WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Eternals #2, by Kieron Gillen, Esad Ribić, Matthew Wilson and VC's Clayton Cowles, on sale now.
In Eternals #1,two of Marvel's cosmic gods, Ikaris and Sprite, went on the hunt for a mysterious assailant who murdered the Prime Eternal, their elder leader Zuras. The duo followed a trail that leads them to the ruins of Titanos, the fallen capital of the Eternals. And once they arrived there, they found the culprit: the Mad Titan, Thanos. The cosmic supervillain was killed in 2018's Infinity Wars event, but he has somehow returned to life. Although he is not fully recovered yet, Thanos still represents a terrible threat, and he appears to have killed Zuras with what appeared to be very little effort.
Now, in Eternals #2, Ikaris is set on stopping the Mad Titan. The two engage in a brutal cosmic battle, and it only comes to an end because Thanos falls for a trick he himself used in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film, Avengers: Infinity War.
When Ikaris finds himself face to face with Thanos, he relishes the idea of finally fighting the Mad Titan. The two are quick to lock into battle, and Ikaris gets a helping hand from the Eternals' powerful artificial intelligence overlord, the Great Machine. Titanos may be in ruins, but it still has the ability to serve as a time machine. Therefore, the Machine taps into this power, and opens a portal in time and space. Ikaris takes the villain straight through it and, because of this, their battle stretches from one end of space and time to the other. Several other portals appear, transporting their fight through various eras.
Eventually, they land back on Titanos in the present. The two are weakened, but Thanos shows no signs of stopping. Eventually, he grabs Ikaris by the throat, and brutally rips his head off to secure a victory. However, that victory was an illusion, as that wasn't Ikaris at all. In truth, Sprite used her powers to create illusions to manifest a fake Ikaris. Thanos fell for the illusion, and it's this construct that he kills with his bare hands.
The illusion is meant as a diversion, and with Thanos distracted, Ikaris and Sprite are able to get away.
In 2018's Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos pulled a similar trick on his adopted daughter, Gamora. On the space station known as Knowhere, the Guardians of the Galaxy attempted to kill Thanos while he was talking with the Collector. Gamora took her father by surprise and, without holding back, she killed him with her sword and knife. However, this wasn't actually Thanos. In truth, the Mad Titan had used the power of the Reality Stone to create an illusion that Gamora fell for.
Now, Thanos has fallen for the same trick in Eternals #2. By creating an illusion, Sprite shows how powerful she really is. Indeed, her powers can fool one of the most dangerous beings in the Marvel Universe, and her constructs may be just as convincing as the MCU's Reality Stone. Of course, it's also important to remember that Thanos was by blinded by a murderous rage, one the narration made clear he enjoyed. Were it not for that, he likely would have realized what was truly going on.
Thanos fell for Sprite's trick once, but it's likely he won't a second time.