GotSIS Lore Compendium: Theory of Time

Mysterious thing, Time. Powerful, and when meddled with, dangerous.
~Albus Dumbledore

Time is a concept often wondered about. It is a fundamental force of the Universe. Without time, nothing has meaning. Everything in the Universe, in every Universe, is related with time. It affects all.

There’s a reason after all that time and fate are often interrelated. 

But then the questions arise: Is our fate pre-decided? Are our choices naught but an illusion? Is everything that has happened, is happening, and will happen, nothing but a story planned and written by someone higher? And if it isn’t, what does it mean?

The answer… is complicated.

To understand it all, we must first answer one of the probing questions above. Is everything predetermined? The short answer to all of it is no. It isn’t.

But the long answer? That’s where the fun begins.

First, let us begin with what a timeline is. A timeline is a flow of events for a Universe as a whole, which, once formed, is fixed to a certain extent in that particular Universe. If something else happens, the timeline branches and a new Universe is formed. A Universe where a different choice was made.

Confusing? Sure. Let me put it more simply with a quote.

Time. Space. Reality. It's more than a linear path. It's a prism of endless possibility, where a single choice can branch out into infinite realities, creating alternate worlds from the ones you know.
~The Watcher.

Each possibility is a new Universe. A new beginning. A new timeline. A new branch of a tree. 

But is every single choice, a creation for a new Universe? Suppose you don’t choose to eat breakfast in the morning. Will a new Universe, in which you ate breakfast be created? Probably not. 

There are seven Billion people on Earth. Each of these seven Billion people makes a choice every few minutes or every few seconds. Even as I write, each word is a choice. And if with each word, I create a new timeline, thus far, in this document, there are already about 350 new timelines formed. Maybe even more, considering it’ll be a domino of the choices of each of my new versions.

At such a rate, the Multiverse would’ve destabilized and exploded long ago.

So, no. Not every choice creates a new Universe. Not every single decision, however small or big it may be to a person, will create a new Universe. But then, what determines which choice is worthy enough to create a new timeline? What makes a choice special?

The answer lies in fate and time.

We all know of Absolute Points in time. Events that are meant to happen, regardless of what happens before it. Birth and death are one of them. These Absolute Points are the skeletal structure of the Universe. The things that hold the Universe together. They are the pillars of the building that is reality.

Any outcome, person, or power cannot change an Absolute Point in a timeline. Not even the Time Stone or the whole Infinity Gauntlet.

An Absolute Point in time for a Universe would happen. It can be delayed or slowed. But it will come. It is inevitable. If it is somehow broken, or reversed, the timeline itself shatters with it.

Strange Supreme’s timeline is a prime example. Christine Palmer was meant to die, regardless of what path Strange took. And when he saved her, his reality crumbled, despite all the power he had.

Yet, what happens between two Absolute Points is changeable. What leads to the Absolute Point is changeable. These are the possibilities that seers see. The possibilities the Ancient One sees and uses to guide the world in a more favorable direction. 

A death or an event might be bound to happen. But what it impacts, can always be changed for the better. 

Think of it as an in-diffusible bomb. It will go off and can’t be diffused. But if someone knows or finds out about it beforehand, when there is still time left on the bomb, it can be moved to a safe place. Like the middle of a lake.

Or it can also be left in a room full of bad guys who were planning to end the world. The bomb goes off and several lives are indirectly saved.

That is what the Ancient One does. Take the bomb to a place where the damage would be minimum or the opportunity, maximum.

Though, the question still remains. What forms a new timeline? A new reality? Which choice is special?

This is when we arrive at Pivotal Points. 

Pivotal Points are Points where the choice truly matters. These choices are the ones which can affect the greater scheme of things for more than one person. This is when the threads between the framework that are Absolute Points, matter. The decision or what happens, matters. And with the decision, the timeline splits, and as a result, a new Universe is born. 

And with a new Universe, new Absolute Points in time are born, completely changing the events we know.

These Pivotal Points are the Points where even fate is uncertain and the choice is what makes or breaks the day. Because in the other Universe that is formed, a different choice was made and the outcome in that Universe would differ. With each choice at a Pivotal Point, reality can branch out into infinite timelines.

There are plenty of these Pivotal Points. Points which most would miss. But these Pivotal Points determine the fate of the Universe unlike any other. They might not be big. It might not even be noticed. But in time, everything is a domino effect.

A butterfly flaps its wings, and the resultant storm changes the world. And the further you go in time, the bigger the effects can be. 

Now, for the manipulation and control of time? Some threads and events can be erased and rewritten with the right tools. Those that affect the grander scheme of things, cannot. 

And if they are, they will turn to Pivotal Points, and create a new universe, where everything becomes different. If it is not created, the timeline will be destabilized, leading to the unraveling of the Universe or in some cases, the crumbling of reality akin to the one that Strange Supreme experienced.

Erasing something and rewriting it when it comes to a timeline is against the laws of nature. Sure, something small like reversing the time on an apple won’t register for it. But bigger things? They will be.

The only place it can be done without dire consequence, on a grand scale is an Extinction Event. Where the only other choice is the complete annihilation of the world. Even if a Pivotal Point is formed at the time, the resultant new timeline would just be an empty, destroyed world.

All in all, one should not mess with time without knowing what they are doing and have intricate knowledge of the plausible consequences while doing so.

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AND… DONE! Hope you all liked the theory.

This theory, including Pivotal Points, is what I see it as in my story, Guardian of the Soul: Infinity Saga. Some points overlap with the main Universe as I based my theory on it. This only holds for my own story. 

If you have any questions, feel free to ask me.

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