Even though it’s been almost four years since the release of Avengers: Infinity War, Marvel Cinematic Universe fans still can’t stop talking about a particular moment with everyone’s favorite Sorcerer, Doctor Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch).
The heroes of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes face up against Thanos (Josh Brolin) on Titan, but they are ultimately defeated by the Mad Titan. So Doctor Strange gives Thanos the Time Stone and he moves closer to his goal of destroying half the universe.
Why, oh why, would Doctor Strange willingly hand over the space stone to Thanos? If you want to know more, read on!
Doctor Strange vs Thanos pic.twitter.com/EOYcrtikG5
— History of the MCU (@history0fthemcu) August 16, 2022
Why did Dr. Strange give Thanos the Time Stone in ‘Infinity War’?
Doctor Strange, Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), and Spider-Man arrive on Titan during the devastating third act of Infinity War (Tom Holland). The group is greeted by Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Mantis (Pom Klementieff), Drax (Dave Bautista), and Nebula (Carrie-Anne Moss) (Karen Gillan).
As Thanos approaches, the group quickly puts together a strategy to counter him. When Doctor Strange uses the Time Stone to see what will happen if they fight, he is disturbed to learn that only one of the 14 million possible futures has the Avengers emerging victorious.
With this knowledge in hand, Doctor Strange begins to lend assistance in carrying out a plan that comes dangerously close to eliminating Thanos. When the warlord proves to be unstoppable, nearly killing Tony Stark, Doctor Strange makes the difficult decision to relinquish control of the Time Stone.
From the outside looking in, Doctor Strange appears to trade Tony’s life to Thanos for the Time Stone. Right, sure… It’s implied that despite their constant bickering throughout the film, the Master of Mystical Arts truly does want to save Tony. In any case, that’s not going to happen.
Many Avengers fans believe that the only way the Avengers can defeat Thanos is if he gathers all six Infinity Stones and wipes out half the universe, thus they speculate that Doctor Strange sacrifices the Time Stone to prevent this.
As one Reddit user put it, “having rewatched Avengers: Endgame, I have come to the conclusion that enabling Thanos to collect all of the infinity stones was the only way for Dr. Strange to fully conjure up what he would regard to be a victory from the scenario.”
As an extra, they said that when Thanos completes his mission and starts the Snap, he destroys the Infinity Stones so that no other being may use them.
“Therefore, the only way for Strange to actually win at this juncture is if Thanos manages to collect all the stones. Since someone even eviler than Thanos will eventually control the stones, every other possible ending on Titan is just a postponement of the inevitable “to sum up, the Redditor said.
Doctor Strange achieves a huge victory for the Avengers and humanity by selecting the one possible future in which all six Infinity Stones are destroyed and Thanos is no longer a threat. Doctor Strange has always been a genius, so this shouldn’t come as a huge shock.
