As you may already know, each of the six Infinity Stones, Space, Time, Mind, Reality, Soul, and Power, controls an aspect of the universe in Marvel Cinematic lore. The Power Stone, however, is considered to be particularly dangerous and the most, pardon the redundancy, powerful among its crystal sisters.
Whoever wields this purple gem can destroy virtually anything, but must be strong enough to not be destroyed in turn, too.
The Power Stone’s abilities in the MCU
This Stone concentrates extreme energy, allowing its user to harness it and project it, usually in the form of big bright blasts. It also grants its wielder with superhuman defensive capabilities, making them almost impossible to kill.
While other Stones have multiple functions, this tiny but mighty relic’s only purpose is destruction, death, and explosions. It can’t get any better if that’s your thing, but you can’t argue that every other Stone is a lot more fun.
The Power Stone’s history in the MCU: Ancient lore and Guardians of the Galaxy
We only know bits and pieces of the Power Stone’s usage before it was first shown on screen in 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy. After the Big Bang, when all Infinity Stones were created, the Power Stone’s first known master was the Celestial Eson the Searcher.
The Celestials were responsible for the Big Bang and, by association, the creation of the Stones. As a result, they’re one of the few races capable of wielding these artifacts to their full potential. Eson mercilessly destroyed a planet’s entire population in the possession of the Power Stone.
Some time later a group of Cosmic Beings attempted to control the purple crystal together but were quickly consumed by its power and blown to pieces. It was eventually stored away inside the Orb on the planet Morag in a secret underwater tomb that could only be accessed every 300 years. By the time Peter Quill found it in an attempt to cheat the Ravagers and keep it for himself, the Power Stone, as well as all other Infinity Gems, were already at the top of Thanos’ list of priorities.
With Ronan the Accuser, Gamora, and Nebula hunting for the Stone and Groot and Rocket hunting for Quill after the Ravagers placed a bounty on his head, the Power Stone’s greatest achievement was actually the formation of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Nebula is successful in stealing the Stone from them, but Ronan betrays Thanos and takes it for himself until the Guardians reclaim it once again. In the end, unlike those Cosmic Beings before them, Quill, Gamora, Groot, Rocket, and Drax managed to harness the power of the Stone between them and use it to kill Ronan.
The Power Stone’s history in the MCU: Infinity War and Endgame
Back in the Orb, the Power Stone was given to the Nova Corps for safekeeping, but they were no match for the Mad Titan. He decimated their planet, Xandar, and took the gem as part of his plan to erase half of the universe’s population. It was the first Stone he obtained after years of hunting them down. He tortured Thor with it in order to get the Space Stone, historically kept under Asgardian supervision.
The Power Stone would then be used by Thanos in tandem with its sisters to fight the Avengers and eventually turn trillions of beings into dust. The franchise’s greatest villain to date atomized the Stones weeks after his plan was successfully concluded. When the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes realized they no longer had the possibility of using the Stones to revert Thanos’ damage, Thor killed him.
After five years of hopelessness, Scott Lang AKA Ant-Man escaped the Quantum Realm and told the Avengers about Quantum science, Pym Particles, and Time Travelling. They proceeded to retrieve the Stones from their places in the past and use them to bring everyone back.
Nebula and Rhodey (who wasn’t actually himself, but that’s a whole different article) were tasked with getting the Power Stone from Morag, but the former wasn’t able to travel back to the present because of her memory links with her past self. After she was captured by past Nebula and Thanos, they stole her tech and traveled into the future to snatch the Nano-Gauntlet Hulk had used to save the universe and complete Thanos’ plan once again. Iron Man got there first, however, and sacrificed his life (his human body was not powerful enough to sustain the use of the gauntlet and its six Stones) to kill the purple giant and his army.
Following the events that became known as the Battle of the Earth, Steve Rogers AKA Captain America traveled back in time to replace the Stones where they were found so as to prevent the creation of new branches of time. In each timeline, there’s a version of a Power Stone. In one, it is still intact, supposedly, in Morag. While in the main timeline, it’s been turned into atoms by Thanos. In the Time Variance Authority, an organization outside of time, it’s used as a paperweight alongside dozens of other versions of it, retrieved from pruned timelines.
