User blog:TraceFinder/Infinity War

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"The entire time I knew Thanos, he only ever had one goal: to bring balance to the universe by wiping out half of all life. He used to kill people planet by planet, massacre by massacre. If he gets all six Infinity Stones, he can do it with the snap of his fingers, like this."

- Gamora

The Infinity War was a universal conflict orchestrated by the Titan Thanos, assisted by his Black Order and a massive army of Outriders, in an attempt to gather all six Infinity Stones on his Infinity Gauntlet so that he could wipe ot half of all life in the whole universe. It featured battles on several planets, mainly Earth and Titan. Despite the interference of several powerful organizations, teams and individuals, including the Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy, the Masters of the Mystic Arts and the armies of Wakanda, and the defeat of both the Black Order and the Outriders, Thanos was victorious. He successfully claimed the Infinity Stones and used them to perpetrate a universal genocide, decimating half of all life across the universe, with his victims simply vanishing into dust.

Thanos the Traumatized Titan
"I'm a survivor."

- Thanos

Due to a lack of resources and space, the technologically advanced civilization of Titan began to wither. Feeling that they were facing extinction, one Titan, Thanos, suggested to hold a random genocide within the population: killing half of the Titans would enable the other half to survive and thrive once again. However, Thanos' idea was rejected. When the Titans ultimately went near extinct, with Thanos being the only known survivor, Thanos saw the confirmation that his idea was correct and decided to apply it to the whole universe so that no world would undergo the same fate as Titan.

Thanos began attacking other planets and systematically eradicated half of their population in what he considered to be balancing the universe, just like he wanted to balance Titan. He also frequently picked up children on the planets he attacked and raised them as their own. The Zehoberei Gamora was among these children and became Thanos' favorite child, despite Gamora hating him for having killed half of her home planet Zen-Whoberi. However, Thanos knew that he could not keep attacking other worlds one by one and that he needed to find a way to strike the whole universe in the same time.

To that end, Thanos decided to gather the six Infinity Stones, concentrated ingots which held dominion over different aspects of the universe. In order to harness their power, Thanos attacked Nidavellir and forced the King of the Dwarves Eitri to craft the Infinity Gauntlet. He then exterminated the Dwarves and crippled Eitri so that n one could use the forges of Nidavellir to create powerful weapons which could be used against him.

Failing Strategy
"Someone has been playing an intricate game and has made pawns of us. But once all these pieces are in position..."

- Thor

At first, Thanos chose to remain in the dark. Instead of looking for the Infinity Stones herself, he manipulated others, promising his allies that he would grant them power and dominion. In an attempt to find the Space Stone kept in the Tesseract, Thanos gave the fallen Loki the Scepter, which contained the Mind Stone, but Loki and his Chitauri army were ultimately defeated by the recently formed Avengers. The Scepter, and thus the Mind Stone, were lost to HYDRA, but it was then reclaimed by the Avengers and the Mind Stone was ultimately embedded in the skull of a powerful being known as the Vision. As for the Tesseract, it was kept by the Asgardians in Odin's Vault.

Thanos also promised the Kree Ronan the Accuser that he would devastate Xandar in exchange for Ronan retrieving the Orb, which actually contained the Power Stone. When Ronan found out about the powers of the Stones, he chose to turn on Thanos and attacked Xandar himself, but he was eventually killed by another recently created team known as the Guardians of the Galaxy, and the Power Stone ended up in the hands of the Nova Corps.

As the favorite child of Thanos, Gamora was asked to find the Soul Stone, which could not be located. Gamora successfully discovered the location of the Stone on Vormir, but chose to keep this information from her adoptive father and instead pretended that she had failed in her mission, forcing Thanos to postpone the reclamation of the Soul Stone. The other Stones were not involved in Thanos' plans while he remained in the dark: the Reality Stone was stored in the Collector's museum after the Second Dark Elf Conflict, and the Time Stone was possessed by the Masters of the Mystic Arts on Earth.

Weakened Adversaries
"The Avengers broke up. We're toast."

- Tony Stark

Fed up with the failures of his subordinates to find the Infinity Stones, Thanos decided to give up on his first strategy and resolved to retrieve the Stones himself.

As it happened, Thanos chose to strike at a moment when many of his potential foes were weakened if not already defeated. On Earth, which harbored both the Mind Stone and the Time Stone, the Avengers were divided in two separate factions due to the Avengers Civil War, with Captain America and his allies being considered criminals. Although they could count on the powers of Doctor Strange, the Masters of the Mystic Arts had lost their Sorcerer Supreme, the Ancient One. As for S.H.I.E.L.D., the formerly powerful organization entitled to deal with alien threats, it had been defunct due to the HYDRA Uprising, and despite Phil Coulson's attempts to rebuild it, it remained illegal and officially dismantled, far from its former glory.

Incidentally, many powerful entities which would have been able to rival Thanos' strength were gone. Odin, the King of the Asgardians, died shortly before the release of his daughter, the Goddess of Death Hela, who was also killed along with the mighty Surtur during the Destruction of Asgard. In parallel, the Celestial Ego was killed by the Guardians of the Galaxy, causing Star-Lord to lose his Celestial-based powers.

Nebula, another daughter of Thanos, swore to exact revenge for all the suffering she had endured while being raised by him. She left the Guardians of the Galaxy she had helped in their fight against Ego and sneaked into the Sanctuary II. She almost succeeded in killing her adoptive father, but was eventually captured. Thanos tortured and interrogated her and discovered that Gamora actually knew the location of the Soul Stone.

Decimation of Xandar
"Thanos already has the Power Stone because he stole it last week, when he decimated Xandar."

- Thor

Thanos' rampage began with Xandar, where the Nova Corps kept the Power Stone after it was reclaimed from Ronan the Accuser by the Guardians of the Galaxy. He and the Black Order journeyed to Xandar and soon devastated the planet, killing half of its population. Thanos successfully reclaimed the Power Stone and moved on to his next prize: the Space Stone kept by the Asgardians.

Attack on the Asgardians
"Hear me and rejoice! You have had the privilege of being saved by the Great Titan. You may think this is suffering. No... It is salvation."

- Ebony Maw

Thanos and the Black Order attacked the Statesman, on which the Asgardians had taken refuge following the Destruction of Asgard. Although a group of them, guided by Valkyrie, were able to escape, many Asgardians and members of the Sakaaran Rebellion were killed as Thor, Loki and Heimdall were overpowered by Thanos and the Black Order. Knowing that Loki had stolen the Tesseract from Odin's Vault before Asgard was destroyed, Thanos demanded it in exchange for Thor's life. Hulk, who accompanied the Asgardians, attacked Thanos, but he was easily defeated by the Titan. In a last attempt to thwart Thanos' plan, Heimdall summoned dark energy so that he could activate the Bifrost Bridge and send Hulk onto Earth. This cost him his life as Thanos killed him with Corvus Glaive's weapon. Thor attempted to fight Thanos, but he was easily defeated and restrained by Ebony Maw. As Thanos reclaimed the Space Stone contained in the Tesseract and ordered the Black Order to find the Infinity Stones on Earth, Loki pretended to pledge fealty to Thanos and to be willing to assist him. This was actually a trick so that Loki could assassinate him, but it failed and Thanos murdered Loki in retaliation. Thanos then activated the Power Stone to blast the whole Statesman while he and the Black Order returned into the Sanctuary II.

Nevertheless, Thor survived the blast. He was ultimately rescued by the Guardians of the Galaxy, who had received the Asgardian distress call sent during the attack.

New York City
"You're trespassing in this city and on this planet." "It means "Get lost!", !" "He exhausts me. Bring me the Stone."

- Doctor Strange, Tony Stark and Ebony Maw

In an attempt to take the Time Stone from the Masters of the Mystic Arts, Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian took a Q-Ship to New York City. They were quickly confronted by Doctor Strange, Tony Stark, Bruce Banner and Wong. Banner unsuccessfully tried to transform into the Hulk, and as he failed, Stark revealed his new armor and engaged in a fight against Cull Obsidian. He received the assistance of Spider-Man, who had witnessed the arrival of the Q-Ship from afar. Doctor Strange and Wong battled against Ebony Maw and his telekinetic powers. They managed to wound him, which greatly angered Ebony Maw who promptly defeated Wong before restraining Strange. However, he was unable to take the Eye of Agamotto containing the Time Stone. Thus, Ebony Maw decided to take Strange aboard the Q-Ship, despite Spider-Man trying to stop him. Meanwhile, Cull Obsidian was stranded in the Arctic by Wong, losing a hand in the process. Chasing Ebony Maw, both Iron Man and Spider-Man managed to sneak into his Q-Ship, where Ebony Maw tortured Doctor Strange into giving up the Time Stone. Iron Man arrived to confront Ebony Maw and distracted him long enough to blow a hole in the ship's hull, sucking Ebony Maw into outer space where he was frozen to death. Using the spider legs of his new Iron Spider Armor, Spider-Man kept Strange in the ship until Iron Man sealed the breach. After an argument, Iron Man and Doctor Strange agreed to go and fight Thanos on Titan.

Scotland
"Give up the Stone, and she lives."

- Corvus Glaive to Vision

While their allies chased the Time Stone, Corvus Glaive and Proxima Midnight went to Scotland, where Vision tried to live his relationship with Scarlet Witch. They suddenly attacked them, with Corvus Glaive impaling Vision from behind and preventing him from phasing. Corvus Glaive then attempted to forcefully extract the Mind Stone out of Vision's skull, but Scarlet Witch retaliated. Two duels erupted in Edinburgh: Vision fought against Corvus Glaive while Scarlet Witch dueled against Proxima Midnight. Corvus Glaive got the upper hand over vision, deflecting the Mind Stone's blasts with his own weapon, and Vision only survived because of Scarlet Witch temporarily defeating Proxima Midnight. As they attempted to flee through the air, Proxima Midnight shot them, causing them to fall into a train station. As Vision was too weakened to fight, Scarlet Witch refused to leave and prepared to fight the Black Order on her own. However, she was joined by Captain America, Falcon and Black Widow. Together, the Avengers were able to heavily wound Corvus Glaive and to hold Proxima Midnight at gunpoint, forcing the Black Order to retreat. They then decided to return to the New Avengers Facility, where they were reunited with James Rhodes and Bruce Banner. Together, the Avengers flied to Wakanda, intending to ask Shuri to safely remove the Mind Stone from Vision, all the while knowing that the Black Order would return.

Ambush in Knowhere
"Let her go. Or I will blow that nut-sack of a chin right off your face."

- Star-Lord to Thanos

While his Black Order looked for the Infinity Stones on Earth, Thanos went to Knowhere, where the Collector kept the Reality Stone. Upon arriving, Thanos violently interrogated the Collector and successfully reclaimed the Reality Stone, laying waste on Knowhere in the process. Knowing that his daughter Gamora would come after him, Thanos decided to ambush and capture her so that she would reveal the location of the Soul Stone. Indeed, after they were alerted about the threat of Thanos by Thor, the Guardians of the Galaxy Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax the Destroyer and Mantis arrived in Knowhere to secure the Reality Stone. Using the powers of the Stone, Thanos cast a massive illusion, making them believe that he was still interrogating the Collector to find the Reality Stone. Gamora swiftly attacked and seemingly killed Thanos, only for her adoptive father to reveal the trickery and incapacitate both Drax and Mantis.

Seeing Gamora being captured by Thanos, Star-Lord confronted him and ordered him to let Gamora go. Gamora urged Star-Lord to kill her according to a promise they had previously made in order to keep Thanos away from the Soul Stone. As Star-Lord eventually agreed to make good on his promise, Thanos used the Reality Stone once again to make his weapon useless. He then teleported away with Gamora by using the Space Stone, leaving the Guardians defeated.

Soul Stone's High Price
"I ignored my destiny once, I cannot do that again. Even for you. I'm sorry, little one."

- Thanos to Gamora

Gamora was taken to the Sanctuary II, where Thanos revealed that her sister Nebula was his prisoner and that he knew that Gamora had lied about the location of the Soul Stone. Thanos tortured Nebula until Gamora gave up on the answer Thanos was looking for: the Soul Stone could be found on the planet Vormir. While Thanos and Gamora teleported there, Nebula managed to escape and contacted the Guardians of the Galaxy, asking them to meet her on Titan.

On Vormir, Thanos was told by the Stonekeeper that he had to sacrifice someone he loved to obtain the Soul Stone. Much to his chagrin, Thanos chose to sacrifice his beloved daughter Gamora. In exchange, Thanos was briefly rendered unconscious and woke up with the Soul Stone in his hand.

Forging of Stormbreaker
"A king's weapon. Meant to be the greatest in Asgard. In theory, it could even summon the Bifrost."

- Eitri

While the other Guardians of the Galaxy had journeyed to Knowhere, Rocket Raccoon and Groot accompanied Thor to Nidavellir, where Thor intended to get a new weapon in replacement for the destroyed Mjølnir. They encountered Eitri, the King of the now near-extinct Dwarves, who told them about how Thanos had forced him to craft the Infinity Gauntlet and exterminated the Dwarves, leaving the forges of Nidavellir inactive. Thor successfully restarted the forges, enabling Eitri to oversee the forging of the powerful Stormbreaker, assisted by Groot who sacrificed part of his arm to create the ax's handle. Although Thor nearly died in the process due to being exposed to the powerful radiations of Nidavellir's star, getting Stormbreaker revived him in time to enable him to join the battle against Thanos' forces.

Triple Alliance on Titan
"The hardest choices require the strongest will." "I think you'll find our will equal to yours!"

- Thanos and Doctor Strange

As they crashed their Q-Ship on Titan, Iron Man, Doctor Strange and Spider-Man were attacked by the Guardians of the Galaxy Star-Lord, Drax the Destroyer and Mantis, who mistook them for Thanos' minions. However, the disagreement was quickly lifted and they all agreed that they had the same goal: stopping Thanos. To that end, an alliance was struck between the Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy and the Masters of the Mystic Arts. While Iron Man and Star-Lord devised a plan, Strange used the Time Stone and looked into alternate futures, seeing their victory in none but one.

Returning from Vormir, Thanos was quickly confronted by his opponents, whose assaults he countered using the powers of the Infinity Stones he already had. Nebula, who had escaped from the Sanctuary II, crashed a Necrocraft on Thanos and joined the fight. By using Mantis' powers, the attackers were able to restrain Thanos and attempted to remove his Infinity Gauntlet so that he would be deprived of a significant part of his might. However, the plan failed due to Star-Lord brutally attacking Thanos upon learning Gamora's death. Thanos regained control and kept the Infinity Gauntlet, enabling him to quickly subdue his enemies. He notably used the Power Stone to shatter Titan's moon and throw the debris at Iron Man, incapacitating him. Strange then managed to briefly hold his own against Thanos, but he was defeated as Thanos realized that Strange had never used the Time Stone against him. With Doctor Strange being defeated, Iron Man joined back the fight and used most of his armor's capabilities to attack Thanos. However, despite managing to slightly wound the Titan, Iron Man was defeated as well and stabbed by Thanos with his own weapon. As Thanos prepared to land a final strike, Strange agreed to hand him over the Time Stone in exchange for Iron Man's life. Thanos accepted the deal and added the Time Stone to his Infinity Gauntlet before departing to get the only missing Stone: the Mind Stone.

Final Battle in Wakanda
"You are in Wakanda now. Thanos will have nothing but dust and blood." "We... have blood to spare."

- T'Challa and Proxima Midnight

While the battle raged on Titan between Thanos and his enemies, another battle was to take place in Wakanda, where the rest of the Avengers had gathered in order to have Shuri safely remove the Mind Stone from Vision's head. As the Black Order arrived to invade Wakanda, Black Panther gathered the Wakandan Royal Guard, the Dora Milaje, the Jabari Tribe and the Golden Tribe to hold them off, assisted by Captain America, Black Widow, Falcon, War Machine, Bruce Banner wearing a Hulkbuster armor and the Winter Soldier equipped with a new Vibranium arm. As the defenders of Earth refused to surrender the Mind Stone, Proxima Midnight and Cull Obsidian unleashed massive hordes of Outriders on the energy shield surrounding Wakanda. In order to keep the fight away from Vision, who was protected by Scarlet Witch, the barrier was opened and the Outriders broke on their opponents. Although they were able to slay many Outriders, the Avengers and their allies were outnumbered and overrun by the creatures until the unexpected arrival of Thor, Rocket Raccoon and Groot using the Bifrost Bridge created by Stormbreaker. This turned the tide of the battle in favor of the Avengers. The Black Order then resorted to massive siege weapons, prompting Scarlet Witch to join the fight and save Black Widow and Okoye. This enabled Corvus Glaive to secretly attack Vision after defeating Shuri and Ayo. As Vision and Corvus Glaive fought in the forest near the battlefield, Banner decided to go to Vision's rescue as he was being attacked by both Corvus Glaive and Cull Obsidian.

Banner managed to kill Cull Obsidian, but it took Captain America's intervention to save Vision from Corvus Glaive, who died after Vision stabbed him from behind with his own weapon. Meanwhile, Proxima Midnight was also killed by Scarlet Witch after holding her own against Okoye, Black Widow and Scarlet Witch herself. On the rest of the battlefield, Thor, aided by Rocket, Groot and the Winter Soldier, was able to repel the Outriders' army, apparently leading the Avengers and their allies to victory.

The Snap
"Did you do it?" "Yes." "What did it cost?" "Everything."

- Soulworld Gamora and Thanos

Although the Black Order and the Outriders were defeated, the Avengers sensed that the fight was not over. Indeed, Thanos used the Space Stone to arrive in Wakanda, looking for the Mind Stone to complete his Infinity Gauntlet. Thanos single-handedly defeated all the enemies who came to him one by one, only being momentarily stopped by Captain America, much to his surprise. As he approached, Vision convinced Scarlet Witch to destroy the Mind Stone, killing Vision and seemingly preventing Thanos to acquire the Stone moment before he reached it. However, Thanos used the powers of the recently obtained Time Stone to revert time, which enabled him to restore both Vision and the Mind Stone. Knocking Scarlet Witch aside, Thanos forcefully extracted the Mind Stone from Vision's skull, killing him for good. Therefore, Thanos finally completed the Infinity Gauntlet, but before he could unleash its full power, he was attacked by Thor, who managed to bury Stormbreaker in Thanos' chest.

Nevertheless, this was not enough to kill Thanos, who taunted Thor for not having hit him in the head. Despite being severely injured, Thanos managed to activate the Infinity Gauntlet with a snap of his fingers, initiating his universal genocide. After he was momentarily taken to the Soulworld, Thanos escaped with the Space Stone. The effects of the snap quicly manifested on the battlefield, as many Wakandan soldiers began vanishing into dust. Bucky Barnes, Scarlet Witch, Black Panther, Groot and Falcon were also among the victims of the extermination, leaving their allies in shock and horror as they realized they had been defeated.

Aftermath
"He did it..."

- Nebula

As a result of the Infinity Gauntlet's activation, half of all life in the universe was eliminated in accordance with Thanos' intent. In addition to those who had fell on the battlefield of Wakanda, Thanos' enemies left on Titan also witnessed the consequences of the snap: Mantis, Drax the Destroyer and Star-Lord were killed, leaving only Rocket Raccoon and Nebula as the surviving Guardians of the Galaxy. Doctor Strange also vanished after telling Iron Man that there was no other way, and Spider-Man died in the arm of his mentor. Other victims who were not directly involved in the Infinity War included former S.H.I.E.L.D. officials Nick Fury and Maria Hill. Before vanishing, Fury had the time to send a distress call to Captain Marvel. Among the victims were also Betty Ross, Sif, the Galaga Guy and the Asgardian actor playing Loki. Additionally, Hank Pym, Hope van Dyne and the recently rescued Janet van Dyne also faded out from existence, which left Ant-Man stranded in the Quantum Realm as they were overseeing his expedition to collect quantum energy. Considering his job done, Thanos retired on a peaceful planet, watching a sunrise in an universe he had heavily and seemingly permanently reshaped according to his own will. Despite having lost many of his forces since all the members of the Black Order had died and the army of the Outriders had been routed by the Avengers and their allies, Thanos kept the Infinity Stones in his possession, making him the most powerful entity in the universe.