The Power, Space, and Reality Stones made Thanos an especially formidable opponent, from the villain’s initial encounter with Thor and Loki to his battle on Titan. The powers he drew from these brought him progressively closer to his devastating endgame. However, the Infinity Stone he used only once did the most damage. The one instance opened the door for the Snap, which upended the MCU as we knew it.
Thanos Only Used the Time Stone Once – Why It Was the Most Devastating Thing He Did
Thanos spent the entire fight on Titan trying to get his hands on the Time Stone, but he only used it one time: at the end of Avengers: Infinity War, when he rewound Vision’s death. After Wanda Maximoff made the ultimate sacrifice to keep the Mind Stone out of Thanos’ grasp, the villain undid the tragic moment with little effort. He brought Vision back to life, only to rip the Mind Stone out of his head and kill him a second time. It was a devastating moment for Paul Bettany’s MCU character, as well as Wanda — though its impact went far beyond the Avengers team’s personal losses.
And because Thanos using the Time Stone had such a massive fallout, it felt like he tapped into its powers more than once. It also may have felt that way because Avengers: Infinity War spent so much of its run on the heroes trying to keep this particular Stone from him. However, given that Thanos snapped away half of the population almost immediately after obtaining it — and then damaged the Infinity Gauntlet and destroyed the Stones — this was the only time he got to use it. Doing so gave him the final key to the Snap, though, altering the course of the MCU forever.
The individual losses that came from Thanos using the Time Stone may have hurt, but fallout of this moment was devastating on a far greater scale. Thanos reversing time was what led to the Snap and the five-year period known as the Blip. And the people of the MCU faced so much trauma from the Blip that they’re still recovering from it.
Infinity War Drove Home Why Doctor Strange Worked So Hard to Protect the Time Stone
Thanos’ ability to cause so much damage after using the Time Stone just once was set up in Doctor Strange. This detail from Avengers: Infinity Warhighlighted the importance of the Masters of the Mystic Arts, showing exactly what the Ancient One and Doctor Strange were trying to avoid. While all the Infinity Stones were powerful, the Time Stone was clearly on another level. In the hands of a villain, it left little room for error, as it ensured they’d always be capable of trying again. This was why Doctor Strange put up such a stubborn fight to protect it — at least until he realized the only path to winning was to give it away.
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