Thor: Love and Thunder made Eternity an important part of its story, but its presence ended up risking a major plot hole about Odin.
Thor: Love and Thunder made various retcons and left a lot of plot holes, and one specific retcon can risk creating a major plot hole about Odin (Anthony Hopkins). As the Marvel Cinematic Universe keeps expanding and adding more characters and events, some previously established concepts, characters, and more have either been forgotten or retconned, which has sometimes benefited the MCU but in other cases has risked or provoked the appearance of even more plot holes – and that’s exactly what happened in Thor: Love & Thunder.
Thor’s (Chris Hemsworth) fourth solo adventure saw him facing Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale) with the help of Mighty Thor (Natalie Portman), Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), and Korg (Taika Waititi), making for an emotional but still entertaining story. Gorr’s goal was to kill every God in the MCU, but for that, he wanted to find Eternity, as the legend said that the first person to reach this entity would be granted a wish, so that would have made Gorr’s plans a lot easier to fulfill. However, the introduction of Eternity changes some of the biggest events from the Infinity Saga and risks creating a major plot hole about Odin, one of the wisest and most powerful beings in the MCU.
RELATED:Wait – Is That Galactus In Thor: Love & Thunder?!
Odin Really Should Have Known About Eternity In The MCU
Eternity is one of the Cosmic Entities, along with Death, Entropy, and Infinity, and resides in a realm that can only be accessed through the Gates of Eternity. The existence of the Cosmic Entities is well-known throughout the universe, with the MCU showing a mural depicting them in the Temple Vault on Morag, and the legend of Eternity granting a wish was widely known. Now, Odin was the King of Asgard, husband of Frigga, and father of Hela, Thor, and Loki, as well as one of the wisest beings in the MCU. Odin was also once the greatest warrior in all the Nine Realms, though with time, he learned to value peace.
Odin is also known to have possessed vast knowledge of ancient and arcane wisdom, which was widely considered to be his greatest weapon. Odin was also aware of the existence of the Infinity Stones, so much so that he kept a fake Infinity Gauntlet in his vault and the Tesseract, which contained the Space Stone. Odin, then, was aware of some of the most powerful beings and objects in the MCU, so taking all that into account, he should have known about Eternity’s existence and the legend about him granting a wish to the first person who found him, but it’s unclear if Odin really knew.
If Odin Knew About Eternity, Why Didn’t He Attempt To Use It?
Supposing that Odin knew about Eternity’s existence, the gates, and the legend about the wish, the biggest question now is why he never attempted to find him. It was explained in Thor: Love and Thunder that in order to access Eternity’s realm and get to him, those interested have to open the Gates of Eternity, which are located in the center of the universe, with a key, and the Bifrost Bridge served as one. Odin had all the resources to access the Gates of Eternity thanks not only to his vast knowledge and tactical abilities but to the Bifrost Bridge as well, which he could easily use – and yet, he never attempted to get to Eternity, because if he had tried, he would have definitely gotten to him and would have been granted a wish.
Another big question about Odin knowing about Eternity and getting to this entity is what could Odin’s wish have been. As mentioned above, Odin was once the greatest warrior in the Nine Realms, defeating Surtur and taking the Eternal Flame, invading other realms, and destroying monsters, worlds, and more, so Odin, during that time in his life, could have asked Eternity to grant him a destructive and potentially dangerous wish. If Odin had gone after Eternity once he started appreciating peace and looking to stay away from conflict, he could have asked for a more peaceful wish. It’s also possible that the Allfather simply had no interest in having Eternity grant him a wish, so he saw no point in investing time and energy to travel to the center of the universe.
RELATED:Thor: Love And Thunder: How Powerful Zeus Is Compared To Odin
Eternity Was Too Big A Retcon For The MCU
Eternity was an interesting addition to the MCU and Thor: Love and Thunder, but it had a much bigger impact on past MCU events than it might seem. Not only does its presence and legend risk creating the above-explained Odin plot hole but it also raises many questions about Thanos’ plan in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. The Mad Titan spent years looking for the Infinity Stones so he could bring balance to the universe with the snap of his fingers, but if Eternity granted a wish to the first person to get to him and this was well-known throughout the universe, Thanos could have instead attempted to cross the Gates of Eternity so this entity could make his wish of bringing balance to the universe come true. Eternity ended up raising more questions and potentially creating more plot holes in the MCU, and it’s to be seen if Marvel will try to fix them or just let them be.
