--- title: Avengers: Endgame Theory May Explain Doctor Strange Line description: Here's one possible explanation as to the meaning behind Doctor Strange's message to Iron Man during the final battle of Avengers: Endgame. canonical: https://time.com/5606526/avengers-endgame-doctor-strange-theory/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-06-13T17:51:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:59:12.258Z og:title: Avengers: Endgame Theory Could Reveal Meaning Behind Doctor Strange Line og:description: "If I tell you what happens, it won’t happen" og:url: https://time.com/5606526/avengers-endgame-doctor-strange-theory/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2fa8847939adbfe0/6988acc3cd1bbab50f702f5f/doctor-strange-facebook.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3799 og:image:height: 2137 og:image:alt: doctor-strange-facebook og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Avengers: Endgame Theory Could Reveal Meaning Behind Doctor Strange Line twitter:description: "If I tell you what happens, it won’t happen" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2fa8847939adbfe0/6988acc3cd1bbab50f702f5f/doctor-strange-facebook.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This _Avengers: Endgame_ Theory Could Reveal the True Meaning Behind Doctor Strange's Cryptic Final Line > Sponsored content. 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The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically.  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Jun 13, 2019 5:51 PM UTC  Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Jun 13, 2019 5:51 PM UTC **Warning:** This post contains spoilers for [_Avengers: Endgame_](https://time.com/5576817/avengers-endgame-review/). The final battle in _Avengers: Endgame_ saw [Tony Stark](https://time.com/5577454/avengers-endgame-deaths/), a.k.a. Iron Man, wear the [Infinity Gauntlet](https://time.com/5227586/mcu-six-infinity-stones/) to defeat Thanos once and for all. But the question of whether or not the Avengers would come out on top was apparently up in the air right until that very moment. As our team of superheroes fought for their lives at the site of the destroyed Avengers compound, Tony turned to Doctor Strange to ask him if what was happening was in line with the [one outcome in 14 million](https://time.com/5576656/avengers-endgame-time-travel/) in which Strange saw the Avengers defeat Thanos and his army. “If I tell you what happens, it won’t happen,” Strange responds. After _Endgame_ hit theaters, there was something of a debate among viewers over what exactly the Doctor was trying to say. But now, one Reddit user has taken it upon themselves to provide a possible explanation as to the true meaning behind Strange’s words. Basically, the [Redditor theorizes](https://old.reddit.com/r/marvelstudios/comments/byyprp/if%5Fi%5Ftell%5Fyou%5Fwhat%5Fhappens%5Fit%5Fwont%5Fhappen%5Fendgame/) that while Strange was exploring all 14,000,605 possible futures in _Infinity War_, he tested a few out in which he told Tony what needed to happen to see if he could save his life by doing so. Unfortunately, he discovered that there was no scenario in which the Avengers were victorious that didn’t also result in Tony’s death. --- > “” --- R.I.P. Iron Man. 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