Of the six Infinity Stones that underpin the Marvel Cinematic Universe, we’d so far been introduced to five: the Space Stone (blue), the Reality Stone (red), the Power Stone (purple), the Mind Stone (yellow) and the Time Stone (green), which is currently residing in Doctor Strange’s Eye of Agamotto.
That leaves only one – the Soul Stone, an elusive gem that’s currently one of the most hotly-debated plot points of Avengers: Infinity War. Indeed, the secrecy surrounding that long-lost ingot has spawned all manner of fan theories, including one particularly wild assertion that Iron Man and the Soul Stone are, in fact, one and the same. But now that the film is out in the wild, its location has been revealed and we must say, we certainly weren’t expecting it to be where it was.
Of course, we’re about to dive into full spoiler territory here, so if you haven’t yet seen Infinity War, you may want to turn back now. If you have, though, or just don’t care, then read on after the jump.
As it turns out, almost all those fan theories were wrong, as we learn that Thanos raised Gamora to be the fiercest warrior in the galaxy so that she’d find the Soul Stone for him. At some point in the past (we don’t see when), she managed to locate it but she’s kept its whereabouts a secret from the Mad Titan for all these years. However, once he gets his hands on her in Infinity War, he forces her to give up its location as he threatens to kill Nebula.
Turns out that the Soul Stone is on a planet called Vormir, which fans of the comics might be familiar with. And perhaps most interesting is that it’s guarded by none other than Red Skull. Remember him? Apparently back in Captain America: The First Avenger when he touched the Tesseract with his bare hands, he didn’t die. Instead, it sent him there, where he’s been ever since.
Anyways, Thanos heads off to grab it, along with Gamora and upon his arrival, learns that to claim the Soul Stone he must sacrifice someone he loves – a soul for a soul, as Red Skull puts it. Cue Gamora’s death, as Thanos throws her over the cliff and gets his hands on the most powerful of the Infinity Stones.
It’s a pretty shocking scene overall and an interesting reveal for what’s been one of the most pressing question fans have had going into Avengers: Infinity War. Whether it works for everyone or not remains to be seen, but there you have it: the location of the Soul Stone has been revealed, and Thanos now has it!