Why Arishem Doesn't Kill The Eternals After Tiamut's Death

Warning: Eternals Spoilers Ahead

Eternals concludes with the immortal Celestial known as Arishem traveling to Earth after the Eternals kill Tiamut, but for some reason, he simply takes the remaining heroes away instead of killing them for their betrayal. In a bold new direction for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Eternals shifts the focus from the Avengers and puts the focus on a new team, that while not technically from Earth, is definitely comprised of even Mightier Heroes. But even the Eternals' powers are dwarfed by that of the Celestials—the MCU's very own space gods.

The central conflict of Eternals is the heroes' realization that their true mission has been to prepare Earth for the birth of a new Celestial—Tiamut—who will tear the planet apart during his Emergence. One of the film's greatest strengths is how it manages to avoid a clear-cut Good vs. Evil dynamic, and instead explores the different sides of an impossible and heartbreaking moral quandary. If the Eternals allow the Earth to perish, they sacrifice something they have spent thousands of years protecting and loving. At the same time, the birth of a new Celestial is a cause much bigger than Earth alone, and is essential for life to continue flourishing in the universe. Though it tears the team apart, the Eternals choose Earth in the end, channeling all of their power into Sersi so she can kill Tiamut before he destroys the world.

It would be foolish to think Arishem wouldn't notice their betrayal, and as expected the Celestial makes his presence known in the film's final moments. What's puzzling, though, is the fact that he doesn't immediately crush the Eternals into space dust and instead whisks them off for judgment. While the more obvious answer is that killing off all the Eternals would also kill off their future in the MCU and close the door on future installments—something Marvel and Disney are unlikely to do after only one film—Arishem's decision to spare the Eternals also helps to flesh out the nature of the Celestials and hint at Earth's origins and purpose.

Arishem doesn't take all the Eternals at the film's end, strangely enough, but does snatch Sersi, Phastos, and Kingo away from Earth in order to determine whether their valuation of Earth-life over the life that Tiamut would have created was a valuable decision. While this may seem strange on the surface, it actually makes sense given the nature of Celestials. As Eternals illustrates, Arishem is both creative and curious about his previous galactic creations. He makes Deviants, which spiral out of his control, but remains fascinated by them and continues to study their evolution. While Eternals were created to be incapable of evolution, their rebellion against Arishem is nonetheless a similar phenomenon, and one he likely wants to understand more

The MCU's Celestials in Eternals are a bit mysterious still, but in the comics, they are beings both fascinated with change and consumed with the concepts of balance and judgment. While the Eternals' decision to kill Tiamut goes against their creator's original plan, it makes sense that he'd be interested in considering the possibilities of this new situation before hastily killing them all. The Marvel comics lore about Celestials also reveals that Earth is no ordinary planet. Earth is somewhat of an accident that the Celestials have allowed to continue out of curiosity, but not before making some modifications, such as introducing the X-gene that produces mutants.

The MCU has yet to probe this deeply into Earth's origin story, and the Eternals narrative that Earth is meant as a host for Tiamut goes against it somewhat. Nevertheless, Arishem's promise to judge whether Earth was worth saving seems to hint that Earth is special in some way. Otherwise, the cosmic logic that one planet must die to birth thousands more is just too compelling. In short, Arishem doesn't kill the Eternals in Eternals because he's genuinely considering that they may have made the right call. As a curious judge, he'll determine if Earth is as special as the Eternals believe.

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