THE INFINITY STONES » The Stones are housed in protective cases which are referred to as Relics by those aware of their existence. The Stones were split across the Realms, though due to the warmongering and power-hungry nature of the Asgardians and the Fae (both Alfheim and Svartalfheim), they were not assigned Relics to protect. » The Stones were distributed as follows:
Eye of Agamotto / Time Stone - Midgard, to the Ancient One Tesseract / Space Stone - Jotunheim, to the House of Laufey Scepter / Mind Stone - Vanaheim, to the House of Frey Aether / Reality Stone - Muspelheim, to the House of Surt Orb / Power Stone - Nidavellir; it is how the Dwarfs are able to make powerful weapons for the other races Soul Stone - Niflheim/Vormir, to the Realm itself
» Bor, Odin's father, attempts to gather the Stones, but only succeeds in acquiring the Tesseract by invading Jotunheim. Odin continues his father's plans. He wages war with Vanaheim and agrees to a truce only in exchange for the Scepter and three runemistresses, who are able to wield the Scepter's power. He also conquers Nidavellir, forcing the Dwarfs to make weapons for him and his rapidly growing army. He later loses the Tesseract after the Jotnar steal it from Asgard but makes up for the loss by using Hodr to invade Muspelheim and secure the Aether. » When Hodr arrives on Earth in 2016, two years before the Snap, the Stones are located as follows:
Eye of Agamotto / Time Stone - still on Earth, in Kamar-Taj; Odin hasn't made a move on it because he knows exactly where it is Tesseract / Space Stone - on Earth, back with SHIELD after Thor managed to steal it for a time in 2012 Scepter / Mind Stone - on Earth, with Tyr, though in stone form and stripped of the guarding Relic Aether / Reality Stone - on Earth, with Hodr; he'd stolen it from Asgard before making a run for it Orb / Power Stone - still on Nidavellir, but Odin is about to get it Soul Stone - Niflheim/Vormir, but Odin will be chucking Baldr off that cliff soon LOL
ANCIENT TIMES » The Tesseract is a relic that grants the wielder control over space itself, primarily used to open portals to other locations. It was housed in the royal palace of Jotunheim and protected by the family of Laufey, Loki's mother, but was later lost when they were invaded by Bor, Odin's father. » Geiravor, Laufey's granddaughter and crown princess of Jotunheim, later attempts to recover the Tesseract from Asgard as Odin begins his conquest of the rest of the Nine Realms, and allies with Odin's son Hodr to do so. They ultimately lose, but Hel manages to steal the Tesseract while Hodr holds off the Asgardians so she can escape. She flees using the Tesseract's powers, but she's thrown across the dimensions and lands in MCU-Earth. » She entrusts the Tesseract to the people of Tønsberg and goes into (magical) stasis.
1942 » The Tesseract is retrieved by Schmidt from its hiding place in Tønsberg to create enhanced weaponry for HYDRA during WW2. » The Tesseract's theft forces Geiravor awake. She discovers that the inhabitants of Tønsberg have created stories about her and "the Norse pantheon" over the years, designating her as Hel, the Goddess of Death. She takes on the name and sets out to recover the Tesseract.
1943 » Bucky meets "Helena" at the Expo. » Steve enlists and joins the super soldier program. » Hel infiltrates the Army but is relegated to office work. » Steve learns that Bucky's unit was lost in a battle against HYDRA and decides to mount a rescue attempt, unaware that Hel was already en route to do the same. She frees Bucky then takes on the identity of a POW named George Harris, with the cover story of also being among HYDRA's test subjects. As George, she joins the Howling Commandos as field medic and continues the charade.
1945 » The Howling Commandos ambush Zola, but Bucky falls from the train to his apparent death. "Georgie" deserts the team to recover Bucky's body, while Steve continues on to locate the final HYDRA stronghold and stop Schmidt. » Steve crashes HYDRA's aircraft, which contains the Tesseract, into the Arctic shelf. Howard later recovers the Tesseract from the ocean floor but is unable to locate Steve's body or the aircraft. » Only finding Bucky's torn left arm, Hel deduces that HYDRA captured him and sets out to find him.
AFTER THE WAR » Finding it difficult to get anywhere in her search for Bucky, Hel seeks out Peggy for help and access to SSR's (and Howard's) resources, in exchange for her knowledge on the Tesseract. Peggy later attempts to recruit her into SHIELD, and while Hel refuses to be deterred from her mission, she feels she owes Peggy enough that she instead says, "Ask me again later." » Hel intercepts Bucky in Korea in 1953, and with the help of Isaiah Bradley, manages to subdue him. They go off the grid while he recovers.
1980s-1990s » An Asgardian force led by Baldr comes through the rift between the realms in Tønsberg. They track Hel down and try to drag her back to Asgard, believing she still has the Tesseract. Bucky and Hel manage to fend off the Asgardians, but she winds up mortally injured from the fight, forcing him to bring her to Wakanda for medical aid. » A second Asgardian team, led by Tyr, arrives through the rift with a long-term mission to go undercover and infiltrate the US government/military. » Sometime after Hel's recovery, she and Bucky decide to get married. (So romantic, Buckles.) » As Peggy nears her retirement, she tracks Hel down to invite her again to SHIELD, intending to groom her as her successor. » In 1989, Peggy and Howard plot to take out Hydra by letting Bucky take on the mantle of Captain America. Bucky agrees, but secretly plans in turn to fake reverting into the Winter Soldier in order to infiltrate Hydra and destroy it once and for all. » Bucky and Hel officially move to America and work for SHIELD, where they discover they hate bureaucracy and paperwork. They also get (legally) married, with Peggy and Howard as witnesses, and go on a honeymoon in Korea. » The new Captain America is first officially deployed to Operation Desert Shield in August 1990.
2000s » Peggy retires sometime in the early 2000s. Hel succeeds her as Director, cemented by her handling of the 9/11 crisis and the resulting war in Afghanistan, which was her first official coordination mission with Captain America. » They get a dog!
2011 » Steve is found frozen in the ice, along with his shield and the wreckage of his stolen HYDRA aircraft.
2012 » A group of Asgardians led by Thor emerge from the rift in the realms in Iceland. They set out to recover the Tesseract, working with Tyr and his special forces team in the US military to get access to the relic and steal it. » The Avengers first officially come together to fight Thor.
2014 » Steve meets and befriends Sam, and later introduces him to Bucky. » Hel finds out from Fury about the helicarriers, which she proceeds to try shutting down because she hasn't authorized any of it. The operation leads to the discovery that STRIKE has been infiltrated by Asgardian agents right under her nose, and that they are working with Tyr, who has been undercover all these years as a high-ranking government official. She finally realizes that's how Thor got the Tesseract in the first place.
2016 » The UN drafts the Accords, giving them broad and overarching authority to register powered/enhanced people and oversee their activities. » Thaddeus Ross, recently appointed US Secretary of State, presents the Accords to the Avengers and tells them that they have to retire if they did not comply. The group is divided, and those who don't want to sign (primarily Bucky and Steve) clearly also do not wish to retire either given their unfinished business with the Asgardians. » While discussing the Accords with Bucky and Steve over the phone, Hel is visited by Tyr in her office and made to sign the Accords. When she declines, recognizing that the Asgardians are trying to get her out of their way, she is arrested under false charges of treason; she is framed as the surviving leader of HYDRA who has secretly taken over SHIELD. Tyr gives her one last chance to cooperate, reminding her that when they go public with her arrest, Bucky will also be ruined, and the Avengers will be destabilized. Hatching a last-minute plan, she bargains for Bucky to be left alone in exchange for him signing the Accords, but she still won't and they can proceed with arresting her. Bucky and Steve hear all of it since she ended up only putting her phone on mute instead of ending the call when Tyr came in. » Bucky breaks her out, despite her telling him not to. They run into Hodr, who's arrived in their realm and managed to track her down because she was on the news, and is also attempting to break her out.
𝐀𝐔 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨 »
» The Stones are housed in protective cases which are referred to as Relics by those aware of their existence. The Stones were split across the Realms, though due to the warmongering and power-hungry nature of the Asgardians and the Fae (both Alfheim and Svartalfheim), they were not assigned Relics to protect.
» The Stones were distributed as follows:» Bor, Odin's father, attempts to gather the Stones, but only succeeds in acquiring the Tesseract by invading Jotunheim. Odin continues his father's plans. He wages war with Vanaheim and agrees to a truce only in exchange for the Scepter and three runemistresses, who are able to wield the Scepter's power. He also conquers Nidavellir, forcing the Dwarfs to make weapons for him and his rapidly growing army. He later loses the Tesseract after the Jotnar steal it from Asgard but makes up for the loss by using Hodr to invade Muspelheim and secure the Aether.
» When Hodr arrives on Earth in 2016, two years before the Snap, the Stones are located as follows:
» The Tesseract is a relic that grants the wielder control over space itself, primarily used to open portals to other locations. It was housed in the royal palace of Jotunheim and protected by the family of Laufey, Loki's mother, but was later lost when they were invaded by Bor, Odin's father.
» Geiravor, Laufey's granddaughter and crown princess of Jotunheim, later attempts to recover the Tesseract from Asgard as Odin begins his conquest of the rest of the Nine Realms, and allies with Odin's son Hodr to do so. They ultimately lose, but Hel manages to steal the Tesseract while Hodr holds off the Asgardians so she can escape. She flees using the Tesseract's powers, but she's thrown across the dimensions and lands in MCU-Earth.
» She entrusts the Tesseract to the people of Tønsberg and goes into (magical) stasis.
» The Tesseract is retrieved by Schmidt from its hiding place in Tønsberg to create enhanced weaponry for HYDRA during WW2.
» The Tesseract's theft forces Geiravor awake. She discovers that the inhabitants of Tønsberg have created stories about her and "the Norse pantheon" over the years, designating her as Hel, the Goddess of Death. She takes on the name and sets out to recover the Tesseract.
» Bucky meets "Helena" at the Expo.
» Steve enlists and joins the super soldier program.
» Hel infiltrates the Army but is relegated to office work.
» Steve learns that Bucky's unit was lost in a battle against HYDRA and decides to mount a rescue attempt, unaware that Hel was already en route to do the same. She frees Bucky then takes on the identity of a POW named George Harris, with the cover story of also being among HYDRA's test subjects. As George, she joins the Howling Commandos as field medic and continues the charade.
» The Howling Commandos ambush Zola, but Bucky falls from the train to his apparent death. "Georgie" deserts the team to recover Bucky's body, while Steve continues on to locate the final HYDRA stronghold and stop Schmidt.
» Steve crashes HYDRA's aircraft, which contains the Tesseract, into the Arctic shelf. Howard later recovers the Tesseract from the ocean floor but is unable to locate Steve's body or the aircraft.
» Only finding Bucky's torn left arm, Hel deduces that HYDRA captured him and sets out to find him.
» Finding it difficult to get anywhere in her search for Bucky, Hel seeks out Peggy for help and access to SSR's (and Howard's) resources, in exchange for her knowledge on the Tesseract. Peggy later attempts to recruit her into SHIELD, and while Hel refuses to be deterred from her mission, she feels she owes Peggy enough that she instead says, "Ask me again later."
» Hel intercepts Bucky in Korea in 1953, and with the help of Isaiah Bradley, manages to subdue him. They go off the grid while he recovers.
» An Asgardian force led by Baldr comes through the rift between the realms in Tønsberg. They track Hel down and try to drag her back to Asgard, believing she still has the Tesseract. Bucky and Hel manage to fend off the Asgardians, but she winds up mortally injured from the fight, forcing him to bring her to Wakanda for medical aid.
» A second Asgardian team, led by Tyr, arrives through the rift with a long-term mission to go undercover and infiltrate the US government/military.
» Sometime after Hel's recovery, she and Bucky decide to get married. (So romantic, Buckles.)
» As Peggy nears her retirement, she tracks Hel down to invite her again to SHIELD, intending to groom her as her successor.
» In 1989, Peggy and Howard plot to take out Hydra by letting Bucky take on the mantle of Captain America. Bucky agrees, but secretly plans in turn to fake reverting into the Winter Soldier in order to infiltrate Hydra and destroy it once and for all.
» Bucky and Hel officially move to America and work for SHIELD, where they discover they hate bureaucracy and paperwork. They also get (legally) married, with Peggy and Howard as witnesses, and go on a honeymoon in Korea.
» The new Captain America is first officially deployed to Operation Desert Shield in August 1990.
» Peggy retires sometime in the early 2000s. Hel succeeds her as Director, cemented by her handling of the 9/11 crisis and the resulting war in Afghanistan, which was her first official coordination mission with Captain America.
» They get a dog!
» Steve is found frozen in the ice, along with his shield and the wreckage of his stolen HYDRA aircraft.
» A group of Asgardians led by Thor emerge from the rift in the realms in Iceland. They set out to recover the Tesseract, working with Tyr and his special forces team in the US military to get access to the relic and steal it.
» The Avengers first officially come together to fight Thor.
» Steve meets and befriends Sam, and later introduces him to Bucky.
» Hel finds out from Fury about the helicarriers, which she proceeds to try shutting down because she hasn't authorized any of it. The operation leads to the discovery that STRIKE has been infiltrated by Asgardian agents right under her nose, and that they are working with Tyr, who has been undercover all these years as a high-ranking government official. She finally realizes that's how Thor got the Tesseract in the first place.
» The UN drafts the Accords, giving them broad and overarching authority to register powered/enhanced people and oversee their activities.
» Thaddeus Ross, recently appointed US Secretary of State, presents the Accords to the Avengers and tells them that they have to retire if they did not comply. The group is divided, and those who don't want to sign (primarily Bucky and Steve) clearly also do not wish to retire either given their unfinished business with the Asgardians.
» While discussing the Accords with Bucky and Steve over the phone, Hel is visited by Tyr in her office and made to sign the Accords. When she declines, recognizing that the Asgardians are trying to get her out of their way, she is arrested under false charges of treason; she is framed as the surviving leader of HYDRA who has secretly taken over SHIELD. Tyr gives her one last chance to cooperate, reminding her that when they go public with her arrest, Bucky will also be ruined, and the Avengers will be destabilized. Hatching a last-minute plan, she bargains for Bucky to be left alone in exchange for him signing the Accords, but she still won't and they can proceed with arresting her. Bucky and Steve hear all of it since she ended up only putting her phone on mute instead of ending the call when Tyr came in.
» Bucky breaks her out, despite her telling him not to. They run into Hodr, who's arrived in their realm and managed to track her down because she was on the news, and is also attempting to break her out.