Board Thread:New on Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki/@comment-1509585-20140804183803/@comment-1298029-20150405220112

Well, two points (both have been raised already, but looking around I think a bit of repetition can't hurt):

1) The fact that Thanos doesn't have the Tesseract now does not mean he didn't have it sometime in the past (perhaps a really long time ago), and lost it or had it taken from him (as apparently the things are in demand all over the place), or that the Scepter couldn't have been made with its energy by someone else, then acquired by Thanos. Either is consistent with Thanos having the Scepter but not the Tesseract at the time of the Avengers movie, and neither is contradicted by any current MCU lore that I know of.

2) Just because all currently named or pseudo-named Stones begin with letters also found in Thanos' name does not mean there is a causal relationship. Even if there is, the "S" in Thanos could stand for any number of words other than Scepter. Just find a Merriam-Webster and look under S. There's thousands; I'm sure at least several dozen would sound plausible as names for MacGuffins of power.

Also, I would like to raise a third point: people point to the Infinity War teaser as confirmation that the Sceptre stone is an Infinity Stone. I saw the video, and it implied no such thing as far as I was able to see. The simple fact that the Scepter appears on screen in a prominent fashion does not necessarily mean it houses a separate and unique Stone. As for verbal TPB (The Powers That Be) confirmation: Can anyone present a video, transcript, quotation in a reliable source (i.e., professional journalists), etc.? If not, it's hearsay.

Now, I'm not saying the Scepter is not a Stone, I am simply saying that I find the evidence presented here to the effect that it is, unconvincing.

As for what is implied by the currently extant movies, there are reasonably good arguments either way. I'll summarize some of them if nobody minds (like you can stop me, har har! :) ), in no particular order of their relative quality or importance as perceived by myself:

Pro:


 * Sceptre is prominently positioned in Infinity War trailer in a manner suggestive of it possibly being a Stone.


 * "S" in "Sceptre" could spell "Thanos", along with "T" in "Tesseract", "A" in "Aether" (although technically, in High English (insomuch as such a standard exists) the word is spelled with an "Æ" ligature, which is then a single letter distinct from "A"), "O" in "Orb" (although that sounds like a rather generic and provisional name), and "H" and "N" in the names of two as-yet unknown Infinity Stones.


 * From an out-of-universe perspective, using an already-established object discussed several times as important (at least to the human protagonists) could be beneficial, as the number of Stones appearing in MCU is at least 5 (from Infinity War teaser shot of Infinity Gauntlet on Thanos' hand; poor video quality makes impossible to resolve whether a 6th gem is present on the outside of the thumb; traditional Earth-616 canon is 6 gems, with sometimes a 7th present; however, regardless of number of stones on glove, Collector states explicitly in Guardians that the number of IG's is 6)

Con:


 * It seems unlikely Thanos would give a Stone to Loki, considering Stones are widely sought-after and confer immense power; Thanos has no real guarantee Loki would not just leave with the Stone, perhaps even challenge him with it. It is Thanos' apparent aim to unite all Stones in his possession; loaning a Stone to Loki jeopardizes that plan. Also, the abilities of the Sceptre as seen in Avengers are severely limited: For all its hype and looks, it did not really do all that much for Loki -- certainly nothing a run-of-the-mill energy rifle couldn't have done in terms of offensive capabilities, plus some rather weak mind control: both subjects shown broke free with relatively minor and simple assistance (knock on head / light concussion; although time may also have been a factor -- it is possible the effects of the Sceptre were so easy to negate because by the time the subjects were knocked on head, they were already wearing off "naturally"), and one subject (Selvig) apparently retained enough free will to sabotage the very job Loki co-opted him for. It is quite likely a being of cosmic power like Thanos could have easily furnished Loki with any number of weapons capable of achieving comparable results, without resorting to loaning him an Inifinity Stone. Caveat: Thanos may have had an ulterior motive in giving a Stone to Loki: e.g., he may have been hedging his bets in case Loki failed, if the Stone in the Sceptre was of a kind that could wreak damage or otherwise further Thanos' plans in enemy hands (e.g., a Stone remote-controllable or summonable back at any time by Thanos, a Stone enabling Thanos to remotely gain intelligence on humans and the Tesseract's whereabouts, etc.).


 * Given discussion in above paragraph, the low level of abilities exhibited by the Sceptre (considering that its wielder at the time, Loki, was a relatively powerful being, an Asgardian royal by adoption (and possibly biological manipulation of some, then likely technologically advanced, sort) and a Jotun royal by birth) would seem to suggest that it is not a Stone, as all Stones discussed so far are stated to be immensely powerful (planetary-level destruction or above being a possible result in case of abuse of any one of them) even when used separately from other Stones.


 * Sceptre is identified by humans as derived from the Tesseract, in particular sharing operating principle similarities and energy emission signatures. Caveat: Humans may not be sufficiently knowledgeable on the subject of Stones and/or advanced technologically to distinguish between the energy signatures of different Stones, thus possibly making them incorrectly conclude that the Sceptre is powered by the Tesseract, even were it the case that the two are different Stones, as in that case their signatures may be non-identical but similar enough for humans to conclude (incorrectly), from their limited understanding, that they are in fact one and the same.


 * In Guardians of the Galaxy, there is a scene (at Collector's place, timestamp about 0:57:30) where Tivan explains the Stones lore, complete with a graphic of the Stones. At least the purple Stone appears on the graphic realistically with respect to its actual appearance in the film (although the appearances of both Tesseract and Aether differ from movie portrayal, as in the graphic both are stones similar overall to the purple one, whereas in the movies the actual Tesseract is a smooth-sided cube some 5" on a side and the Aether is an amorphous cloud of some sort of gunk/energy; personally I take this to mean that at least some Stones can be altered from their "default" appearance, which I assume to be that of a small crystal like the purple one's default appearance, only of different colour). 5 other Stones are shown, similar in appearance to the purple one (as stated, I assume this to be their "default" or "primordial" appearance). These are coloured: blue (I assume the Tesseract), red (Aether), and three unknown Stones coloured yellow, orange, and green. The colour of the ball in the Sceptre is blue, like the Tesseract and unlike any of the "undetermined" gems. This seems to support the idea that the Sceptre is powered by Tesseract energy, rather than being a different Stone. (Furthermore, the Sceptre shoots coruscating light blue energy bolts similar to those produced by Tesseract-powered Hydra weapons in First Avenger.)

So, that's the (probably incomplete) list. Finally, my personal opinion (which is the least important part, as every one of the millions upon millions of MCU fans has one, and the creators cannot possibly satisfy every one of them; even if they could, I think fan service is generally to be avoided in well-done fiction): I would like the Sceptre not to be a separate Stone, mainly because it is portrayed as basically a low-to-mid level item, whereas the Stones are established to be very powerful; I think that Stones should be presented in a manner that highlights their power and importance, especially as the MCU's overarching theme is the gradual appearance on stage of the various Stones, and the probably inevitable showdown with Thanos who covets them seems to be set as the MCU's "grand finale" (at least for the first three "phases" or so; after that, who knows... perhaps everyone will be fed up with so many comic book adaptation movies by then? :) ). The Stones united would give Thanos the power to literally rule the universe; compared to that I think it'd be kind of a fizz-out if the relatively low-key (or Lo-ki? ...pun not intended) Sceptre were another Stone.