Why does Doctor Strange not bind Thanos in a time loop?

Question

Why does Doctor Strange not bind Thanos in a time loop in the same way as he did with Dormammu in the Doctor Strange movie?

Doctor Strange knows the contents of the only future in which Thanos is defeated, so surely he knows whether that tactic works or not. Apparently not. — Eric Lippert, Apr 30 '18 at 14:03
Actually one of the stones in his gauntlet give thanos that same ability, and thus the ability to counter it. — Chad, Apr 30 '18 at 21:24
This title is showing up in the network sidebar and is causing spoilers. — Ketura, Apr 30 '18 at 22:13
@Chad I believe that there is only one "time" stone, and the one in Thanos' gauntlet was taken from Strange. So Strange had it first, before Thanos got it. Therefore, Strange could have caught him in the loop prior to Thanos taking the stone from him. — BrettFromLA, Apr 30 '18 at 22:34
@Ketura: seems a stretch to call "these two characters are in a movie and X event does not happen" a spoiler. Did you know Kaiser Soze has never been to Machu Picchu? — Tim Sparkles, May 02 '18 at 23:44
@Timbo at the time of writing the title read "...in the time loop?", implying not only that Strange did get Thanos in one, but ultimately failed to hold him in. Having not seen the movie (nor yet read the rest of this page), it looked like one to me. Of course, now I know one more thing that doesn't happen...-_- — Ketura, May 03 '18 at 20:58
Actually, he did exactly that... What do you think his probing of futures was? It was time-loop running in circle until he got winning result. — Mithoron, Jul 28 '21 at 00:24

score 195 · Accepted Answer · edited Apr 09 '20 at 04:42

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Because Dormammu doesn't exist in time, but Thanos does.

In Dr. Strange, it was stated that Dormammu belongs to the Dark Dimension and existed outside of time.

Wong: Dormammu dwells in the Dark Dimension. Beyond time.

_source

Generally, when you reverse time, you reverse everything including the memory of the person existing inside the time. Since Dormammu doesn't exist in the time, his memory does not get reset, therefore he gets tired of seeing repeated thing for many times and is defeated.

Since Thanos exists inside the time, his memory will be reset, therefore the time loop won't make him tired and fall like it did to Dormammu. Thanos will do what he is supposed to do every time and Dr. Strange will only reset his memory after the end of each loop.

edited Apr 09 '20 at 04:42

A.R.K

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answered Apr 30 '18 at 08:38

A J

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Interesting answer. +1. The power of the time stone seems to be more of "selecting" an object first and then changing its state across time (note how in Doctor Strange (2016) Stephen changes the state of the apple, the book of Cagliostro and in the final fight he "selected" everything (both on earth and in the dark dimension). He could have looped everything else except Thanos to tire him out easily. And it's not like he cannot handpick individuals to go out of the spell (Wong and Mordo were broken out during the final fight by him). – Rohinb97 Apr 30 '18 at 10:48
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So it's kind of like a global vs local variable in a loop. If it's declared outside the loop, it keeps on going (Dormammu), if it's inside the loop it keeps resetting (Thanos). Eventually, the global variable will run out of numbers (presumably). – John Bell Apr 30 '18 at 15:11
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This sounds like the perfect set up to why they should have... to allow for infinity war 2 – Chad Apr 30 '18 at 21:25
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Additionally, because Dormammu was beyond time, being trapped in a single moment for eternity might actually be somewhat frightening for him since it's a new experience. For Thanos, if he was able to remember the looping, he'd probably realize that it was merely a contest of wills and he would simply wait it out until Strange lost patience. – Mage Xy May 01 '18 at 15:32
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I do like the implication that Dormammu gave up because he got bored. – Kieran May 02 '18 at 14:01
Great answer, but why Dr. Strange can't make Thanos extremely old so he dies? Or super young, like a baby child, rendering him completely weak? – PaulD May 03 '18 at 08:08
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I'm not sure about this answer. After all, Thanos gets the last stone using a time rewind and at least one other character is aware of it happening. – David Starkey May 07 '18 at 17:18
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@DavidStarkey That's because she isn't "rewound", nor is Thanos. Only Vision is. – Kyle Strand Aug 03 '18 at 05:20
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@Kyle wouldn't that mean Dr Strange could use a time loop just on Thanos? He keeps looping, the universe moves on. At the very least it gives more time to plan and multiple attempts. – David Starkey Aug 05 '18 at 19:39
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@DavidStarkey Yes, but that would give Thanos an infinite number of chances to seize the Eye (or just kill Strange) and break the loop. – Kyle Strand Aug 05 '18 at 21:02
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....in any case, he didn't need to plan once he used the Eye to find the future path that led to eventually beating Thanos. – Kyle Strand Aug 05 '18 at 22:41
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@MageXy Regarding the contest of wills: That's only true if Dr Strange also has memory from each time through the loop. It's not clear that he does, and in fact, with Dormammu, he didn't need to: he simply needed to get Dormammu to agree to his proposal --- which, from his perspective, happened the first time he asked. – jpaugh Nov 15 '18 at 12:00

score 135 · Answer 2 · edited Jun 04 '20 at 15:16

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Strange planned to lose.

Spoilers ahead...!

It seems odd to me that he just handed over the time stone without a fight to save Tony. Especially after the speech he gave about how he'd let Tony or Peter die if it came down to saving them or protecting the stone. He was definitely willing to "trade lives". When asked why he offers "We're in the endgame now." Then later when he dies he explains "It was the only way".

We're led to assume that when viewing possible futures that Strange was only looking as far ahead as the upcoming battle with Thanos but given what he said after they lost it seems likely that was looking further ahead. Strange saw a future wherein in order to win in the long term they had to lose in the short term. Dr Strange threw the fight because he saw Avengers 4.

edited Jun 04 '20 at 15:16

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answered Apr 30 '18 at 16:38

DonaldAnderson

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This should be the accepted answer. The other may be true, but this is the only one that's actually backed up by the movie. – user2752467 Apr 30 '18 at 18:16
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This was my first thought too. The only path to victory that Dr. Strange saw was the one that leads to Thanos getting all the stones and destroying 1/2 the universe. – Phlegon_of_Tralles Apr 30 '18 at 18:35
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This is the more correct answer. – Kosmos Apr 30 '18 at 19:23
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Benedict Cumberbatch was apparently the only one who read the entire script... – Jason L Apr 30 '18 at 21:12
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We actually don't know whether he traded the stone because Tony is an integral part of that foreseen future in which they win, or because the finger snap is essential to that same future (Thanos resting/not on his guard, gauntlet looks quasi-destroyed) - it could be both. – Ghoti and Chips May 01 '18 at 03:21
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@Phlegon_of_Tralles - That's better than 100% of Earth. Tony tried to bench him; who's ego is bigger now?... I'ma go with the guy who has one sixth of all power in the universe around his neck. – Mazura May 02 '18 at 00:12
@Maura - My pet theory is that Dr. Strange saw that there was only one way to victory and that way lay in the destruction of 1/2 the Universe, which would then lead, somehow, to Thanos reversing that destruction. It's probably going to be similar to the comics in that regard. We do know that there were scenes of the Hulk shot where he's charging at Thanos - which leads me to believe that the Avengers go back in time and reverse what happened: https://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/films/886404/Avengers-Infinity-War-Hulk-Wakanda-Bruce-Banner-Hulkbuster-Doctor-Strange-Black-Widow – Phlegon_of_Tralles May 02 '18 at 11:49
@Mazura - 50% of the universe >> 100% of Earth. – Obie 2.0 May 03 '18 at 00:27
The answer, to quote Fury: "Motherf...." – Juha Untinen May 04 '18 at 07:40
@Obie2.0 Not really. It's too easy to focus on numbers and see quadrillions of beings dying. But killing 50% of all the organisms living in/on your body to all humans of Earth will do basically no harm, while killing 100% of those living on all humans of (say) Switzerland will probably kill most of the people affected. Thanos doesn't see individuals living their lives - he sees societies that need to be "cleaned" for the good for the universe (of course, he's made several mistakes with his thinking, but that comes with being a villain of his kind). – Luaan Nov 12 '18 at 11:35

score 31 · Answer 3 · answered May 01 '18 at 20:02

Everyone here is correct (ie the only winning future was the one where they lost that fight) but there is a more obvious reason why any time loop future is a loss one (assuming he would be able to loop Thanos as he did Dormammu in the first place).

Because Thanos knows what the stones are, and it will go for that instead of killing Strange. In a position where Strange creates a time loop, he has to use the stone to do it (ie, not be hiding it). Then Thanos has a target. Instead of killing him over and over again and resetting the loop as Dormammu did, Thanos understands the power of the time stone and that Strange just gave him an infinite number of attempts to try and get it. Eventually he will succeed in wresting the stone off strange/breaking the protective spell (if only finding the solution through brute force search), in which case he can end the loop with the stone in his possession.

I think this is kind of included in Donald's answer, in that he saw the loop would not work (because he would eventually lose the stone). As one of the many possible futures that never worked. Which is why he didnt attempt anything but surrender. — IAmGroot, May 01 '18 at 20:47

score 4 · Answer 4 · answered May 04 '18 at 17:52

Strange didn't attempt a time loop because, just as others stated, he knew it was hopeless. He had searched through millions of different outcomes, and the only one with victory, was to surrender the stone and let Thanos think he won (i.e. the smug look of satisfaction on his face at the end of the film when he's sitting at his house).

Strange knew what was going to transpire, even if it meant his death (temporary??). He knew what Fury was going to do before he faded away, he knew that attempting a time loop would give Thanos infinite number of times to gain the stone. As result, he resolved himself to surrender, and told Tony "This was the only way". It's a life lesson that sometimes, the only way to win the war, is to allow the enemy a strategic victory by strategic retreat/sacrifice. He knew ultimately, they'd win the war.

Makes me excited for Infinity War Part 2!!!! :D

That's the meaning of "endgame". In chess, endgame is when the main forces of at least one side have been compromised, and the final attacks are going to be brought on. Often, a sacrifice has to be made in order to get a definitive advantage (like letting your queen be captured if this means capturing the only remaining major piece of your opponent). IMO, this is exactly what Strange's "this is the endgame" line refers to. — Simone, May 16 '18 at 07:42

Why does Doctor Strange not bind Thanos in a time loop?

4 Answers4

Because Dormammu doesn't exist in time, but Thanos does.

Strange planned to lose.

Spoilers ahead...!

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