Loki Episode 1: 8 Biggest Questions
6. Who Previously Took The Infinity Stones?
The first 23 movies of the Marvel Cinematic Universe have been labelled as the Infinity Saga due to Thanos' quest to assemble the Infinity Stones and cull the population of the universe. He sent Loki, Ronan, Gamora and Nebula, and his Black Order after the stones, but throughout everything he was pulling all the strings.
That being said, he certainly wasn't the only one who desired the stones. Odin may have had plans to assemble them in his own Infinity Gauntlet at one point, while The Collector made clear his intention to own all six.
Fans were led to believe that Thanos was the only one who actually did anything about it, but it now seems that they were wrong.
Loki was arrested by the TVA while in possession of the Space Stone, but when he pressured Casey to get it back, he found a drawer full of the precious gems. Obviously, the God of Mischief wasn't the only one who broke the sacred timeline with a stone, but who else tried to get their hands on them?
The pre-existing blood stains on the ground beneath the cliffs on Vormir make more sense now, as at least one being made the sacrifice to retrieve the stone, only to be reprimanded by the TVA. This could be why there was evidence of prior sacrifices being made, but the Soul Stone was still in the possession of the Red Skull.