Mantis: Excuse me, but... does your friend often do that?
[Dr. Strange is sitting cross-legged, floating slightly above the ground, his hands poised in a mystic gesture with the Time Stone glowing brightly in the Eye of Agamotto setting. Green vapor-like energy flows from the stone, and more intricate magical energy patterns circle Dr. Strange's forearms. The Cloak of Levitation flows behind him as if the Stone is creating a strong breeze. His eyes are closed, and his head is jerking rapidly from side to side, the motion blurring, but resembling looking for something.]
Tony Stark: Strange, we alright?
[Dr. Strange snaps out of his trance and falls forward, letting out a cry.]
Tony Stark: You're back. You're alright.
Peter Parker: Hey, what was that?
Stephen Strange: [Panting] I went forward in time to view alternate futures. To see all the possible outcomes of
the coming conflict.
Peter Quill: How many did you see?
Stephen Strange: 14,000,605.
Tony Stark: How many did we win?
[Dr. Strange stares intently at Tony for a moment.]
Stephen Strange: [Pause] One.....
For those of you who don’t know this is taken from one of my favourite scenes in Avengers; infinity war. I definitely can’t see the future but like master overthinkers I often find myself asking what if? What if I said something different? Did something differently? Would the outcome be any different? Could I possibly choose a different reality? In fact wouldn’t it be cool to live in a world where all 14,000,605 realities happen - yet you live in the one you choose? This is what came to my mind as my English class explored the Shakespearean tragedy ‘Macbeth’. What if he lived a different reality? What if King Duncan didn’t actually die but the whole thing was staged with the aide of the witches to test Macbeth’s loyalty to the throne? 14,000,605 realities
Instead of being slaughtered wouldn’t this reality actually teach Macbeth his lesson? Or what if Macbeth understands his mistakes and begs to be punished instead of being slaughtered by Macduff but then uses his vulnerability to kill Macduff himself? Like a true machiavellian character wouldn’t you say? Or what if a more wild reality existed? What if Lady Macbeth was the daughter of one of king Duncan’s many concubines that he abandoned? She could have spent her whole life planning how to take revenge on him for leaving her and her mother behind. I mean didn’t you wonder why she was so ready to just go for the kill? It could’ve been the moment she was waiting for all her life. What if.. What if.. What if... so many endless realities but have you ever wondered if they could all lead back to the same ending? What if after the loyalty test Macbeth attempts to kill King Duncan for real to ascend to the throne? What if after killing Macduff someone else slaughters
Macbeth? Or what if Lady Macbeth hides her past and the course of the play follows suit? The question here is - does unchecked ambition transcend place and time? was it so innate and uncontrolled in Macbeth that even one step differently would have just ended in the same reality? Would you then say it was all the work of destiny?
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