Thanos’ plan to bring perfect balance to the MCU universe may have failed from the start, as suggested by a tiny Guardians of the Galaxy detail.

Thanos’ plan to wipe out half of all life in the MCU universe in order to provide it with perfect balance was destined to fail from the beginning, as evidenced by a tiny Guardians of the Galaxy detail. Thanos is one of the few villains in all the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s movies to outsmart the heroes and succeed. Years after witnessing his home planet perish due to overpopulation, the Mad Titan gathered all six Infinity Stones and eliminated half of all life in the universe. Yet, the bill always comes due for all MCU villains.

Ultimately, Thanos’ plan was reversed by the Avengers with the help of time travel, making it impossible to know for certain whether the Snap would have accomplished Thanos’ goals or not. However, the odds were stacked against Thanos from the get-go. First, every event in the MCU’s chronological timeline had to happen the way it did in order to follow the TVA’s Sacred Timeline, including his defeat at the hands of the Avengers. And second, Thanos’ early tests at bringing balance by force apparently were a total failure.

Gamora’s Background Description In Guardians Of The Galaxy Suggests Thanos Would Have Doomed The Universe

In 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy, the titular team first crosses paths when the Nova Corps captures them to make them answer for all their previous crimes. The Nova Corps examines each Guardian’s criminal background, which is shown on screen as a hologram. Gamora’s description reads: “Last survivor of the Zehoberi people”. However, Avengers: Infinity War reveals that Thanos adopted Gamora during his mission to slaughter exactly half of the Zehoberei. If Thanos stuck to his ideals, then at least half of Gamora’s species should still be alive during the events of Guardians of the Galaxy.

Instead of a mistake, Gamora’s description as the last survivor of her species suggests a darker scenario. The Zehoberei’s decimation may have caused all sorts of catastrophic side effects in their society, possibly leading to internal wars and mass evacuation, which in turn may have made the Zehoberei easy targets for stronger extraterrestrial beings. Thanos may not have admitted that his intervention caused mass extinction — the exact opposite of what he wanted to prove. So, Thanos must have started seeing Gamora as his own daughter instead of an orphan of his own making.

Gamora’s Dark Confession May Have Been A Lie From Thanos

Another possible explanation for Gamora’s fame as the last Zehoberei could be Thanos’ manipulation. Some of the Zehoberei could have survived Thanos’ attack and either rebuilt their society or found refuge somewhere else in the galaxy. Meanwhile, Thanos may have told Gamora that no other member of her species existed in order to keep her attached to him. After all, Thanos is a master manipulator, and his love for Gamora was genuine. Gamora trusted Thanos until right before her death in Avengers: Infinity War, so it’s also possible that she had also believed his lies about her origin all along.