Avengers Headquarters.
"You're saying you told Thanos where the Soul Stone was, but once he got there, he couldn't get it because it required sacrificing someone he loved, so he gave up in despair and left?"
Hooked up to an IV, Tony wore an expression that said, "Are you kidding me?" as he listened to John's outrageous account.
"You're telling me the army we fought so hard to drive off ended up with a finale this theatrical?"
Tony wasn't an idiot. How could someone as obsessive as Thanos possibly do that?
John shrugged. "The more obsessed you are with something, the more despair you feel when you discover it was all for nothing."
He looked at Gamora. "His daughter is here. Would Thanos have anyone he truly loved?"
Everyone turned to Gamora. She was Thanos' adopted daughter, and both she and Nebula had been raised by him since childhood.
They knew Thanos better than anyone.
At John's question, Gamora considered it for a moment before finally shaking her head. "From the day I met him, he only ever had one goal."
"To wipe out half the life in the universe."
Could someone like that have anyone who held a place in his heart as his most beloved?
Gamora's answer made the seemingly ridiculous ending sound reasonable.
In truth, Gamora was confused herself. Had the Thanos she remembered ever loved anyone?
No one knew the answer.
Because the one who knew had already died on Vormir.
"What about the other stones?" Rhodey raised the crucial question.
John spread his hands. "Thanos took them all with him. As for where he went, Strange might be the only one who knows."
Everyone turned to Stephen, the only remaining stone bearer whose whereabouts were known.
When the attention shifted to him, Stephen was studying