Warning! Spoilers for The Infinity Watch #2!The Infinity Stones grant their s unimaginable power in Marvel lore, and it seems that most people - including Thanos - don't realize just how powerful they are. Thanos has long been the character who most often goes after the Infinity Stones, but it seems that he never realized just how powerful they are, as they've just been used to rewrite the entire Marvel Universe.

Everyone always wants the Infinity Stones: a fact that will likely never change about them. Even with the Infinity Stones becoming real people in the new Infinity Watch team, their "humanity" still hasn't stopped others from trying to collect them, as seen in The Infinity Watch #2 by Derek Landy, Ruairí Coleman, and Enid Balám.

The Infinity Watch is attacked by a group known as the Apeiron, stone bearers who want to steal the stones from all possible realities. Matters only get more complicated when the fight is interrupted by Avery Zavala, who also intends to steal the stones from the Infinity Watch, revealing the stones' true power in the process.

Thanos Never Realized the True Power of the Infinity Stones

The Infinity Watch #2 by Derek Landy, Ruairí Coleman, Enid Balám, Brian Reber, and Cory Petit

Thanos always sought the stones' powers to try and earn the favor of Death, but it seems like Thanos never really realized just how strong these stones are. He first gathered them in Avengers Annual #7 by Jim Starlin and Josef Rubinstein. In this story, Thanos attempted to use the stones to drain all the power of the stars in the universe. He hoped that without any stars, the universe would eventually freeze and die due to the lack of heat. This plan is a laughably small-minded use of the stones' powers in retrospect.

After his defeat, Thanos tried once again to assemble the stones, and this time, he attempted to wipe out fifty percent of all life in the universe, as seen in the iconic Infinity Gauntlet #1 by Starlin and George Pérez. Thanos' ultimate goal was to impress Death herself to hopefully begin a romantic relationship with her. But his plan was foiled and he was defeated once more. While all of these attempts seem like major events, The Infinity Watch #2 reveals that Thanos could have won at any time, if only he had realized the stones' true power.

Thanos Could Have Easily Created His Own Universe Using the Infinity Stones

One Where Death Already Loves Him

The big reveal of The Infinity Watch #2 is that the stones are being used to create a brand-new universe. They completely rewrite reality and seemingly create a universe where no one has any powers. If the stones are capable of utterly rewriting reality, then there's really no reason that Thanos wouldn't have been able to use them to create a universe where Death already loves him. Death is not a multiversal being, meanin that Thanos could have created his very own version of Death who would love him unconditionally. This kind of plan would have been significantly easier than trying to wipe out fifty percent of all life.

Recreating reality would have granted Thanos a complete and total victory over the Marvel Universe.

It's not like creating a new universe using the stones even requires a significantly powerful will. The character Star manages to force the creation of a new reality, despite not being in full possession of the stones at the time. There's no reason to believe that Thanos, who had full possession of the stones with no one trying to directly resist him or take them away, wouldn't be able to create a new reality as well. Recreating reality would have granted Thanos a complete and total victory over the Marvel Universe, but the Mad Titan didn't know the full extent of what he had.

Thanos Always Struggled with the Infinity Stones

He's Continually Learning New Things About Them

The Infinity Stones are impossibly old, and their lore is very complicated. It's not surprising that the majority of people who interact with them don't fully understand how they work. This is definitely the case for Thanos, as he has gotten hold of them several times, and he either doesn't understand the extent of their power, as seen in Avengers Annual #3, or he learns something new about them, like in Thanos #4. While Thanos definitely learns more each time he interacts with the stones, it's still silly to look back on how many times he used them for such small-minded plots.

The Infinity Stones will likely always be among the most dangerous objects in the Marvel Universe. They've created parallel dimensions before, such as Warp World, a twisted merger of every being in the universe. It's never been outside the realm of possibility for the Infinity Stones to rewrite reality, but people rarely desire to use them for such purposes. Thanos could have had his greatest victory decades ago if the Mad Titan had simply taken the time to learn the true extent of the stones that he has so long coveted.

The Infinity Watch #2 is available now from Marvel Comics!