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A lot has happened in the Marvel Cinematic Universe over the last 15 years, and for approximately two-thirds of that time, most of it was motivated by the mythical artifacts known as the Infinity Stones. These powerful gems, created during the Big Bang, each representing a different element of the universe, served as links across multiple movies in what was, frankly, an impressive level of interconnectedness and continuity that has not been seen in the franchise since.
This storyline, titled the Infinity Saga, reached its climax with the events of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. With so many years already between us and the latter, what is the status of the Infinity Stones in the MCU? And where are they now?
The Space Stone
That’s the blue one! The main McGuffin in movies like Captain America: The First Avenger, Captain Marvel, Thor, and The Avengers, this little gem can grant its bearer the power to travel anywhere, including between dimensions. It’s also been used across the MCU to help advance technology, while Thanos often manipulated the fabric of space with it, allowing him to crush people and things, as well as move the fragments of a moon.
Like all other stones, the Space Stone was turned to dust by Thanos weeks after he used it to wipe out half the world’s population. The Avengers then had to travel through time to retrieve the gems from other points in their timeline in order to use them to bring everyone back. After all that, Steve returned the Space Stone to Camp Lehigh in New Jersey in 1970, leaving it under the supervision of Howard Stark. In another alternate timeline, Loki escaped with the Tesseract and the glowing blue stone inside it, ultimately handing it over to the Time Variance Authority, an organization outside of time and space, after his capture.
The Time Stone
This one is green, and for most of its appearances in the MCU could be found inside its container, the Eye of Agamotto. It’s especially near and dear to the Masters of the Mystic Arts, namely Stephen Strange and the Ancient One, who have been the stone’s protectors for generations. With it, you can essentially pluck a moment from your timeline and manipulate it, usually reversing it, without creating branching timelines as would happen with “regular” time travel in the established MCU. Thanos used it to reverse Vision’s death, just like Dr. Strange used it to reverse the destruction of the Hong Kong Sanctum.
The Time Stone, after the events of Infinity War and Endgame, is currently back in the possession of the Masters of the Mystic Arts. Steve returned it to the Ancient One in the New York Sanctum in 2012.
The Mind Stone
Moving on to the yellow stone, which appeared blue when trapped inside the scepter Loki used during the invasion of Earth by the Chitauri. The Mind Stone’s capabilities are especially intense because this gem possesses intelligence akin to that of a sentient being. As a result, it turned the artificial intelligence frameworks of Ultron and Vision into humanoids capable of feeling and enhanced the powers of the Maximoff twins. The scepter, like the Tesseract and the Eye of Agamoto, allows any mere mortal to use the Infinity Stone contained within. In the case of the Mind Stone, whoever yields it can control the minds of others, but not without risking being mind-controlled themselves, as happened with Loki and the Avengers.
The Mind Stone was destroyed by Wanda when she killed Vision and then re-established when Thanos reversed his death. He then used it in the infamous snap and disintegrated it some weeks later. The Avengers traveled back to New York City in 2012 to steal the Scepter and use the stone to undo Thanos’ disastrous actions. After they were successful, Steve put it back in that same exact place, in the hands of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who would then be revealed as HYDRA.
The Reality Stone
If you can’t place the origins of this red crystal, that’s understandable because it first showed up in the MCU in the universally overlooked Thor: The Dark World. Only it was liquid then, referred to as the Aether. In order to wield this crystal, one could absorb it, instantly gaining superhuman abilities, including regeneration. It grants its user the power to change or warp reality by creating hyperrealistic illusions, or manipulating the consistency of objects and people alike.
The Asgardians eventually gave this stone to The Collector for safekeeping, but Thanos easily stole it. The same succession of events as all other stones transpired, leading Thor and Rocket to travel to Asgard to retrieve the Aether from Jane Foster. It was returned by Captain America.
The Power Stone
The Power Stone is purple and was first introduced in the MCU as the contents of the Orb. Its – without wanting to sound redundant – power was so great, that it had Ronan the Accuser (on behalf of Thanos), Star-Lord and the Guardians of the Galaxy, and the Nova Corps all vying for its possession in the first Guardians of the Galaxy. It’s easily the most potent stone, since anyone powerful enough to wield it can create energy blasts that will easily destroy anything they want.
One version of the Power Stone was atomized by Thanos, while the other, retrieved by Rhodey and Nebula during the Time Heist, was eventually returned by Steve to the place where we first saw it, the planet Morag.
The Soul Stone
This orange crystal is the most mystical among its sisters. Not only was its location virtually unknown for most of the universe’s inhabitants, but acquiring it required a painful sacrifice. The person or being looking to hold the Soul Stone would have to irreversibly sacrifice the one they loved most, killing them on the planet Vormir. A fitting test for a stone that allows its handler to essentially see dead people, manipulate the souls of the living, and grant life to inanimate objects. Definitely eerie.
During the Time Heist, Natasha sacrificed herself in order for Clint to obtain the stone and use it to undo Thanos’ damage. Steve would later return the gem to its original place on the timeline on Vormir. In the main timeline, the Soul Stone was reduced to atoms by Thanos.