All roads of the Marvel Cinematic Universe lead to one place and that is Avengers: Infinity War. The culmination of the past ten years will lead to Thanos wielding the Infinity Gauntlet, empowered by the all-powerful Infinity Stones, and will do battle with the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy, for the sake of the universe. But the Infinity Gauntlet-shaped puzzle has yet to be completed, with one more of the Stones to be found. And where are the other five Infinity Stones situated at the moment? Let’s take a step back and gaze upon the universe’s most exciting scavenger hunt as each of the Infinity Stones have surfaced in the MCU.
First off, let’s just recap what the Infinity Stones are. In short, they are six magic rocks that have immense power, and possessing all six could allow a person to reshape reality. Thanos wants to do this, though we don’t know why. Perhaps, like in the comics, it will be in an attempt to impress his love interest Death, by wiping out half of life in the universe to earn her affection. Now that would be one hell of a Valentine’s Day present. In Guardians of the Galaxy, the Collector explained that the Stones were six singularities that existed before the Big Bang. After the universe began, the six were compressed into stones, and have been sought by Thanos ever since.
The Space Gem / The Tesseract
What is up with magic doomsday boxes in films recently? The Tesseract, the AllSpark, the Mother Boxes in Justice League. The Tesseract first appeared in Thor, and then played a big role in Captain America: The First Avenger. Appearing as a glowing, blue cube, the Tesseract can generate mass amounts of energy and open wormholes in space. Hidden away on Earth by the Asgardians, the Tesseract was found and used by the Red Skull to create superpowered weapons for HYDRA. It was lost at sea, but retrieved by Howard Stark, and kept in the custody of S.H.I.E.L.D. for years.
The Tesseract was experimented with during Avengers Assemble, attracting the attention of Loki, who later used its power to open a wormhole, kicking off the Chitauri’s invasion of New York City. The Avengers put a stop to it, Thor returning the Tesseract to Asgard with Loki in tow. There it has stayed since, though the events of Thor: Ragnarok imply that Loki may have pocketed it for good measure, likely planning to hand it over to Thanos during Infinity War.
The Mind Gem / Loki’s Sceptre
Though the Reality Gem and the Power Gem were established first, the Mind Gem chronologically appeared beforehand in the form of Loki’s sceptre. Given to him by Thanos, Loki uses its magic to brainwash certain characters to help build the wormhole generator powered by the Tesseract. The Mind Gem is coloured yellow, and appears to possess a number of abilities, such as the aforementioned brainwashing, an ability to give people superpowers, and create psychotic robots.
Baron Von Strucker used the Mind Gem to unlock superpowers within Pietro and Wanda Maximoff. After the Avengers obtained the gem, Tony Stark and Bruce Banner discovered the gem possessed an artificial intelligence, using it to program Ultron. And we all know how well that went. Ultron used the Mind Gem to create a new body, but good old J.A.R.V.I.S. got there first, creating Vision, with the gem stuck in his forehead. But, if Thanos needs the Mind Gem, then prospects aren’t looking too good for Vissy…
The Reality Gem / The Aether
The Aether, a powerful, destructive force, made its debut in Thor: The Dark World, as a swirling red liquid crafted by Malekith the Accursed to wipe out the Nine Realms. Dumb plots aside, the Aether was placed in another dimension by Thor’s granddad, but Jane Foster finds it and is possessed by it, thus giving her a reason to still be important in Thor’s movies. Thor stops the Aether’s destructive force, sends Malekith packing, and the Reality Gem is dropped off into the custody of the Collector for safekeeping. This will probably the only element of The Dark World that will be remembered in years to come.
The Power Stone / The Orb
It was in Guardians of the Galaxy where the Infinity Stones became a major focus (or at least were acknowledged to exist). Here, we have the purple-tinted Power Stone, encased in a protective orb. Perhaps the most destructive of all, the Power Stone can kill anyone who touches it unless they are a Celestial (i.e. Peter Quill). It has also wiped out entire civilizations, and its power can only be harnessed for so long.
After a lengthy game of hot potato, the Power Stone ends up in the hands of Ronan the Accuser, who wants to wipe out the planet Xandar for past transgressions towards his people. Mr. Pouty Face doesn’t really get to do much with the stone, since he spends his whole time preaching about killing others, and gets obliterated by the Guardians. The Power Stone is safely placed in a vault owned by the Nova Corps, but we’ll have to see how long they last when Thanos comes calling.
The Time Stone / The Eye of Agamotto
The latest Infinity Stone to appear is the green Time Stone, encased in the Eye of Agamotto, as seen in Doctor Strange. As you might guess, it allows a person to control time, but does come with many restrictions and dangers if you mess with it. Dr. Strange wears and harnesses the stone during his battle to stop Kaecilius from freeing Dormammu. Strange cleverly locking himself and the demonic entity in a time loop until Dormammu agrees to barter with Dr. Strange. In a surprisingly mature move, Dr. Strange leaves the Eye of Agamotto in Kamar-Taj, in Kathmandu, Nepal. Due to the mystical arts and existence of Kamar-Taj, it might be more of a challenge to obtain the Time Stone.
The Soul Gem
And, last but not least, we have the Soul Stone, which has yet to appear in the MCU. Perhaps the most sinister of the Infinity Stones, wielding it would allow a person to steal souls, control the living, and resurrect the dead. This would be a good plot device to bring back some dead characters. Still, we have no idea where it is at the moment. Perhaps it won’t turn up until Infinity War, but could possibly turn up in Black Panther. A long-term theory is that Heimdall could possess the Soul Stone for some reason, since he can see across the realms, and Thor’s vision in Age of Ultron shows him blind. Other suggest it will appear with Adam Warlock, whose arrival was hinted at in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, but I doubt we shall see Adam’s appearance until after Infinity War.
The six Infinity Stones will come together by next year, and our questions will be answered. I would prefer if the Soul Stone is properly set up like the others without just getting thrown in to complete the set. Regardless of what happens, the MCU is a runaway train and Infinity War will be where it flies off the tracks.
Where do you think the last Infinity Stone is? In Wakanda or elsewhere? Leave a comment below or on our Twitter feed.
