The famous prophecy of Marvel’s Doctor Strange has stirred up theories and strange hypothetical conclusions of the movie Avengers: Infinity War.
Disclaimer: I do not know the exact film of the next Marvel Cinematic Universe: Avengers. Everything written here is purely hypothetical and opinionated based on perceived hidden messages of the characters has said or done.
Warning: Read at your own risk, this article contains spoilers for those who have not yet seen the movie.
In the scene where Iron Man (Tony Stark), Spider-Man (Peter Parker), and Dr. Strange (Dr. Stephen Strange) crashed Ebony Maw’s spaceship to Titan, Thanos’ home.
Eventually meeting The Guardians of the Galaxy’s Starlord (Peter Quill), Drax, and Mantis (from Guardians Vol.2), discovering that they have the same goal: to defeat Thanos.
Doctor Strange, then, looks into the future. Thus, his very famous line from the movie,
I went forward in time, to see all the possible outcomes.” -Dr. Strange
Doctor strange looked at 14 million possibilities, and said he only sees only possibility as victory for them.
It’s like 0.0000000217 percent the mighty heroes would win. Viewers were still hopeful, and thus the team planned their way to acquiring the Infinity Gauntlet.
So they almost, I repeat ALMOST had the gauntlet but Quill ruined it all. Masked by rage of Gamora’s death he ruined the plan. Leaving Iron Man impaled and the rest of the members defeated.
Dr. Strange told Iron Man beforehand that if Thanos defeats them and he has to choose between Spider-Man and him, he’d choose to protect the stone. But what shocked us is how he surrendered the stone when Iron Man was about to be killed. In exchange for Tony’s life, the stone shall be Thanos’.
Why did he do that? Did he lose hope?
Before answering those questions let’s then skip to the end scene. I feel hurt and very disappointed to say it but Thanos succeeded and wiped out half of the universe existence randomly. Some of the Avengers perished to dust in a heartbreaking way as they get wiped out for good. Dr. Strange was one of the people who turned to dust, but before he did so he said these words:
“Trust me Stark, This is the only way…” then he vanished into thin air.
The movie was very dramatic, and heartbreaking that it was the first time I cried in the cinema on an action film. The point is that, maybe those last words were not just for drama and for people to bawl their eyes out, but is this a cookie?
Let’s go back to the questions above, why did he surrender the time stone when he was passionate about protecting it. I know Stephen Strange is also human but he logically thinks that one life does not equal half of the universe. The stone was their only weapon and hope against Thanos but he surrendered it willfully for Tony Stark’s (Ironman) life.
Stark was willing to die for the stone too, pleading Dr. Strange not to surrender it but he did it willfully. What was running through his mind back then? Why was he having a sure composure? Did he give up half of the universe lives just to save Stark?
Let’s go back to the line where he told Tony that “…This is the only way …” Emphasize on the ONLY, could this be the reason why he surrendered the time stone willfully? Hidden beneath the façade of caring for another human being, is there a reason as to why he gave up the Time stone? When he would die for the time stone?
The probable answer is that their plan didn’t fail, but only Dr. Strange is aware of this. Is it possible that that one possible outcome of being victorious is the life they are living at the moment?
What if he knows their plan would almost work. What if he knows Quill would get in the way to ruin it. He was the only one who knows the future. He was the only one to actually see how the plan of being victorious would work. The plan would fail, half of the Universe would perish but it’ll be rebuilt it’ll be resurrected as to how it is but he must surrender it. Thanos must come out victorious.
He told Stark to trust the words that he said when he proclaimed it was the only way.
Will we trust what he said? Is it that only way among 46 million possibilities that they get defeated?
He was vague about how the only way to victory works. He didn’t fill the group with some details too and on how they would go through on defeating Thanos.
The words of our heroes are more than just scripted dialogues but more of like cookies for the next upcoming movies. The Infinity Wars did leave us hanging and hoping Captain Marvel would take the course from her on now.
Until the next movie, MCU would leave us anxious until 2020s Captain Marvel. But if you can’t wait, you can check out Deadpool 2 for the meantime.