Eternals is out on Disney+ and it is time to get deeper into the film. Once again, the MCU managed to successfully expand its cosmic boundaries with the Eternals, Deviants, and even the Celestials. The movie explored the long history of these beings designed by Arishem and their connections with the rest of the MCU. And, the film’s major connections came with Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. Well, in particular, those links came with the snap of Thanos and of Hulk that we witnessed in the previous two Avengers movies. Eternals actually revealed why Thanos’ snap had to happen.
Back in Infinity War, Doctor Strange saw 14 million 605 future alternatives, and the Avengers won in just one of those. Tony asked Doctor Strange why he gave the time stone away willingly. And he replied, “There was no other way.” I believe that one of the reasons for Strange to say this was the Emergence. He had to let the snap of Thanos happen at all costs.
Strange Was Protecting The Emergence
After watching Infinity War, we thought that there would have been a few future scenarios out of 14 million where the Avengers would have won for sure. How is it that there was just one out of so many? I mean, Strange alone could have defeated Thanos in multiple ways on Titan. He could have cut his gauntlet-wielding arm off using a portal. He could have used No Way Home’s memory wiping spell on Thanos and made him forget about his purpose. But he still chose to fight the Mad Titan and let half of the entire Universe’s population be disintegrated. And part of the reason for that has to be the Eternals!
Sure, the winning outcome for the Avengers was the one where Tony sacrificed himself. But it was also the one where Thanos and Hulk’s snaps had to happen because that’s what led to the stoppage of the Emergence. The real purpose of the Eternals was to follow Arishem’s design and allow the Emergence of Tiamut. But after helping many other Celestials on several planets, Ajak changed her mind for Earth. She wanted to stop the Emergence because of what she witnessed.
First, Thanos snapped his fingers and brought balance to the Universe. But the Avengers did not give up. They assembled 5 years later, fought hard, and brought the population of the entire universe back. Ajak sensed this specialty in the people of Earth. In fact, even Tiamut sensed it. That’s why he joined Sersi in his own killing.
The Avengers Would Have Lost!
You see, even if Doctor Strange and co would have stopped Thanos on Titan, the Avengers would have still lost. It was revealed that Earth was really close to reaching the Emergence point but Thanos’ snap delayed it by reducing half the population. So if the snap would not have happened then Tiamut would have emerged and Ajak would have enabled that along with Ikaris. And Doctor Strange probably saw this devastating outcome too in one or many of his 14 million+ alternate futures. So, he had to find a timeline where the Avengers would have stopped Thanos after his snap, and they would have subsequently motivated the Eternals to stop the Emergence.
That’s why there was just one out of 14 million+ futures where everything had to happen the way it did. Thanos had to snap his fingers. The rat had to free Scott. Smart Hulk and Tony had to make sacrifices to change Ajak’s mind so the present-day events of Eternals could begin. This entire domino effect was foreseen by Doctor Strange. Yes, I am saying that he continued to watch the future even beyond Tony’s snap to make sure that the Emergence was stopped. That’s my theory and I’d like to know your thoughts on it in the comments.
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