Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-2020973-20191026161108/@comment-16461120-20191026174255

The stones were all given souls (i.e. merged with characters) by Adam Warlock in, so that they could chart their own course. I don't believe it was intended to be the start of a new Infinity Watch, as it was done to facilitate the team's dissolution, rather it's just a way to make them more interesting than typical MacGuffins.