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In the end of the Avengers: Infinity War movie,

Thanos and young Gamora had a conversation in the realm of Soul Stone.

The conversation went like this..

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

What's the meaning of Everything here? What did Thanos mean by this?

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    He clearly says all throughout the movie how many casualties they've suffered. Also, just the very fact of how he lost Games is a strong indication of what he means!
    – Möoz
    Commented Jun 24, 2018 at 3:28

3 Answers 3

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Everything likely refers to the sacrifices Thanos made during his journey to retrieve all the Infinity Stones. In a short amount of time, he killed the only one he loved, Gamora (signified by the fact he received the Soul stone for this), lost his team of followers to the Avengers, and went through many battles over the course of the movie, all topped off with an axe to the chest. All these sacrifices, of himself and others, is what it cost him to complete his mission.

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    I think it's worth adding that Thanos also understood the grave cost of his end-goal. He states somewhere in the movie that he sees it as a brutal burden that others are unable to bear. Even if he wins, as satisfied as he may be, he has to live with what he's done.
    – Knetic
    Commented Jun 24, 2018 at 17:01
  • @Knetic: right. Thanos mentions somewhere in the film that only him has a willpower strong enough to do what it takes to save the universe. His mission is clearly a duty for him.
    – Taladris
    Commented Aug 26, 2018 at 6:13
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He lost Gamora, who was everything to him.

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    Can you offer any evidence to back this bold claim up?
    – Valorum
    Commented Jun 24, 2018 at 11:21
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    I thought it was pretty obviously the intention watching it, personally. Evidence is good though.
    – TankorSmash
    Commented Jun 24, 2018 at 17:09
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    I'm going to stand pat. There's no need to over-complicate this sort of question.
    – Harry Johnston
    Commented Jun 24, 2018 at 22:56
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    I get the spirit of your short answer, but I don't think this is an example of a "good answer".
    – Möoz
    Commented Jun 25, 2018 at 2:03
  • @Möoz, I know there's a tradition of padding out answers for even the simplest of questions, but I think padding out this one would be taking said tradition way too far. YMMV.
    – Harry Johnston
    Commented Jun 25, 2018 at 2:49
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The answer, I believe, lies within a deeper analysis of the subject than such material usually warrants.

Thanos was a brilliant scientist/intellectual who cares deeply about everyone and everything. His 'harvests' motivated by this and he fully embraced the ends justifying the means. He did not suddenly spring into being as the end product of himself which we see in the film, rather he arrived at that point after a long struggle with his own internal ethos. Gamora, rescued as a child, represented his own lost innocence and his regrets. He explained to the child what he was doing and why. Innocent of maturity young Gamora accepted Thanos 'explanation' of what he was doing and why. At the moment of his victory he 'felt' for all it had cost and the scene with young Gamora is his acknowledgement of the cost but his 'logic' remained convinced that there simply was no other option for ensuring the long term viability and survival of the universe as a whole.

It is also worth noting that in reality, there exists a radical school of thought which espouses the tenet that if 9 out of 10 people everywhere suddenly dropped dead, the remainder would be better off in terms of viability of the planet overall.

I do not ascribe to nor espouse this as valid, but in some small part it is expressed in Thanos.

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  • Just as a heads-up, you need to hit Enter twice for a paragraph break, not just once. I've fixed that for you.
    – F1Krazy
    Commented Jun 24, 2018 at 17:20
  • Not a chance. When Thanos killed half the fallout of that action was even worse. Imagine the calamity on tens of thousands of worlds when half disappear without reason ... war, unrest, anger at gods, strife, fear, depression. Did the entire universe know what was going to happen? Did Earth? (no).
    – Randy Zeitman
    Commented Mar 12, 2019 at 23:48
  • You might want to explicitly mention Maththusianism in paragraph #3
    – DVK-on-Ahch-To
    Commented Jul 13, 2019 at 18:33

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