The Infinity Stones

"Before creation itself, there were six singularities. Then the universe exploded into existence, and the remnants of these systems were forged into concentrated ingots... Infinity Stones." - The Collector

The Infinity Stones are to the Marvel Cinematic Universe what the White Walkers are to Game of Thrones. The MCU saga has been building to one colossal, culminating event. In the background of every single movie since Iron Man came out in 2008, the potential threat of the Infinity Stones has been present. The Infinity Stones are a truly monumental danger on their own, each possessing unique and all-powerful capabilities. However, it seems only beings of extreme power are capable of wielding the stones. Any relatively average individual that attempts to handle an infinity stone is either vaporized on the spot, or is eventually killed in some other fashion befitting the specific Infinity Stone.

The Space Stone (The Tesseract)

The Space Stone is representative of the fabric of space, and when used correctly it can open gateways to other parts of the universe and grant its user interdimensional travel. On screen, we see it as The Cosmic Cube, however the cube is merely a containment unit for the stone that resides within.(Sometimes called The Cosmic Cube)
This is the first Infinity Stone seen on screen in the MCU, and the one audiences are likely the most familiar with. Uncovered by Johann Schmidt (aka The Red Skull) in WWII, it was put to use by the Nazi Science Division, HYDRA, to develop advanced technologies and weaponry for the Nazis. In steps Captain America and BAM, Red Skull is lost through a portal and the Tesseract along with Cap are lost in the ocean. (We’ll come back to Cap and his story in a later post)
It was later recovered by Howard Stark, who thought it could be used as a source for unlimited sustainable energy for the planet.

Many years later, Loki uses the Space Stone to teleport himself to Earth where he launches the assault on New York that we see in the first Avengers movie. The Tesseract is used atop Stark Tower to open a portal to another part of the universe from which the Chitauri (an alien army that answers to Thanos) attempt to invade Earth. Long story short, the Avengers assemble, kick all sorts of ass, and have Thor return both the Tesseract and his brother Loki to Asgard.

The last we see of the stone is Loki eyeing it as he and the rest of the Asgardians retreat from their home planet in Thor: Ragnarok.
If Thanos acquires the Space Stone, it will allow him to open gateways to wherever he wants in the known universe. Shiiiiiiiiiiit.

Pictured: Chitauri invaders using a portal created by the Space Stone

The Reality Stone (Aether)

This might be the Infinity Stone that spooks me the most. The Reality Stone has the ability to transform the universe itself. It doesn’t take the form of a physical stone, rather a menacing dark red liquid untethered by the laws of physics. Over millenia some of the stones have been altered and used by powerful beings as either a gift to benefit their civilizations, or as a weapon to carry out their insidious will.

The Aether is used to convert regular matter into dark matter, thus draining the life force from it. It appears to be an all-consuming force with a single goal; to uh, ya know, consume all.
We see The Aether in Thor: The Dark World being wielded by Malekith, leader of the dark elves. IMO, Malekith is just an emo little bitch who wants to use the Aether to consume all like in the universe, bringing an age of eternal darkness. Malekith, being the little bitch boi that he is, was defeated by Thor and the Aether was then contained by the Asgardians and given to the sketchy-as-all-hell Collector for safe-keeping.

The last time we see the Reality Stone it is in the hands of The Collector in his museum on Knowhere, a location later seen in Guardians of the Galaxy. In Guardians of the Galaxy, however, the museum is destroyed in an explosion, scattering its contents scattered to the celestial wind.
If Thanos acquires the Reality Stone, he might start sporting an all-black look and lock himself in his room. But really, he could potentially use this stone to bend the laws of physics to his will. Pls no.

Pictured: The Collector being a reputable hobbyist
"One down. Five to go."

The Power Stone

The Power Stone is representative of the destructive nature of the universe. It is capable of annihilating entire planets. The stone also grants its user enhanced strength, durability, and most importantly immense power, often expelled in the form of bright purple energy.
We first see the Power Stone in Guardians of the Galaxy, where it is uncovered by the intergalactic equivalent of Indiana Jones, Peter Quill aka Star Lord. It is in this movie that we get to finally explore some of the background of the Infinity Stones, and where the Guardians are shown a glimpse of the full might of the Power Stone. The Power Stone is later captured by a Kree zealot known as Ronan the Accuser, who’s original task was to retrieve the stone for Thanos. Ronan instead decides he wants to use the stone to raze Xandar, homeworld of the peacekeeping force known as The Nova Corps. He then shows us how truly powerful he is by containing the Power Stone in the head of his warhammer.

Eventually, the day is saved by Peter Quill’s slick dance moves and an overall team effort by his fellow Guardians of the Galaxy. Star Lord manages to wield the Power Stone by himself, almost being torn to pieces in the process. By uniting hands with the other Guardians and using the true power
of friendship the Power Stone is safely placed within its containment orb.

The Power Stone is then given to the Nova Corps for safekeeping.
The last known location of the Space Stone is with The Nova Corps on Xandar. They're gonne be fine. Its fine. Everything is fine.
If Thanos were to obtain the Power Stone, the already extremely powerful Mad Titan’s strength would be enhanced to a terrifying degree.

Edit: Corps not Core. How presidential of me.

Pictured: Eson The Searcher wielding the Power Stone in a super-spooky glimpse of the past.

Pictured: The Guardians showing that friendship is the REAL power.

The Mind Stone

The Mind Stone represents - you guessed it - all things encompassing the mind. It’s capabilities are vast.
We unknowingly see it in the first Avengers movie contained within Loki’s staff which was a gift from Thanos. Loki uses this staff to fire blasts of energy and to control the minds of various individuals.
In Avengers: Age of Ultron, we see the staff is being used by HYDRA to create enhanced individuals such as Wanda and Pietro Maximoff (Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver).

Once reclaimed by Tony Stark, he and Bruce banner use it to create Ultron, a peacekeeping A.I. supposedly capable of protecting the planet from intergalactic threats. This AI pretty much instantly decides that to usher in peace, humanity must go extinct - so it doesn’t really work out like Tony intended. Ultron eventually gets ahold of Loki’s scepter and removes the Mind Stone held within to construct The Vision. Vision was originally intended to be Ultron’s ideal form, but The Avengers intervene in time to combine him with Tony’s less intuitive A.I. JARVIS. (I’ll get into The Vision in a later post) The Mind Stone is most commonly connected with mind control, communication across the universe, and apparently creating enhanced individuals.

The last time we saw The Mind Stone it was resting suuuuper safely in the equally suuuuper safe Vision's forehead on Earth.
If Thanos were to obtain this stone, I’m uncertain how exactly he would use it’s specific abilities. I don’t imagine he’ll use it to convince everyone to be his friend though.

Pictured: The Mind Stone being removed from Loki's scepter.

The Time Stone (Eye of Agamotto)

The Time Stone is representative of the nature of Time in the universe. From what we have seen, this stone is capable of controlling and altering the flow of time.
Housed in the ancient Eye Of Agamotto, the Time stone is first seen and wielded in Doctor Strange. In the film he initially uses The Eye to help himself study the art of sorcery, and ultimately to defeat the film's antagonists through its ability to manipulate the flow of time. In this movie, Dr. Strange freezes time to keep our reality from being consumed by The Dark Dimension, which is obviously an incredibly happy and safe place to live. The Dark Dimension is inhabited by Dormammu, an all-consuming demon that I'll get into later on. Eventually, Doctor Strange traps the interdimensional dickhead in a time-loop. Dormammu kills Strange over and over again, only to keep repeating the same process as the good Doctor can simply rewind reality back to their first encounter. He strikes a bargain with Dormammu and the world is saved. (We'll cover this a bit more in future posts).

At the end of the film, the Time Stone is revealed to reside inside The Eye of Agamotto. Doctor Stephen Strange is named Sorcerer Supreme and is charged with the safekeeping of the artifact.

The last time we saw the Time Stone it was still inside The Eye of Agamotto, locked away in the Sanctum Sanctorum in New York City under the protection of Doctor Strange.
If Thanos were to obtain the Time Stone, he wouldn’t just be in charge of the flow of time for himself, but the flow of time for EVERYONE. How do you even stop that?

Pictured: Dr. Strange demonstrating the awesome might of the Time Stone on a villainous apple.

The Soul Stone

The Soul Stone is a topic of wild speculation as it has yet to be shown in a Marvel movie. It is the sixth and final stone needed for a fully functional Infinity Gauntlet.
Since we don’t know for certain if we have seen it at work in the movies, I’ll list a few of its capabilities from the comics it has appeared in.

In the comics, the Soul Stone is sentient. It is constantly trying to consume and house individual souls within itself. It can peer into the soul of a person to reveal their deepest desires or darkest secrets. Lastly, it is also capable of reverting an individual, ie. The Hulk, back to their natural state.
My guess is that it is contained or correlates directly with the vibranium found exclusively in Wakanda. In Black Panther we see that most everything in their culture revolves around vibranium; their immensely advanced technology, even their seemingly magical fruits all show properties not found anywhere else on the planet. In the opening sequence of the film, a vibranium meteor is described crashing into Wakanda. This seemingly magic metal came from outer space, who's to say if that meteor only contained vibranium? Furthermore, when T’Challa drinks juice from the heart-shaped herb and travels to the Ancestral Plane, it seems like the sort of thing one would be able to do with help from the Soul Stone, no?

If Thanos obtains The Soul Stone, he’ll either get really into Aretha Franklin and Marvin Gaye, or he’ll possibly harvest the souls of The Avengers. Could go either way.

So, why do all of these stones matter?

When all 6 Infinity Stones are mounted in their places on the gauntlet, it will allow the wearer virtually limitless godly abilities. Most notably, the ability to wipe out all life in the universe. Based off the trailers, we know Thanos wants to wipe out only half. Thanos would be the greatest threat our heroes have ever faced and frankly, I don’t know how he could be stopped with even one of them.

Excited? Scared? Aroused??

Thanks for reading and see you tomorrow!

Edit: Link to Lost Bois Entry: https://imgur.com/a/77ZCB

Edit: It's vs its. Think I got it right now.
Edit: Some of you were asking about specific abilities granted by the stones, and a commenter was nice enough to provide! https://imgur.com/a/UOs0J

Edit: Here is a link to my Reddit post where I give a description of my planned posts. https://redd.it/88z73z