Wait, Did The MCU Just Prove Thanos Was Actually Right All Along?

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 Infinity War (2018) Custom Image by Lewis Glazebrook

Agatha All Along may have just provided a subtle hint that Thanos was actually right in his conquest of the MCU's galaxy. Although the show's overall story and themes do not connect to Thanos at all, one character's identity was confirmed in Agatha All Along's ending, providing a small link to the Mad Titan. That character was Rio Vidal, who was eventually revealed - after much speculation and theorizing - as the MCU's version of Marvel Comics' Lady Death.

In the comics, Death and Thanos are heavily linked together. While Aubrey Plaza's version from Agatha All Along's cast does not have this Thanos connection, many who are familiar with Marvel Comics will subconsciously make the connection, given that Thanos' goal to wipe out half of the universe was an attempt to court Death in the source material. The MCU changed this and removed the relationship between the MCU's strongest villain and Death, yet Agatha All Along episode 8 may have hinted that the former was actually right, thus providing a loose association between the characters.

Death's "Sacred Balance" Line Suggests Thanos May Have Been On To Something In The MCU

Thanos Had Similar Ideals In The MCU's Phase 3

Rio Vidal (Aubrey Plaza) as Death showing the way to Alice in Agatha All Along Season 1 Episode 8 Image via Disney+

In Agatha All Along episode 8, Rio Vidal/Death was positioned more as the show's villain than anything else. She was intent on killing Agatha, likely as a way of keeping the witch she loved with her forever. However, she gained another goal in Agatha All Along's finale: to take William Kaplan/Billy Maximoff. Death explained to Agatha that the whole concept of William dying so that Billy could claim his body was "disrupting the sacred balance." This explains why Rio wanted Billy dead, alongside her feud with Agatha.

Rio also describes Billy as an abomination, clearly not happy with how he - and now likely his brother Tommy - survived.

Via this line, the MCU may have unintentionally supported Thanos' views. In Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, Thanos endlessly said that he was trying to wipe out 50% of all life for benevolent reasons; the many planets of the cosmos were overpopulated and would eventually be destroyed, killing everyone, as happened with his home planet of Titan. If Thanos lessens life, they will flourish. One line that has stuck with many is Thanos stating that his end result is "Perfectly balanced. As all things should be,” linking heavily to Rio’s way of thinking too.

Thanos Understanding Death's Mission Would Explain Some MCU Moments

Overall, this link between the two could prove that Thanos actually has an understanding of Death. If some things are not naturally meant to exist to the detriment of the natural balance, like Billy in Death's case or overpopulated planets in Thanos', they should be rectified. When viewing Thanos' mission through this lens, more of the Mad Titan's seemingly pretentious ramblings could make a little more sense. Oftentimes when Thanos was explaining his motivations, the Avengers would dismiss them, such as when Doctor Strange sarcastically retorted "Congratulations. You're a prophet."

However, Thanos having an understanding of how Death's balance works could explain these larger-than-life explanations he often gave. Thanos' over-the-top reasoning for doing what he was doing, which initially seemed like a way of stressing his narcissistic self-importance, may actually link to the natural order of life and Death. This is certainly a far-fetched theory, but it is one that falls under the category of being an interesting thinkpiece after Agatha All Along's two-part finale.

Thanos' Potential Death Connection Would Only Make Him A More Evil Villain

Thanos' Goals Blind Him From Further Negative Outcomes

Split image of Thanos grimacing with the infinity gauntlet and making a speech in marvel comics Custom image by Ollie Bradley

All that being said, even if Thanos' Death connection was true, it would only make him more evil rather than more justified. The reason for this is Thanos' lack of foresight after conducting the snap. In this scenario, Thanos may have succeeded in removing 50% of all life as a way of maintaining the sacred balance of the universe, but this balance would eventually slip beyond that. For instance, Thanos' Blip implemented an entirely new way of life that would have resulted in more loss than anything.

 Endgame.

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As evident by the chaos of the snap, shown in various MCU movies and TV shows, more citizens in the MCU will have died than Thanos intended. Be it those in planes or other vehicles at the time of the snap or those in surgery whose doctors disappeared, for instance, Thanos' death toll will have been well over the intended 50%. This pokes holes in his theorized motivation to maintain balance, as that balance would have quickly fallen out of whack.

Resources valuable to sustaining life, like animals on Earth, will also have been reduced, likely leading to more problems for the surviving humans...

It is also worth noting that Thanos did not only remove 50% of all human - or alien - life but all sentient beings. Resources valuable to sustaining life, like animals on Earth, will also have been reduced, likely leading to more problems for the surviving humans and the tragedy of animals dying for no reason. All of this just indicates that Thanos, if he truly did have a link to the mindset of Agatha All Along's Lady Death, was only more evil, rather than more sympathetic.

Agatha All Along 2024 TV Show Poster

Agatha Harkness, after the events of "WandaVision," seeks to regain her magical powers. Joining forces with unexpected allies, including the son of an old adversary, she battles new mystical threats while uncovering hidden secrets in the magical realm.

Cast Kathryn Hahn , Joe Locke , Sasheer Zamata , Ali Ahn , Okwui Okpokwasili , Debra Jo Rupp , Patti LuPone , Aubrey Plaza , David Payton , Emma Caulfield Ford , David Lengel , Asif Ali , Amos Glick , Elaine Valdes , Paria Akbarshahi , Chau Naumova , Bethany Curry , Athena Perample , Alicia Vela-Bailey , Britta Grant , Marina Mazepa

Release Date September 18, 2024

Writers Jac Schaeffer

Showrunner Jac Schaeffer

Creator(s) Jac Schaeffer

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