Doctor Strange Needed The Avengers To Lose

Warning: MAJOR SPOILERS ahead for Avengers: Infinity War

Avengers: Infinity War's final act includes a shocking moment in which Doctor Strange willingly hands over the Time Stone to Thanos, thereby sealing the universe's terrible fate. However, it's safe to say that the man who outfoxed Dormammu probably has a few tricks up his sleeve. Before he fades from existence, Strange says that handing over the Time Stone was the only way to ensure a victory over Thanos, and we'll presumably see his plan come to fruition in Avengers 4 - even in he's not there to orchestrate it personally.

So, if Doctor Strange deliberately lost a battle in order to win the war, how exactly will the rest of the war play out?

This Page: Why Does Doctor Strange Give Thanos the Time Stone?

Why Doctor Strange Really Gives Up The Time Stone

Time Stone Eye of Agamotto in Doctor Strange

Doctor Strange proved in his solo movie that he has a talent for scheming, and specifically for tricking incredibly powerful beings into thinking they've won, only to reveal that they've stepped right into his trap. In Doctor Strange, the sorcerer smuggled a time loop into the Dark Dimension so that no matter how many times Dormammu killed him, he would simply return with his refrain, "Dormammu, I've come to bargain." It would not be at all surprising if Avengers 4 revealed that Doctor Strange pulled a similar trick on Thanos: pretending to surrender the Time Stone in exchange for Tony Stark's life, when really he knew he needed to give the Stone to Thanos, and just needed a plausible reason to do so.

If Doctor Strange's goal was to get Thanos to let his guard down, he succeeded. At the end of the movie, we see Thanos finally retiring, content in the belief that he has brought balance to the universe by wiping out half of all the people in it. With Thanos no longer vigilant, the way is clear for the Avengers to undo the damage he has done. Unfortunately, the one guy they know who is capable of manipulating time is gone, along with the artifact that he used to manipulate it, so how can the remaining Avengers possibly undo Thanos' act of mass destruction?

What Is the Endgame?

The most obvious solution is for the Avengers to track down the Infinity Gauntlet and use it to turn back time and/or bring back the people who have disappeared. Of course, few are powerful enough to wield one Infinity Stone - let alone six - but Infinity War's end-credits teaser heralded the arrival of Captain Marvel, who might just be strong enough to use the Gauntlet.

Thanos is set to return as the main villain of Avengers 4, but given that he's now living a quiet life out in the countryside, there needs to be a catalyst for him to return to his old ways. The Avengers stealing the Infinity Gauntlet back from him, threatening to destroy what Thanos considers to be his greatest work, would certainly be a good reason for the Mad Titan to come out of retirement.

Infinity Gauntlet - Nebula restores the timeline

The Avengers Must Lose In Order To Win

In The Infinity Gauntlet, the comic book crossover event upon which Infinity War is based, Nebula takes the Gauntlet from Thanos while he is in an astral form and his body is left vulnerable. Using its power, she undoes Thanos' work, restoring the lives of all the people he wiped from the universe... and then seeks to create a new world order using her now-unlimited powers. Through his connection to Thanos via the Soul Gem, Adam Warlock explains the real reason why Thanos lost the Infinity Gauntlet:

"Look back onto your life, Thanos of Titan, and what do you see? A man always seeking ultimate power and losing it as soon as he attains it. Why? Because deep in his soul he knows he is not worthy."

Subconsciously, Thanos allows the Infinity Gauntlet to be taken from him because he feels that he doesn't deserve to wield it. While we shouldn't expect Avengers 4 to exactly follow the plot of The Infinity Gauntlet (for starters, Adam Warlock doesn't exist in the MCU - at least, not yet), it's likely that it will draw upon this part of the story when formulating Thanos' eventual defeat. In Infinity War we have already seen glimpses of Thanos' self-doubt - most prominently, his regret over sacrificing his beloved daughter Gamora in order to obtain the Soul Stone. After he has accomplished his goal, Thanos meets a young Gamora in Soul World and she asks him, "What was the cost?"

In the sixth and final issue of Infinity Gauntlet, Adam Warlock reveals to Silver Surfer that everything is going according to plan, and that he knew all along that Thanos would ultimately lose the Gauntlet. If we assume that Doctor Strange serves a similar role to Adam Warlock in the MCU's version of the story, then Doctor Strange gave the Time Stone to Thanos knowing that he would use it to wipe out half of all life, but also knowing that this action could ultimately be undone. It's a safe bet that when Strange was consulting the millions of possibly outcomes of the fight against Thanos, he realized that Thanos would never lower his guard enough to let the Avengers defeat him - unless, of course, he believed that he had already won.

The Importance of Tony Stark

Before wrapping up, there's another interpretation of Doctor Strange handing over the Time Stone that's worth considering. His statement that it was "the only way" could mean that it was the only way to stop Thanos from killing Tony. That, in turn, would mean that Tony Stark's survival is essential to the Avengers' eventual defeat of Thanos. While he isn't the most powerful remaining member of the Avengers, Iron Man has been almost as important as Captain America in playing a leadership role within the group, and after such a devastating blow the Avengers may need Tony in order to properly regroup.

While the elimination of half the people in the galaxy was ostensibly random, it's probably no coincidence that all of the founding members of the Avengers (Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, Black Widow, Hulk and, we can safely assume, Hawkeye) have survived, while most of the allies that joined that later have been killed off. If Avengers 4 will bring everything full circle, then it makes sense to have the original group back together for the final push against Thanos - and Tony is an integral part of that group.