Infinity Stones

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The fictional history of these items spans multiple timelines within the Earth-616 universe and alternate realities. In 2014, the Collector explained their origin as compressed singularities from before the Big Bang. By 2018, Wong and Stephen Strange clarified that each Stone embodies a specific aspect: Space (housed in the Tesseract), Mind (in Loki's scepter), Reality (the Aether), Power (inside an Orb), Time (within the Eye of Agamotto), and Soul (located on Vormir). While most Stones debuted in films leading up to *Avengers: Infinity War* (2018), their powers were utilized by figures like Red Skull, Loki, Ronan the Accuser, and Doctor Strange. Despite being destroyed by Thanos after his second use of the Gauntlet, they appear in the Multiverse Saga through flashbacks in *WandaVision*, alternate universes in *Loki* and *What If...?*, and an alternate timeline in *Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness* (2022) where the Illuminati defeated Thanos.

In Their Own Story

In 2018, Thanos succeeded in collecting all six Stones to execute his plan of wiping out half of all life. Wearing the Infinity Gauntlet, he snapped his fingers, causing the event known as the Blip. Five years later, surviving Avengers executed a time-travel plan to retrieve the Stones from other periods. After defeating an alternate Thanos and restoring everyone who was snapped away, Steve Rogers returned each Stone to its exact moment of collection in the timeline. Specific events include Johann Schmidt stealing the Space Stone in 1942, Loki using it to invade New York in 2012, Carol Danvers receiving powers from it in 1989, and Thor returning it to Asgard in 2012 before it was stolen again during Ragnarok. The Mind Stone created Vision after Bruce Banner and Tony Stark integrated its AI with J.A.R.V.I.S., while the Reality Stone (Aether) infected Jane Foster in 2013. The Power Stone killed Ronan the Accuser when the Guardians of the Galaxy shared its burden, and the Time Stone allowed Stephen Strange to trap Dormammu in a time loop.

Reader's Guide

**The Stones: Specifics from the Source** * **Space Stone (Blue):** Housed in the Tesseract. Used by Red Skull to power Hydra weaponry (1942), Loki to open portals, and revealed to have given Carol Danvers her powers (*Captain Marvel*). Recovered by Howard Stark after 1943 and later swallowed by Goose. * **Mind Stone (Yellow):** Originally in a scepter lent to Loki. Used on human test subjects like Pietro and Wanda Maximoff under Baron Strucker. Integrated into Vision's body by Tony Stark and Bruce Banner. * **Reality Stone (Red):** Appears as the Aether. Attempted to return the universe to its pre-Big Bang state by Malekith. Infected Jane Foster in 2013 before being entrusted to The Collector. * **Power Stone (Purple):** Hidden in an Orb on Morag. Seeks out Ronan, who betrays Thanos to destroy Xandar. Guardians of the Galaxy used it to defeat him, then entrusted it to the Nova Corps. * **Time Stone (Green):** Housed in the Eye of Agamotto. Found by Stephen Strange in 2016; used to save Earth from Dormammu via a time loop. * **Soul Stone (Orange):** The last to appear, located on Vormir. Requires a sacrifice (Gamora) for Thanos to collect it in *Infinity War*. **Safety Note:** Most mortals cannot handle the Stones; contact can be fatal unless the user has specific physiology (like Peter Quill's half-Celestial nature) or shares the burden with others.

Did You Know?

• The Collector explained in 2014 that the Stones are remnants of six singularities that existed before the Big Bang.
• Thanos used the Stones again after his initial snap to destroy them completely.
• Steve Rogers returned each Stone to the exact moments in time from which they were collected.
• The Power Stone's energy was so intense that only Peter Quill's half-Celestial physiology allowed him to withstand it briefly before the Guardians shared the burden.
• Scientific studies focusing on the control of matter relating to the Stones have been conducted mostly since the release of *Infinity War*.