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Towards the end of the Avengers: Infinity War movie, there is a scene with:

- Thanos and Gamora

  • A sort of gate
  • A knee-level infinite sea of liquid
  • I don't remember exactly but I think the whole scene was very red, maybe a red sea or red sky
  • No other characters nor decor elements

  • Gamora asks Thanos whether he did "it", and Thanos confirms (feel free to correct me).

My questions:

  • What is the name of this place, if it has one?
  • What is the place's purpose?

What is it that Gamora asked about? I don't want to spoil the story, but the meeting might be surprising given what happened a few sequence before. She appears younger, so it might be a kind of flashback, in which case she was not asking about Thanos' recent action but rather about another action further in the past.

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  • 2
    The "temple" is actually the gate to the town where Gamora was raised - it's the place where Thanos spoke to Gamora as a child earlier in the film, during the flashback to when he took her from her family.
    – recognizer
    May 1, 2018 at 7:11
  • @recognizer: Fixed, thanks! Feel free to post an answer :-) May 1, 2018 at 7:17
  • 2
    Great question. Also, IIRC Gamora asks if he did it, then follows up with "was it worth it?". And they say the film was shallow... Bah!
    – Möoz
    May 1, 2018 at 7:38
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    The true answer may be confirmed in the sequel, but some speculate (based on the comics) that Gamora's soul is now inside the soul stone, or was transported to another realm by the soul stone, and he's really talking to her.
    – Alex Wally
    May 1, 2018 at 9:22
  • 5
    From the comics, Soul World. Note that the surrounding area is orange, not red, and it looks very similar to the place Thanos ended up directly after claiming the Soul Stone.
    – Kitkat
    May 1, 2018 at 14:16

3 Answers 3

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It was a spiritual representation of Gamora within the Soul Stone

Recently, and I stress the importance of ascertaining the validity of these claims yourselves, co-Director of Avengers: Infinity War, Joe Russo, appeared at a high school and had a QnA with the students. These students apparently asked him about that place and Joe Russo confirmed that it was a spiritual representation of Gamora, within the Soul Stone:

[The next student’s audio did not come out clearly- from what I remember and from what I could understand- the student was asking why Gamorra appeared as a child towards the end of the film]

Russo: Yeah it’s- it’s implied it’s the soul stone. It’s all orange around, then he’s inside the soul stone with the amount of power that it took to snap his fingers- he has this out of body experience with Thanos. When he goes inside the Soul stone he has this kind of conversation with the younger version of his gamorra-

Student: So she’s there?

Russo: She’s in fact is yes.... It was an attempt an attempt on our part- because we don’t like two dimensional roles or three dimensional villains every villain is a hero in their own story and as insane and psychotic and brutal and violent as Thanos is he’s a more complex villain if you go on a journey with him emotionally. He does care for things and it is complicated for him to execute his plan and it cost him something. He said at the end “It cost him everything” and that it was the only thing he loved which was gamora which is why we put him back with her at the end. I just want to reiterate with the audience that he does feel true emotion even though he is a monster.

-Anon, [MASSIVE SPOILERS] Joe Russo confirms several question regarding IW at High School Q & A on Monday. Part 1 of Transcript in post., 2018-05-05.
[all mistakes are sic]

Gamora asked if Thanos succeeded, and what it cost him

As you asked how the conversation went; transcribing from memory, this is what happened there:

Young Gamora: Did you do it?
Thanos: Yes
Gamora: What did it cost you?
Thanos: everything

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According to the Blu-ray 'Maker's Audio Commentary' (featuring the two directors; Joe and Anthony Russo and the two writers; Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely), Thanos is inside the Soul Stone.

That being said, the directors also also offer the possibility that this might just be a "fevered dream" caused by the power of the Infinity Stones and the damage to Thanos' psyche.

Joe Russo: So Thanos is transported, through the power that was needed, or required to wipe out half the life of the universe into this dream state inside the Soul Stone.

Christopher Markus: And he is allowed one last meeting with that which he gave up to get there.

Joe Russo: The spiritual representation of his daughter.

Anthony Russo: It's a fever dream.

Joe Russo: Yeah. Is it a fever dream? Is it a part of storytelling, is it plot? Does she exist inside that stone? Is this in his mind?

Christopher Markus: The freedom you have when you've made 18 movies prior to this.

Stephen McFeely: It's just so valuable for him as a character, though. In the next couple of minutes, he goes through some sort of palpable regret and then by the time he gets to the porch, I think he's...

Christopher Markus: 'Cause when your villain wins, I don't want evil cackling. I want to know the cost.

Joe Russo: See there, with his gauntlet and the arm, the power that it takes to use all six stones is significant, and clearly damaged the gauntlet and damaged Thanos permanently.

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It is plausible to say that this is just a bit of Thanos' concious when he wiped off half of the universe, perhaps shown by one of the stone (high possibility a reality stone). It is a place where he first met Gamora at her planet, at the temple gate in Zen-Whoberi, where he distracted her while his army killed half of the inhabitants.

There's a good reason that he's shown here by the reality stone, as his grieve to lose his loved one, Gamora when he wiped off half of the universe. In this scene it is seem to be that he felt guilty to Gamora when he saw her.

Gamora: Did you do it? Thanos: Y..Y..Yes Gamora: What did it costs? (Silence) Thanos: Ev..Ev..Everything (when he meant by losing Gamora, perhaps more than that) (Gamora then seems to be heartbroken)

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  • I think the most plausible stone involved in the vision is the Soul Stone: orange tinge to the scene, Gamora is there, etc.
    – SeanR
    May 4, 2018 at 2:08

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