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Why would Thanos' killing half of the life in the universe please Mistress Death?

I mean, all men are doomed to die when their lifetime comes to an end. Mistress Death could just wait and watch; the lifespan of mortal men should be only a moment to her. So why did Thanos go to such a length to gather the Infinity Stones and kill half of the life in the universe?

If Mistress Death really wanted more death, shouldn't the right thing to do be creating more lives (raising fertility)? After all, only the living can die.

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    Why do people like roses as gifts? They just wither, but they do that naturally on the vine.
    – NomadMaker
    Commented Nov 16, 2020 at 22:45

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This was explained early on in the story. It was stated there were more people alive than ever died and Mistress Death considered that a ‘cosmic imbalance’. She chose Thanos to fix this. He learned of the Infinity Gems and decided they were the tool to use, and used them in a way he thought would please her.

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Infinity Gauntlet #1

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    Great answer! You could add a snippet from the comics (the Issue #, the story arc etc.) where this is mentioned to support your answer.
    – Shreedhar
    Commented Nov 16, 2020 at 8:09
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    Should note that at least on Earth, this statistic is utterly untrue. Current estimates are around 102 billion humans have ever been born, but only around 7-8 billion are currently alive, to say nothing of all the other species on life on the planet. Maybe we're the outlier and it's the other way around on all the other planets? Though given most of the heroes in the Infinity War saga come from Earth, we're an outlier in more than one way...
    – Darrel Hoffman
    Commented Nov 16, 2020 at 14:30
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    "There are more people alive now then ever died" was a common phrase back then (1991, when it was written). The Population Explosion was a big deal at the time. Anyone reading the comic would have known Death was simply repeating the nightly news.
    – Owen Reynolds
    Commented Nov 16, 2020 at 17:07
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    @OwenReynolds "More people are alive now than have ever lived" was a lying pile of Malthusian propaganda even in the early 90s.
    – Lexible
    Commented Nov 16, 2020 at 17:35
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    @Lexible Maybe, but it made the news and was taken seriously. China went to their brutal 1-child policy in 1979, 12 years before the comic. And Death saying "I know that's not true, but it offends me people would even say it" doesn't have the same ring.
    – Owen Reynolds
    Commented Nov 16, 2020 at 17:46

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