Should Have Gone For The…
I know the internet runs on everyone talking about the same thing, and that a site’s traffic grows when you stuff the algorithm. So, let’s pretend this post ties into Loki, and isn’t a 2-3 year late rant about Infinity War.
You know that feeling when the lyric you mishear is better than the lyric in a song? That’s how I feel about Thanos’ big burn on Thor at the climax of Infinity War.
Thor Went For The Chest
Thor, armed with his new axe Stormbreaker after completing a side quest to Nidavellir, shows up on Earth just after Thanos collected his last infinity stone. The gorgeous Asgardian gets right to work, hacking into Thanos’ chest.
Thanos, still alive with a bisected heart, takes a second to tell Thor he should have gone for the head, then Thanos snaps his fingers and, like his heart, cuts the population of the inverse in half.
Should Thor Have Gone For The Head?
What would cutting Thanos’ head do? Kill him instantly? What, like stabbing him in the heart.
Thanos survived the axe attack for one of two reasons:
- Titans can survive with an axe in the heart;
- The infinity stones (most likely the soul stone) kept Thanos alive.
If the reason is #1, yeah, that’s on Thor. At some point between trading quips with Starlord, reawakening a dying star with Eitri, and Bifrosting to Wakanda, Thor should have picked up a book on Titan anatomy.
If the reason is #2, however, are you telling me there wasn’t enough juice in the infinity gauntlet to keep Thanos’ severed head in charge of his body? That bad boy is stuffed with so much dead Gamora. There’s at least the possibility that, head or no head, Thanos could make his wish come true.
He Should Have Gone For The HAND
What I thought Thanos said was “You should have gone for the hand!”
I thought Thanos was mocking Thor for still thinking of Thanos in mortal terms, that Thanos was now a god thanks to the infinite power packed into one glove. That Thanos shouldn’t have been Thor’s target, but the six infinity stones Thanos crusaded for years to collect.
Instead, the line is actually “you picked the wrong normally legitimate way to kill me.” What a let down.
Endgame Vindication
The climax of the next Avengers movie, Endgame, could be described as the “going for the hand” action sequence. From Hawkeye to Black Panther, to Spider-Man, to Captain Marvel. The point of the scene isn’t all of the heroes rushing to cut off Thanos’ head. The only person who had any plan involving Thanos’ head was War Machine, and that plan involved time travel.
And when Thanos finally gets the gauntlet, how do the heroes stop him? They go for the hand! Thanos tries to snap, but Captain Marvel holds his fingers apart.
Thanos headbutts her to no effect. Because you don’t go for the head against a nigh invulnerable opponent. You go for the glowing ball of vulnerability. Did Thanos never have a Nintendo?
Iron Man ultimately stops Thanos by, again, going for the hand, grabbing Thanos by the stones and doing the old nanotech swap.
In Conclusion
Go for the hand. Like Alligator Loki.