Angelina Jolie's Thena will suffer from a disturbing form of dementia inEternals - and here's everything you need to know about "Mahd Wy'ry." Excitement is building forEternals, the latest MCU blockbuster that will introduce a group of ancient aliens who have been protecting Earth for 7,000 years. The Eternals were sent to this world by the Celestials in order to protect humanity from the threat of the Deviants, and their actions inspired many of humanity's myths and legends.
Speaking at a set visit in January 2020, Marvel Studios producer Nate Moore revealed the secrets ofevery member of the Eternals. He spoke at particular length about Angelina Jolie's Thena, who Marvel considers the best warrior in the galaxy, and who possesses the ability to use cosmic energy to create any weapon she can imagine. Unfortunately, as powerful as Thena may be, she also suffers from what Marvel compares to a form of dementia. "She comes down with something called Mahd Wy’ry," Moore explained. "If you guys are fans of comics Mahd Wy’ry is something that can beset an Eternal. It's a version of dementia. Because of the amount of memories they have, they become unstuck in their own mind, so she starts to forget exactly when she is, so through the course of the movie,Gilgamesh becomes her protector. And when we find them in the modern-day, they're living off the grid in a cabin in Australia because she's too dangerous to have around humans."
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As Moore suggests, Mahd Wy'ry is indeed a part of Eternals lore in the comics. It was first mentioned inAvengers #361 when Sersi, the only Eternal ever to join the Avengers, began acting unpredictably; she even launched an insane attack upon her teammates, forcing them to sedate her. The Eternals eventually arrived, and explained they believed Sersi was suffering from Mahd Wy'ry, "the secret curse of the Eternals." In the comics, although the Eternals had their bodies transformed, their minds remained all too human. "How much experience could a being absorb," Ikaris asked. "How much living before the weight of years proved too much and crushed the soul? How long before the mind wearies of living and can do it no more?" While theorigin of the Eternals has changed for the MCU, they were still created by the Celestials, and presumably share the flaw of Mahd Wy'ry.
In the comics, the only cure for an Eternal suffering from Mahd Wy'ry is molecular discorporation - to kill them so the Eternal Machine begins their life again. There's currently been no indication the Eternal Machine exists in the MCU, meaning these Eternals may not be capable of death and resurrection; if that is indeed the case, then Thena's condition is essentially incurable. She will grow increasingly dislocated in time, unable to differentiate between friend and foe.
An Eternal can manage their decline, however, by establishing a psychic link with a person who serves as their Gann Josin - their sworn protector and soulmate. In the comics, Ikaris created such a bond between Sersi and the Black Knight - albeit without Dane Whitman really understandin what it meant. But more traditionally, an Eternal bonds with another of their own kind, and it sounds as though Thena and Gilgamesh may well have established just such a bond. No doubt Gilgamesh will find it difficult to keep the greatest warrior in the galaxy in check, let alone help her return to action when theEternals step out of the shadows once again.
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