I thought I would make this quick review of all major appearances of each stone before Avengers: Endgame comes out.
Space Stone
The First Stone we see is the Space Stone. It's housed in the tesseract and we first see it in the end credits of Thor. Dr. Erik Selvig is called into S. H. I. E. L. D. after Thor takes down the Destroyer in New Mexico. Nick Fury shows the scientist the tesseract. Loki appears alongside Selvig's reflection and the god of mischief proceeds to say the words: "Well I guess that's worth a look". The Doctor repeats it and the scene ends. Later on, Captain America: The First Avenger was released and was the most prominent use of the space stone by far. Red Skull is constantly seen throughout the whole film utilizing the tesseract to create weapons for the Nazi organization Hydra. The space stone is utilized so much during this film that it would be hard to fully recap it's appearances without including every little detail from the first Captain America film.
The first film in The Avengers saga, The Avengers, is the next time we see the tesseract and the space stone. S. H. I. E. L. D. starts the film keeping a close watch on it as Dr. Selvig tells Fury that it's behaving. Within seconds of Director Fury's arrival, the space stone opens up a portal and allows Loki to come to Earth and start his mission from Thanos. The tesseract is once again used a weapon in this film as it allows the chitauri army to come down from space and wreak havoc on New York. When the avengers take down Loki, Thor takes his brother and the tesseract back to Asgard in order to protect it and keep it protected.
During Thor: Ragnarok, Loki goes through Odin's hall of relics before stopping to look at the tesseract. He stops and thinks for a second about stealing it but then decides against it to revive Surtur to start the destruction of Asgard. At the start of Infinity War, we see that Loki did, in fact, steal the tesseract and gives it up to Thanos to prevent any harm being done to Thor. After crushing the tesseract and taking out the stone to place in his gauntlet, Thanos grabs Loki and snaps his neck. He then uses the space stone to create portals to travel anywhere he wishes. Finally, Captain Marvel is the last appearance of the tesseract before Avengers: Endgame. It is seen as the source of Carol Danvers's powers and was the property of Dr. Wendy Lawson, Danvers's ally when she was in the air force. Dr. Lawson's cat, Goose the flerken, inhales the tesseract and keeps it in for an unspecified amount of time before coughing it up on Nick Fury's desk in the end credit scene.
Mind Stone
The mind stone, of course, can be used to manipulate people's minds and change their allegiance. In The Avengers, Loki primarily uses the mind stone in his staff to brainwash whoever gets touched by it. He uses it as a way to recruit Hawkeye and Erik Selvig and infiltrate S. H. I. E. L. D. The next time its seen is in Avengers: Age of Ultron. The opening shows the team in Sokovia where they successfully obtain the scepter and bring it back to New York. When Ultron first wakes, he takes it back in order to give life to an upgraded version of himself. At around the beginning of act 3, the Maximoff twins aid the avengers in re-obtaining the scepter which was previously shattered and placed on Ultron's new body. After Bruce Banner and Tony Stark plant Tony's AI, J.A.R.V.I.S. inside the new body, Thor interferes and brings the body to life creating Vision. The mind stone rests on Vision's forehead throughout both Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War, where it's used a way of self defense. Thanos forcefully grabs it from Vision's head and it joins the rest of the stones inside Thanos's gauntlet.
Reality Stone
If it isn't obvious, the reality stone alters reality. It's first seen in Thor: The Dark World. The aether houses the stone and for a majority of the second installment of Thor, resides inside Jane Foster. Once it becomes like a parasite inside of her, the reality stone defends itself against anyone who tries to remove it. It causes Jane to have visions of destruction and to black out every so often. In the climax of Thor: The Dark World, the dark elf Malekith removes it from Jane and takes it in himself. He then lands in London and uses its power to destroy all realms that the Asgardians protect. After Thor is able to contain it, Lady Sif and Volstagg bring the aether to the Collector and leave it with him. The reality stone appears in Avengers: Infinity War when the guardians of the galaxy first encounter Thanos. When they arrive at Knowhere and make their way to the Collector's museum, they find it in ruins and the collector cowering in front of Thanos. After a quick skirmish, it's revealed that what Peter Quill and the other guardians are seeing isn't real and that it's just what Thanos wants them to see. He had already received the stone and placed it in the gauntlet.
Power Stone
Guardians Of The Galaxy present the next infinity stone to us through the power stone. This stone's ability basically grants unlimited power to any one who wields it and is kept inside a small silver orb. All characters pursue it throughout the film in order to be granted at least some of that power even if it kills them. After the battle of Xandar, a dance-off, and some of the most epic hand holding ever captured on screen, the Nova corp keep the orb with them and keep it locked up. At the beginning of Avengers: Infinity War, we see that Thanos has already obtained the power stone and is able to take down the Hulk. We then learn from Thor that Thanos essentially destroyed Xandar in order to achieve the power stone.
Time Stone
Housed inside the Eye of Agamotto, the time stone is essentially a time machine that's the size of a small gem. Doctor Strange first dawns the stone, first seen in his solo film, when he sneaks into the library and flips through the Book of Cagliostro. The book teaches him about opening the eye and utilizing the time altering qualities. The time stone after that point is then always kept on his person as he joins the New York sanctum as it's guardian. Throughout Infinity War, Stephen Strange protects it the best he can as it's his duty to keep the time stone safe at all costs. It isn't until he sees Tony Stark in danger and realizes that keeping Tony alive is the only way to win that he gives it up, adding another stone to Thanos's gauntlet. The last time the infinity stone is used before the snap is Thanos using it to revive Vision and rebuild the mind stone just so he can rip that stone out again.
Soul Stone
The last of the six infinity stones is introduced in Infinity War, the soul stone. It's established after the guardians of the galaxy are introduced that Gamora has discovered where the stone lies. She would willingly give her life to make sure that Thanos never gets it. The reason she is so persistent in making sure he never gets it is due to the fact it is the final piece for him to complete his goal of snapping away half the universe. It's the most confusing stone but definitely the most important as it can control souls. The stone is located on Vormir and required a sacrifice of a loved one in order to emerge. Thanos grabs Gamora's arm and the audience watches in terror as this massive raisin faced being chucks his once beloved daughter off a cliff and sends her to her death. Once Gamora's life is gone, Thanos obtains the soul stone and has the stone that is most important to the snap happening.
I hope this guide to the infinity stones was helpful as the fallen heroes of Infinity War are avenged.
Images:
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https://andphilosophy.com/2014/08/29/guardians-of-the-galaxy-and-philosophy/
https://www.theverge.com/2016/8/28/12685274/why-was-thor-not-in-civil-war-explained
https://nerdist.com/the-avengers-is-totally-different-when-cut-like-watchmen/
http://www.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/2018/12/huzzah-the-doctor-strange-sequel-is-definitely-happening-with-benedict-cumberbatch-returning
https://colbybryant.com/2018/04/20/review-thor-the-dark-world-2013/
https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-reviews/avengers-infinity-war-review-all-star-marvel-team-up-is-superhero-pile-up-628954/
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