Eternal (2005) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Ikaris killed Ajak because she had decided to stop the Emergence - the Celestial birth that would destroy Earth. Ajak told Ikaris about the Emergence after they left Babylon, and when she expressed doubts about following through with the mission due to her emotional attachment to Earth, Ikaris refused to abandon the plan. He brought her to a location near an icy lake where Deviants were lurking and threw her to them, allowing Kro to absorb her energy and powers.

• ikaris
• ajak
• death
• kro
• emergence
• betrayal

The Emergence is the birth of the Celestial named Tiamut, which occurs every few millennia on planets with sufficient intelligent life. Arishem reveals that the true purpose of the Eternals was to nurture humanity until there was enough energy for Tiamut to be born - but this birth would require the complete destruction of all life on Earth to make way for the new Celestial.

• tiamut
• celestial
• arishem
• emergence
• birth
• earth destruction

Sersi explains to Dane that the Eternals were instructed by the Celestials to never interfere in the affairs of mankind - including great wars and events like Thanos's snap. This was intentional so that humanity could develop on their own without divine intervention. The Celestials believed that interfering would hinder humanity's growth as a society.

• thanos
• world wars
• non-interference
• celestials
• instructions

Sprite joined Ikaris because she has been in love with him for centuries but could never act on her feelings due to her child-like appearance. Kingo even points this out to her before the final battle. Her resentment over being stuck in a child's body while Ikaris was with Sersi drove her to betray the others and join him.

Foreshadowing: Sprite's jealousy is hinted at earlier when she expresses frustration about her eternal childhood appearance.

• sprite
• ikaris
• love
• betrayal
• child form

The Uni-Mind is a technique invented by Phastos that allows the Eternals to link their powers together by connecting through a special stone. This process combines all their abilities into one Eternal, enabling Sersi to gain the combined powers of the other Eternals. They used this to give Druig enough power to attempt mind-controlling Tiamut.

• uni-mind
• phastos
• combined powers
• druig
• mind control

After being defeated by the other Eternals and witnessing Sersi successfully stop the Emergence, Ikaris felt overwhelming remorse for his actions - particularly for killing Ajak and betraying his family. Unable to live with his guilt, he flew directly into the sun to end his life.

Foreshadowing: Ikaris's love for Sersi and his struggle with the mission are established early in the film.

• ikaris
• sun
• sacrifice
• death
• remorse

When Sersi approached Ajak's body after her death, the celestial stone that Ajak carried attached itself to Sersi. This transfer of the stone meant Ajak had chosen Sersi as her successor, making her the new leader of the Eternals and granting her the ability to communicate with Arishem.

Foreshadowing: Ajak's choice of Sersi is hinted at when she expresses concerns about humanity in Babylon.

• sersi
• ajak
• leader
• successor
• stone
• communication

Thena suffers from a condition called Mahd Wy'Ry, which is caused by her past memories collapsing in on themselves. This first manifests in 1521 AD in Tenochtitlan during a battle with Deviants, causing her to attack her own comrades. The condition makes her dangerous to those around her, leading Gilgamesh to dedicate himself to protecting her.

Foreshadowing: Thena's violent episode in Tenochtitlan directly sets up her later storyline with Gilgamesh.

• thena
• mahd wry
• memories
• insanity
• gilgamesh
• protection

Kro was a unique Deviant who evolved to become intelligent and capable of speech. He absorbed the powers of several Eternals, including Gilgamesh's energy which allowed him to walk on two legs and speak English. In the final battle, Thena fought Kro and ultimately killed him by slicing him to pieces after he nearly absorbed her life force.

Foreshadowing: Kro's ability to track Eternals despite them hiding is established early in London.

• kro
• deviant
• absorption
• death
• thena
• evolution

In 1945, Phastos witnessed the devastation of the atomic bombing in Hiroshima. He felt remorse for helping humans develop technology, only to see them use that advancement to destroy each other on a massive scale. This traumatic event caused him to lose faith in humanity and withdraw from the other Eternals.

Foreshadowing: Phastos's invention of the steam engine in Babylon shows his earlier optimism about helping humanity.

• phastos
• hiroshima
• atomic bomb
• faith
• technology
• remorse

Arishem explains that he created the Deviants to regulate the balance between predators and prey on Earth, allowing intelligent life to prosper. However, he lost control of them and they became predators themselves, threatening the very intelligent life they were meant to protect. To fix this mistake, Arishem created the Eternals.

Foreshadowing: The Eternals were sent specifically to defeat the Deviants.

• arishem
• deviants
• creation
• balance
• celestials
• predators

Sersi used the Uni-Mind to transfer Sprite's immortality to her, allowing Sprite to live a normal human life. This was done because Sersi understood Sprite's frustration with being trapped in a child's body for millennia. Sprite had expressed resentment over her eternal childhood and inability to have a normal life.

Foreshadowing: Sprite's complaints about her child appearance and longing for a normal life are established throughout the film.

• sprite
• human
• immortality
• sersi
• normal life
• transformation

At the end of the film, Dane tells Sersi that his family history is more complicated than she realized. In the post-credits scene, Dane is shown staring at the Ebony Blade - a legendary sword from Marvel comics - indicating he comes from a lineage of heroes. An offscreen voice (presumably Blade) asks if he's ready to wield it.

• dane
• whitman
• ebony blade
• family secret
• blade
• marvel comics

Ikaris met Sersi when she first saw Earth in 5000 BC and told her it was beautiful. Over centuries of living together, his feelings grew. In 575 BC in Babylon, he finally admitted his love to her, and they became a couple, eventually marrying during the Gupta Empire. However, things didn't work out between them long-term.

• ikaris
• sersi
• love
• marriage
• centuries
• relationship