Avengers: Infinity War killed a lot of characters, but one of the presumed casualties of Thanos’ attempt to balance the universe may still be alive: Gamora. And far from just a respite, she may be the key to defeating the Mad Titan.

A lot of death had been promised for Infinity War, and it certainly delivered, with the movie ending on the wiping of half the Avengers (and universe) from reality. But that was the just the final ten minutes of an already blood-soaked film; in the very first scene, half of Asgard - including Loki and Heimdall - were murdered, and along the way civilians and recognizable faces alike fell.

Now, it’s a testament to the skill of the Russos as directors and Markus and McFeely as writers that these leave an impact despite the niggling sense that it will all be undone. All of the vanished heroes from the snap are set to return in Avengers 4, and when you’ve got a glove that contains all the power in the universe the logistics of how are baked into the story. However, where the storytelling skill really lies is that they may have tricked us all into thinking a character died when, in fact, something much weirder happened.

  • This Page: Gamora Isn’t Actually Dead

Gamora’s Death Is Infinity War’s Most Shocking - And Weirdest

Putting aside the post-snap vanishing, the most unexpected death in Infinity War was Gamora’s. To attain the Soul Stone, one must sacrifice their greatest love, which in Thanos’ case was the daughter who’d led him there. Not just the early murder of a - based on the existence of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 - presumed-surviving hero, it marked a turning point for the villain as he began to give up “everything” to win out (and we learned to understand him on an empathetic level).

However, Gamora lying dead on the surface of Vormir, green blood leaking from her skull, isn’t the last time we see her. When Thanos finally gets all six Infinity Stones and snaps his fingers, he’s transported to a strange, dream-like world where he reunites with the child Gamora he first stole from her people. She asks Thanos what his victory cost, and after he responds he’s pulled back to Wakanda and reality. It’s a strange interlude, primarily intended to once again hammer home the toll the quest for balance has had on our villain, but it provides something more when you take Gamora into account.

Gamora Isn’t Dead - She’s Trapped In Soul World

Comic fans will recognize the orange-hued landscape as Soul World, the pocket dimension inside the Soul Stone where the souls of the wielders victims reside. The coloring and general calming nature of the world make that a pretty simple conclusion. And, if this is indeed the MCU’s version of Soul World, the implication would be that Gamora isn’t actually dead, rather she’s been trapped in the Stone.

This has some horrifying ramifications for Thanos. The sacrifice he made to get the Soul Stone wasn’t as simple as killing his favorite daughter. Yes, he made the action believing that to what he was doing, so is entirely complicit, but the fate Gamora suffers is more involved. Her Soul is ripped from our reality into another dimension, where she exists in her purest form - the little girl who Thanos stole away. The Soul Stone is thus an eternal representation of what the wielder did to acquire it, with their greatest love forever in reach yet eternally trapped.

That’s tragic as is, but when you consider that we’re halfway through a two-part story, a very interesting picture emerges…

Gamora Imbalances The Universe

Of course, Gamora’s survival would immediately open the door for her potential escape. In the Infinity Gauntlet arc that heavily informs Infinity War, that’s actually what happens: after the straight-up escape of Drax and Silver Surfer, the souls of Adam Warlock, Gamora and Pip the Troll were transferred into new bodies by Warlock, with the trio proving essential in stopping Thanos. In the MCU, there’s no Warlock (yet) and Gamora seems alone, but a similar escape could have major ramifications.

If Gamora is truly alive inside the Soul World, then it extends that she essentially bypassed Thanos’ finger snap and the erasure of half the universe. It’s a different dimension, outside of anything in our universe, and presumably impermeable to the powers of the other or combined Stones - she couldn’t have been killed. That’s good for her, but life-saving for others: if Gamora escapes, she then imbalances the universe.

Thanos’ goal in Avengers: Infinity War isn’t one of extreme precision. His electing to halve the universe’s population is only symbolic, with no greater purpose to an exact 50%. But that was what he moved to do at the film’s finale. To have Gamora emerge having existed before and returned again works against whatever horrific life equation has being played. The Infinity Stones granted something, and yet they didn’t do it. Whether it has a simple personal effect on Thanos, which given the extreme lengths he went through to achieve his goal may be enough, or something more omnipotent, Gamora’s return shifts the ending of Infinity War just slightly enough.

What Gamora’s Return Could Mean For Avengers 4

Assuming we don’t get a metaphysical impact from the imbalance, though, Gamora’s return could still be game-changing. It’s been pointedly stated since Guardians of the Galaxy that she’s Thanos’ favorite daughter, and in Infinity War that gave her the greatest connection to the Mad Titan. When he’s done the deed, he visits her to bask in that victory, highlighting a co-dependency to their abusive relationship. Were Gamora to return, she’d be a pointed weapon in the second stage of the conflict (which we know still centers on Thanos)

To see what may be in store, it’s worth turning to the comics. While Marvel films tend to carve out their own narratives (see Bucky as White Wolf), the various plot threads usually have a clear connection to the source (Infinity War is bits of Gauntlet, War and Infinity), so they’re very useful for informing future plots. Crucially, in Infinity Gauntlet, Thanos’ daughter proves essential in his defeat. The only distinction here is that it’s Nebula: she starts the story a tortured prisoner of Thanos, then breaks out and steals the Gauntlet, only to become an even more maniacal villain, eventually taken down by a consortium between Thanos and the Avengers.

There’s still scope for Nebula to fill that role in Avengers 4 - her trussed up in Thanos’ ship in Infinity War is a clear reference to her imprisonment in Gauntlet - but given all the groundwork laid for Gamora, she’d be a much more suitable candidate for this arc, or at least part of it. She may not go full villain, but if one of the surviving heroes is going to claim the Infinity Gauntlet for themselves, it would make most thematic sense for it to be her.

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Gamora isn’t just the person Thanos loves most, she’s also his greatest weakness. She was the biggest emotional barrier in his quest for the Infinity Stones, and a sign that his conviction hides conflict (something Star-Lord definitely does not believe). We’ve found the method by which she can survive Avengers: Infinity War, but what’s really important is that, for this story, she’s the key to stopping the villain.

Next: What We Know About The Plot Of Avengers 4

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