Thread:BEJT/@comment-32744140-20191201104858

So according to the writers, timelines don't split unless and until you remove an Infinity Stone. This means that everything happening in Avengers: Endgame before the removal of Infinity Stones from the different time periods also happen in our Main Timeline. But, before Rhodey took off with the Power Stone, Thanos came to know about the 2023 Nebula, when clearly in our Main Timeline, nothing of this sort happened. Also, in New York, Loki escaped with the Space Stone 'probably' before Bruce persuaded Ancient One to give up the Time Stone, when clearly in our Main Timeline, Loki didn't run off to anywhere. So, where do these changes fit in the Main Timeline? I strongly believe that the 'Splinter ON Splinter' theory is correct in this regard.

As far as u/JawTitan012's question is concerned, I like to believe that Bruce and Hank would've formulated a way to get to the DESIRED alternate timeline, before Steve went on his journey. On top of that, we don't know exactly how much time passed between the Avengers getting the Infinity Stones, and 2014 Nebula calling Thanos to 2023. Maybe upon returning back to the compound, Tony gave a little thought to Ancient One's warning and actually modified his Timespace GPS, which would allow them to choose between existing alternate timelines, instead of creating a new one every time they go back in time. 