Why Did Doctor Strange LIE About 14 Million Possibilities?

Alright, nobody freaked out… but there’s growing evidence that Doctor Strange’s claim of only one winning chance out of 14 million futures might be a scam. 

I really don’t want to cast doubt, but when someone says there’s just one way out of millions of scenarios and only they can see it, it sounds pretty unreliable. 

To figure out whether our Supreme Sorcerer is pulling a fast one, and to understand what’s really behind those words, let’s break it down!

It Is Proven More Than One Way To Win Thanos

On Titan planet, when Doctor Strange used the Time Stone to explore future possibilities, he told Tony that they had only one chance out of over 14 million to win. 

As you all know from Endgame, that one chance involved Tony Stark inventing the Time Machine and borrowing the Stones from other timelines to reverse the Infinity Snap. 

And, of course, this came at the cost of Tony’s life, sacrificed for the universe.

But here’s the thing: in “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” we see another possibility on Earth-838 where the Illuminati uses the Book of Vishanti to defeat Thanos.

Such a possibility could absolutely exist in the main timeline of the MCU. However, the consequence would be that Doctor Strange would need to sacrifice himself to avoid becoming his evil version.

Following this assumption, I initially thought the Supreme Sorcerer lied to Tony because the price for victory was something only Strange or Stark could pay. But it turns out there are still a few other possibilities.

If you still notice, in the latter part of Infinity War and the first few minutes of Endgame, there was another possibility: Thor could have his Stormbreaker and go for Thanos’s head. 

Even in the What If…? series, we see that to deal with the Mad Titan and a nearly complete Gauntlet, as seen in Episode 8, Season 1, Ultron (in Vision’s form) quickly dispatched Thanos with a single laser blast.

Additionally, since Doctor Strange kept the Time Stone hidden until he was forced to exchange it for Tony’s life, he could have opened the portals back to Earth to team up with other Avengers, as seen in “Endgame,” to buy some time.

Based on pure logic and the events shown, it seems like the claim of only one chance out of over 14 million wasn’t entirely correct—perhaps even misleading. 

Thus, unless Doctor Strange intentionally lied for personal reasons, what could be his real motive?

What Is The Reason Behind Doctor Strange’s “Only Winning Chance”?

In Loki season 1, a detail pointed out that during Loki’s trial, the judge, Ravonna, testified that “what the Avengers did was supposed to happen.” 

This raises the question of how Doctor Strange foresaw their victory. And there are two theories here:

1. Doctor Strange can just explore future possibilities via the Time Stone is limited by the scenarios outlined by the TVA; or
2. Doctor Strange knew about other winning possibilities but considered them lost because the TVA was interfering and pruning those scenarios.

Regardless of which theory you believe, one thing is clear: the TVA could intervene, making it seem like the only chance to win was the scenario the TVA wanted, which is the one that the Avengers found out the way to time travel.

It means that Tony Stark might originate the whole TVA system in the future, and the Avengers’ time traveling is what is supposed to happen.

So, even though Doctor Strange saw either of the potential victories above, those winning chances would be meaningless when the TVA did not approve it.

Additionally, when considering the “legitimacy” of the Avengers’ Time Heist, it may sound “criminal,” but it fits well within the Branch Timeline rule.

With that said, Doctor Strange should have been more comprehensive: “I saw 14 million possibilities; a few of them showed we could win, some were ridiculously easy, but the TVA censored them all and left us with just one chance to win, pal!”

What do you guys think? Did Doctor Strange actually see just one winning chance, or did he lie on purpose? Share your thoughts!