Eternals Deleted Scene Finally Justified The Worst Member’s Powers

A deleted scene in Eternals finally justified the worst member’s powers. The Eternals were designed to be Earth’s protectors, and each member possessed a unique power such as flight, super strength, speed, and healing, meant to aid them in their fight against Deviants. However, Sprite’s power of casting illusions never made sense within this context.

Being the only member of the Eternals with a child’s body—along with her ability to project life-like illusions—framed Sprite as something of a trickster and the outsider of the group. Her inability to greatly contribute in direct battles against Deviants was just another way Sprite was different from everyone else, and the theatrical release of Eternals did little to prove her character’s importance. However, the “Small Talk” deleted scene from the movie gives new meaning to Sprite’s abilities.

This Eternals deleted scene gave Sprite a chance to defend to Dane Whitman, as well as the audience, her role in Earth’s history and development. While poking fun at how little Dane knew about the Eternals and their world, Sprite also explained the purpose of her powers, stating, “The reason humans are at the top of the food chain is because you believe in structures and principles that don’t actually exist. Gods. Nations. Money. All concepts. Stories. Illusions. And guess who taught them to you? Me.”

This scene did a much better job explaining why Sprite would be deemed one of the key protectors of Earth, considering her only power was conjuring things that weren’t actually there. Casting illusions can’t do very much against Deviants other than temporarily confuse them, which made some viewers wonder why her powerset was even included with the other Eternals. Yet, this scene showed that perhaps more so than any other Eternal, Sprite was able to help guide humans in the right direction. Her illusions created the structures that people needed in order to advance their civilizations.

Sprite’s conjuring ability emphasized the Eternals’ real purpose on Earth: to guide humans’ development as efficiently as possible. Although most of the Eternals had believed that their true goal was simply to fight Deviants, in actuality, they were meant to prepare Earth for the “Emergence.” This better explains the wide range of powers that the Eternals possessed since several members had abilities not directly related to combat, like Phastos’ power to create technological innovations. Phastos often used this gift to invent weaponry, but it also allowed him to introduce other kinds of technology that could help people develop. In a similar way, Sprite’s powers let her suggest ideas to humans that they might otherwise have never discovered on their own.

This Eternals‘ deleted scene shed new light on a character whose powers had previously seemed rather useless when compared to the other members. There is only so much an illusion can do against a powerful creature like a Deviant, a weakness that the Eternals movie highlighted whenever Sprite found herself battling one. Ironically, her powers ended up being much more essential than most in fulfilling the Eternals’ ultimate mission in guiding humanity forward.

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