The Ending Of Doctor Strange Explained
Doctor Strange might be able to enter the Mirror Dimension, Dark Dimension, and Astral Plane, but he also successfully transcended to a new level of existence that is just as impressive — the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The good doctor's debut has finally crossed over into our world and has been met with much success. Even after saving the planet from the nefarious Kaecilius, we have a feeling Stephen Strange won't be hanging up the Cloak of Levitation just yet. We've tapped into the mystic arts of divination to foresee and predict where Benedict Cumberbatch will be weaving his magical hand-signs next. Based on the film's ending, it's safe to say the Infinity War will crank things to 11, and the MCU is in for even stranger things, so to speak.
If your magical powers of common sense aren't up to par, here's your warning: major spoilers ahead.
The Eye of Agamotto is an Infinity Stone
Don't tell Thanos, but the Eye of Agamotto is actually an Infinity Stone — the Time Stone to be precise. Sure, most of us were expecting it, but it's still nice to see the Marvel Cinematic Universe's overarching lore affect the Doctor Strange story in such a big way. This revelation comes with all kinds of foreseeable ramifications, such as the inevitable chaos Thanos' forces will bring to the Doc's door during his hunt to deck out his Infinity Gauntlet. Considering the Mind Stone is in Vision's forehead, the Power Stone is held by the Nova Corps, the Space Stone (the Tesseract) is in Asgard's vault, and the Reality Stone (the Aether) is with the Collector, leaving the Time Stone in Kamar-Taj, which immediately connects to Doctor Strange's residence, means that it's easy for the sorcerers to keep an eye on the ... eye.
The broken watch
Sorry Ms. Palmer, but after the film's first 20 minutes, it was safe to say that Stephen Strange will always be married to his work, not you. For those hoping that this bizarre, otherworldly tale would end with Steve getting back with Christine in the end, we're glad to see that didn't happen. Fortunately, Strange did become a better person and realize the importance of Christine and how much he took her for granted. Nevertheless, he still wears the broken watch she gave him (which symbolizes both Steve's broken hands and his ability to stop time with the Time Stone), in order to remember that great gal who stuck by his side, even back when he was acting like a total Sherlock. Of course, Strange will never be able to share his new life with Christine, even if he's come to terms with not being the center of the universe(s). He still has so much to learn and explore when it comes to the mystic arts, and he'll be spending most of his time in the Sanctum — going places where he could never take her and exploring dimensions she couldn't even fathom. Here's to hoping Palmer gets to form the Night Nurses with Claire Temple from Daredevil and Luke Cage.
Dormammu got one Sanctum, and Doc dorms in another
Kaecilius and his amethyst-eyed cronies destroyed the London Sanctum, and the resulting explosion knocked Strange into the New York Sanctum for the first time. Doc Strange may have used the Time Stone to undo the destruction of the Hong Kong Sanctum, but we doubt he would roll the dice again to try and fix its British counterpart. The British Sanctum was destroyed way earlier than the Hong Kong one, which means there's a whole lot more to rewind and potentially a lot more problems could spiral out of trying to fix it. We have a feeling Strange settled for just having two Sanctums left to keep Dormammu's Dark Dimension at bay. Remember, after the Hong Kong facility was destroyed, the Dark Dimension was already spilling out onto our world, even though one Sanctum was still standing. Strange was lucky with the infinite time loop trick on Dormammu, but it may not work again if he appears on Earth in his corporeal form, fiery face and all.
Succeeding the Sorcerer Supreme
With the Ancient One gone, the world heavyweight title of Sorcerer Supreme has been passed down to the Doctor's broken hands. He's definitely earned it: he stopped Kaecilius, he came to a stalemate with Dormammu, he fixed the Hong Kong Sanctum, he successfully used the Time Stone multiple times (at great risk), he was chosen by the Cloak of Levitation, and he saved the world. He still maintains vigilance over Kamar-Taj and the New York Sanctum to boot. Of course, Strange also showed great aptitude for learning about magic once he started to get past the whole broken hand thing, studying at night in his Astral Form while his body continues to sleep, so who knows how powerful he'll be the next time we see him. While he may not know all the tricks Wong and Mordo know, his spiritual and magical growth in such a short amount of time is uncanny. (That's not an X-Men reference, sorry.)
Baron Mordo
There's only room for one sidekick in the Doctor Strange movie-verse, and it's for Wong, not Mordo. The film's take on Strange's longtime villain was interesting, as they made him an adamant good guy up until the very end of the film. Even then, Mordo's rejection of Strange's methods was understandable. In the comics, Baron Mordo was a student of the Ancient One who inevitably went bad, dabbling in the dark arts and all that forbidden mojo that was done by Kaecilius in the movies. (Kaecilius was actually a low-level flunkie of Mordo in the source material.) Hearing that the Ancient One tapped into the powers of the Dark Dimension so she could live for multiple lifetimes and remain Earth's protector rubbed Mordo the wrong way, as did Strange's repeated uses of the Time Stone. A stickler for rules, the cinematic version of Mordo hated going against the natural laws of the universe, and finding out that both Strange and the Ancient One were doing this troubled him greatly — even if it was for the greater good. Fortunately, the former allies' paths will inevitably cross once more, based on Mordo's resolution in the post-credits scene.