When Thanos snapped away half of the universe in his plan to create ‘balance,’ the world of the MCU was rocked to its foundations and fans were left shocked.

Marvel fans have been pondering just how random the effects of the snap actually were, considering how certain heroes survived.

Over on Reddit, Business_Reporter420 puts across a convincing theory, as reported by ComicBook, suggesting that Thanos honoured certain agreements with others.

“I think Thanos was still honouring the deals he made for the stones throughout [Infinity War]. Loki gave up the space stone to save Thor, Gamora gave up the soul stone to save Nebula, and Strange gave up the time stone to save Tony. All three survived the snap.”

The idea certainly holds weight, and others chimed in with their thoughts on the theory.

“Yes, that is why Strange gave up the time stone. For that reason precisely. Additionally, he stalled Thanos during their fight to make sure Scott Lang is in the Quantum Realm at the exact moment of the snap,” commented Realistic_Analyst_26.

It’s easy to forget just how pivotal Doctor Strange was in Avengers: Infinity War, as he analysed countless timelines and made sure his actions set up the one possible way to win the fight.

Ljb12389 adds to the idea, saying, “I think the only real one here is Tony. Strange said, ‘Spare his life and I’ll give you the stone.’ This could be taken to mean in the immediate fight but also during the snap.”

With Scott Lang being responsible for getting the Avengers back together and Tony Stark eventually defeating Thanos, it would make sense that Strange arranged it all, playing Thanos and getting him to honour certain outcomes.

This kind of fan speculation is great fun as others come in with their thoughts and piece together possible underlying plots beyond what the writers intended.