The existence of the fake Infinity Gauntlet in Odin’s vault in the Thor movies has caused quite a bit of consternation among fans, as it’s a little tricky to match this up with the storyline of Avengers: Infinity War. Several intersecting theories, however, suggest that perhaps the Asgardian all-father previously collected the six Infinity Stones himself, which he used to tame the Nine Realms under his rule.
This would fit with the revelations of Odin’s warlike past from Thor: Ragnarok. Another addendum to this theory comes from Reddit user @KRHeff, who puts forward the idea that perhaps Hela’s banishment to Hel was an outcome of Odin claiming the Soul Stone, much like Thanos had to sacrifice his daughter for the sake of the gem in Infinity War.
Here’s how the argument goes:
“So I read the theory that Odin previously went after the infinity stones but stopped because he would have had to sacrifice someone and then ended his conquest. But, and here’s my theory, he didn’t stop but actually succeeded in his collection of the stones by sacrificing Hela to Hel so that he could acquire the soul stone and use the stones to make a peaceful nine realms. Then after completing his mission returned the soul and reality stones to their hiding places, gave the time stone to Agamotto, hid the tessaract in Norway, the orb back to morag, and the septer [sic] back to where ever it was before thanos found it. Then Odin just went around saying he won peace with war letting the stones fade back into legend.”
The comments for this post are full of other fans suggesting their own additional concepts, each of which are equally valid. For instance, one user posits that Odin’s later benevolent attitude could have been influenced by the Soul Stone itself, much as Thanos appears more emotional after claiming the Stone in IW. Another references the fact that Thor calls Hela his “half-sister,” which means Odin may have had a first wife – could she have been the Soul Stone sacrifice instead?
Hela’s potential future connection with the Infinity Stones is also something that fans like to theorize about. It’s thought that she might return in Avengers 4, with one theory saying that Thor will travel to Hel to make a deal with her to resurrect Loki. If one thing’s for certain, though, it’s that there’s a lot more to Hela that needs exploring.