Avengers: Infinity War: The history of the Infinity Stones

Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR..L to R: Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff (Lizzie Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany)..Photo: Film Frame..©Marvel Studios 2018

The Mind Stone

Loki had another Infinity Stone in his possession given to him by Thanos. Why Thanos didn’t know he had it, however, remains a bit of a mystery. This stone, as it turned out, was the Mind Stone.  Originally housed inside Loki’s staff, it allowed the God of Mischief to take over other people’s minds, including Dr. Erik Selvig and Clint Barton, a.k.a. Hawkeye, and allowed for telepathic communication.

After Loki’s defeat during the Avengers, S.H.I.E.L.D. confiscated his staff. Since Hyrda infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. over the course of seven decades, as revealed in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Loki’s staff wound up in the hands of one of its commanders, Baron von Strucker.  As hinted during Winter Soldier’s mid-credit sequence and in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Loki’s staff may be responsible for giving twin brother-and-sister, Pietro and Wanda Maximoff, a.k.a. Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch, their powers.

It’s also a key component for creating advanced artificial intelligence. In fact, by analyzing Loki’s staff, Tony Stark and Dr. Bruce Banner used the data in their creation of Ultron. Moreover, it was Ultron who discovered the Mind Stone inside the staff’s housing, and realized he could use it to store his own consciousness within and install inside a new body.

But before Ultron could do this, the Avengers stole his new body, the Mind Stone, and a sarcophagus-like device called the Cradle. With Tony and Bruce downloading J.A.R.V.I.S. into the Mind Stone, and Thor using Mjolnir to power the Cradle, this lead to the creation of the android Avenger known as the Vision.

Presumably because of the stone, Vision is one of the most powerful beings on Earth, capable of altering his molecular density, allowing him to fly, pass through walls, shoot energy beams, even lift Thor’s hammer. As of now, the stone remains embedded in Vision’s forehead, though the Avengers: Infinity War trailers suggest it won’t stay there for much longer.