Movies Like Eternals

Frequently asked about Eternals

Common questions people search for, with answers written by us at MoviesPack.

• Why didn't the Eternals intervene during Thanos's snap or other major conflicts on Earth?▾

  Arishem, the Celestial who created them, programmed the Eternals to only fight Deviants and forbade them from interfering in any other human conflict. This was because their true purpose was to ensure humanity's population grew large enough to birth a new Celestial, and wars and disasters that didn't threaten that goal were considered irrelevant. Even Thanos's snap was acceptable to Arishem because the population would eventually recover and complete the Emergence.

• What is the Emergence and what is the Eternals' true purpose?▾

  The Emergence is the birth of a new Celestial, Tiamut, who has been gestating inside the Earth for millennia. The Eternals were created as synthetic beings by Arishem and sent to Earth not to protect humanity, but to nurture intelligent life until the host planet's population was large enough to provide the energy needed for the Celestial inside to hatch. The planet is destroyed in the process, meaning every world they've 'saved' has ultimately been sacrificed.

• Why does Ikaris betray the team and what motivates his suicide at the end?▾

  Ikaris has known the truth about the Emergence for centuries, having been told by Ajak, and he remains loyal to Arishem's mission because he believes serving the Celestials is his sacred duty. When the others choose to save Earth, he kills Ajak (whose heart turned against the plan) and tries to stop them, but ultimately cannot bring himself to kill Sersi, whom he loves. Overcome with guilt for his betrayals and the deaths he caused, he flies into the sun to destroy himself.

• Why doesn't Thena remember things clearly, and what is Mahd Wy'ry?▾

  Mahd Wy'ry is a condition where an Eternal's mind becomes overloaded by the accumulated memories of all their past lives across different planets, since Arishem wipes and reuses them after each Emergence. It causes Thena to experience violent flashbacks and confuse past traumas with the present. The condition reveals that the Eternals are not unique individuals but recycled tools, which becomes a key emotional catalyst for the team turning against Arishem.

• What happens to Tiamut and what does the stone figure emerging from the ocean represent?▾

  When the team forms the Uni-Mind, Sersi channels their combined power to turn the emerging Celestial Tiamut into marble, freezing him mid-birth and saving Earth. The massive stone hand and torso jutting from the ocean is Tiamut's petrified form, a permanent monument to the Eternals' rebellion against their creator. It also serves as evidence that draws Arishem's attention back to Earth in the film's ending, when he abducts Sersi, Phastos, and Kingo to judge humanity.