To be fair to those second stringer IG, they were used in a different dimension that the one they were meant to be used into.
In Guardians of the Galaxy the Celestials were capable of stopping the expansion of the fault -forced by a CC- which would've engulfed a number of future aspects of Eternity.
To be fair the writers themselves don't know what to do with Eternity and the whole "Cosmic Compass" of Death/Oblivion/Eternity/Infinity.
Eternity is not the whole universe or the representation of all life in the universe. Eternity is the manifestation of time. The SUPREME manifestation of time, greater than other such beings like Eon/Epoch, Kronos, etc..
Infinity is the manifestation of space. The SUPREME manifestation of space. Together with Eternity they represent SPACE/TIME.
Death is the manifestation of mortality. The SUPREME manifestation of mortality. Greater than other beings like Hela, Pluto, Walker, etc...
Oblivion is the manifestation of nothingness (that's why he opposed Infinity who represents infinite space). Greater than cosmics like Unbeing, etc...
In one issue he's the sum total of the whole universe and in another he's the supreme "time being". I gave up trying to figure it out.
Gender: Male Location: somewhere within time & space
Eternity ftw!
... and the interpretation that "all the power Eternity could muster" can only destroy a planet,
is idiotic and laughable.
Eternity attacked Thanos/HOTI, and the planet Thanos stood on was destroyed.
Sorta like when Owen attacked Beyonder in a bedroom with a blast that would've obliterated several BILLION Universes, and yet only the wood on the floor was smoking.
Anyway ...
Eternity holds entire Universes (past/present/future) in one hand,
and in fact also created every single alternate Galactus across the omniverse, and furthermore is even responsible for the creation/destruction of all Universes period, which Eternity does all day every day.
(I'm sure "Infinity" is involved in this process, but many times Eternity stands for both)
Unfortunately, many appearances are surrounded by jobbing and good ol' PIS!
Properly written Eternity is seldom seen, but the few have been extraordinary.
Hey now, don't be a sour puss. I only stated exactly what was shown/described in that scene.
Except in that instance, it was specifically stated how much damage Owen's blast could have caused. In the scene I posted, however, we only saw a single planet being destroyed, and Thanos (who at that time possessed relative omniscience) only made mention of that one planet having been destroyed: http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/2074/et1d.jpg http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/3355/et2q.jpg
You seem to be implying that we should assume Eternity's blast was ludicrously powerful, despite nothing being suggestive of such. That, imho, seems more illogical than what I've stated. *shrug*
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Last edited by Galan007 on Sep 20th, 2010 at 10:14 PM
Eternity is rarely portrayed correctly. But making him omnipotent isn't necessarily a "good" portrayal. Hell, my favorite use of Eternity was the Dr. Strange arc where Nightmare possesses him! One of his worst showings but at the same time, it felt like he was getting proper respect because there was a sense of transcendence with him.
What he represents is messed up.
In the first Dr. Strange comics he appeared in, Eternity was a universe... but NOT the 616 universe. He just appeared to be some powerful mystic entity that was a universe unto itself.
The next time he appeared, he was for some random reason changed into being the embodiment of time in 616. I have no idea why they decided to do this. Just so Strange would feel he had a need to rescue him?
The next time he appeared, he was the embodiment of life, and for some reason had a closer tie to life on Earth than the rest of the universe. He was also directly opposed to Death, and their struggle would decide the fate of the universe.
That was the portrayal used, more or less, up until the writers for Quasar started to explore him more. He was switched back to being the embodiment of time, with Infinity being space. He was still considered the opposite of Death, but the reason for this was no longer apparent.
Writers since then have used whatever they felt like, it seems. Some comics still have him at war with Death, some feature him as greater than a single universe, some only equal to one. He's never been a well-defined character.
Yes, uber confusing. It seems that they are sticking with the "embodiment of time" thing, because in the scans that Galan007 posted from "The End", Thanos states that Eternity is rather annoying for being the personification of time.
I think this is the role that suits him best.
Eternity - Death. Time (Endlessness) vs Mortality
Infinity - Oblivion. Infinite space vs the Void of Nothingness
It makes more sense this way.
@Mr Master
When/What issue has Eternity ever been written properly? Cause every time I see him, he's been a laughing stock.
What I dont get is that if eternity is the embodyment of a given universe, shouldn't he also contain and be able to access all the power any single entity inside said universe possesses?
But in Eternity's defense, what could he possibly do? If he destroys anything larger than galaxies, Infinity would punch him in the face for destroying parts of her body
Awesome analogy but it's not "his body" it's Infinity's body (since she represents space).
Well, you're assuming this is all Eternity could do. That this means something (especially when defending the Beyonder scene). And you brought it up, so, no, unless the comic told you to post itself, then you're the one to blame here.
I can get posting it as a trolling tool and defending it as such, but honestly defending it is hilarious.
Not really defending it in the literal sense... I could really care less, tbh. But when peeps get their panties in a twist over because I posted what happened on panel, I have no problem sticking up for it.