MCU Theory: Thanos Wanted Loki to Lose the Mind Stone to Cause Civil War
It’s possible that losing the Mind Stone in The Avengers was all part of a convoluted plan devised by Thanos to jump-start the events of Captain America: Civil War. It may be that the Mad Titan’s real scheme wasn’t at all what audiences thought it was.
Thanos and his hunt for the six Infinity Stones were central elements of the era of Marvel movies that’s now being called the Infinity Saga. One in particular, the Soul Stone, was missing up until the end of the search in Avengers: Infinity War. The Power Stone was in outer space and played a key role in the story of Guardians of the Galaxy. The Reality Stone was hidden away by the Asgardian gods, and both the Time and Space Stones were located on Earth. As for the Mind Stone, it was in the possession of Thanos himself prior to The Avengers.
Due to what could be perceived as a mistake, Thanos lost the Mind Stone after giving it to Loki for the Chitauri invasion. Despite knowing where it and at least a few of the others were, Thanos allowed years to pass before going after them with the Black Order. After making his grand entrance in the beginning of Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos successfully gathered up all six Stones with only a few minor hiccups standing in his way. In the end, Thanos got what he wanted and wiped out half of the universe. Of course, it was all undone by Avengers: Endgame, but that doesn’t take away from the efforts that Thanos put into pulling this off. Plus, it could be that Thanos’ plan was even more meticulous and cunning than it appeared. Here’s why losing the Mind Stone may have been a part of his scheme all along.
What is know about Thanos’ intentions in The Avengers is that he gave Loki (Tom Hiddleston) both the Mind Stone and an army of Chitauri so that he could invade the Earth. His goal was supposedly for Loki to bring back the Space Stone. The problem with this is that Thanos was taking an enormous risk. It was a gamble that meant giving up his only Infinity Stone in the hope that he would pick up just one more.
Another issue with this is what happened after Loki secured the Space Stone. Once he had it, that could have been the end of the battle. Loki could have returned to Thanos with the Mind Stone and Space Stone in tow. Since he didn’t, some could assume that Loki went rogue and chose to do as he pleased, but if that were the case, it would make sense for him to lose the support of his army. What all this means is that the ultimate objective of the Battle of New York isn’t altogether clear. It certainly wasn't relevant to Thanos' efforts to collect the Infinity Stones.
While giving the Mind Stone to Loki feels like a colossal error, it didn’t actually work out that way. The results actually went in Thanos’ favor. First of all, it exposed hidden, negative feelings among the heroes and created tension between them in The Avengers. This was an early sign of the chaos it could bring. Then, it became the tool that gave the team one of their most powerful opponents: Ultron. It was also used to create two super-powered humans: Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen). Both characters started out as enemies, but ended up becoming heroes. It was the Avengers’ good fortune that the Mind Stone ultimately gave them three allies (Paul Bettany’s Vision included), as things could have gone much worse for them.
While it’s true that the Mind Stone did make positive contributions to the Earth and its safety, the bad may outweigh the good. It’s important to keep in mind that the Mind Stone brought about the superhero civil war in two different ways. In Captain America: Civil War, it was Scarlet Witch who accidentally led to the deaths of several innocents when she tried to stop Crossbones (Frank Grillo) from killing Steve (Chris Evans). It was her actions that set the Sokovia Accords in motion and made the Avengers turn on each other. Vision, powered by the Mind Stone, critically injured War Machine (Don Cheadle) and further escalated the conflict. Plus, there’s the matter of Zemo (Daniel Brühl). The reason why Zemo manipulated the heroes into fighting each other is because he lost his family to the conflict with Ultron in Sokovia. Like the situation with Scarlet Witch’s powers, this too was a direct consequence of the Mind Stone.
It’s not difficult to see how Captain America: Civil War was a big win for Thanos. The battle that took place in this movie was essentially a victory that Thanos was able to gain without landing a single punch. Arguably the two most important figures in the Avengers, Captain America and Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.), became enemies, and a handful of the team were turned into fugitives. The group was left so fractured that they weren’t at full strength when Thanos and his minions launched their attack. Because of their trust issues and the fact that they were split in two, they weren’t able to come together and respond as smoothly as they would have if Thanos had attacked before Civil War. If the Avengers weren’t so weak, it’s possible that that they may have had more success in fighting him off.
Thanos losing the Mind Stone on purpose would explain a lot, including the “I’ll do it myself” line that followed Ultron’s fall, which has otherwise always been seen as a plot hole. He didn’t end up taking action until Infinity War, but if this theory is true, then Thanos was really more involved than viewers were led to believe. It would make sense too, because if Thanos really did have a deep understanding of the Stones (and there are indications in Infinity War that he did), then he could have believed that leaving it on Earth would help bring the world to its knees. That would be impressive planning, as opposed to the idea that Thanos foolishly lost his only Infinity Stone because he placed his trust in Loki. Additionally, this being Thanos’ master plan makes him a remarkable puppet master. And since it would turn an obvious defeat (losing the Mind Stone) into a calculated effort to start a civil war, it would make Thanos into a much better, and much more devious villain.