Avengers: Infinity War Theory - Did Odin Try To Gather The Infinity Stones?

Well, the answer is simple. Odin's sacrifice of his first wife, as well as the new found empathy for his victims granted by the Soul Stone, was enough to turn him from the path of a power hungry dictator to a benevolent ruler. The connection Odin now felt to the souls of his victims, and grief after the murder of his wife, led to a change of heart. It was at that moment that Odin transformed from the tyrant of the first mural in the Throne Room, to the peace-keeper of the second.

Naturally, Hela felt no such compassion, not owning the Soul Stone herself, and so rebelled against Odin and was imprisoned.

This also explains how Hela knew what the Space Stone was when she saw it in Ragnarok, and how she could so easily identify the Infinity Gauntlet in the vault as a fake. Of course, she would know her father’s quest for the Stones and plans for a Gauntlet, having operated as his executioner during his invasions of other realms.

Taken together, all the evidence suggests that Odin was once even more tyrannical than Thanos. He obtained at least two Infinity Stones, and knew where the Reality Stone was, before abandoning his quest, burdened with regret over the sacrifice of his wife and the empathy granted by the Soul Stone.

He then hid the Soul Stone on Vormir, the Space Stone on Earth, and destroyed his Gauntlet. He went on to leave a fake in his vault, perhaps as a reminder to himself never to pursue the Stones again, or perhaps as a decoy should anyone know of his once dark ambitions, and attempt to steal the Infinity Gauntlet for themselves.

The Stone's various histories are steeped in blood and darkness, but it could be that they are also tarred with the story of Odin, the all powerful conqueror who sought to wield the Infinity Gauntlet long before the Mad Titan's ambition drew them together?

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