Marvel Universe: The End (2003 series) #6

Thanos has found the Heart Of The Universe he'd been seeking for and has become 'God'. But he's discovered that the place is falling apart because too many Earth superheroes have been coming back from the dead. Meanwhile the cosmic beings of the universe don't realise this and have mobilised all the superheroes against him.

Thanos himself continues to narrate events from the vantage point of the end of the story. We see the heroes attack and be easily driven back. Even a Celestial succumbs. Now the gods and cosmic beings take their shots, but this is 'God' they're firing at. The only effect is to rouse his ire. He absorbs the heroes and then the cosmic beings ending with Eternity, Infinity and the Living Tribunal. His anger runs out of control and he absorbs the whole universe lest anyone else defies him.

But all the while an inner voice suggests that this is all someone else's plan. The real 'God' *allowed* him to take over knowing this would be the result. The master manipulator had been manipulated.

And while he's musing alone someone steps through a mystic portal. It's Adam Warlock who's alive because he and Gamora have been outside the universe caring for young Atleza, the universe's new anchor being. (See the Infinity Abyss mini-series for all that.) Of course they became aware something had happened when the universe Atleza was anchoring ceased to exist. And now it turns out that throughout this series future-Thanos' voiceover has been directed to Adam, not us readers.

When the Titan has told (in those voiceover sections) Warlock everything that happened, Adam asks what's next (if that has any meaning now time and space have gone). Thanos is of the opinion that he might as well finish what he started by absorbing *him*, but Adam suggests he needs a witness for the 'grand gesture' that the Titan claims not to be planning. Warlock reminds the Titan that he has killed millions but he has also lately saved billions. Thanos claims self-interest not altruism but Adam suggests the arch-deceiver may have been deceiving himself. He reminds him how after the Infinity Gauntlet event he foreswore his quest for universal domination but feared retaliation by old enemies and so sought the ultimate power of the Heart Of The Universe for defensive purposes only. And this is the result.

Thanos has spent his very long life seeking power and then being dissatisfied with it. This trait enabled 'God' to manoeuvre him into this situation where he faces a choice. Remain as ruler over an empty void. Or sacrifice himself to recreate the universe without him. 'God' will have left no loophole. Adam advises him to take pride and solace in the fact that only *he* has the willpower to do this. The Titan baulks at the implied sainthood, but he still accepts the role.

But he reminds Adam of the purpose of the exercise. The new universe must avoid the flaw in the old. Heroes will no longer be allowed to resurrect after dying. And that includes Warlock himself. Death will once more be absolute. Adam says he can accept that. His time with Gamora (and Atleza) has taught him the value of living a human life. The Titan's only regret is that he's spending his last minutes with Warlock rather that with Death whose love he used to crave for. However Adam reveals that 1 cosmic being survived Thanos' madness, and cloaked Death appears. She transforms from a skeleton to her female form. For the 1st time (since his childhood) she speaks to him - to thank him for what he's going to do. And for the 1st time they kiss, before she goes away. Thanos muses that this may be what he's truly been seeking. And he removes his hood before recreating the universe.

It is Warlock's voiceover for the end of the issue and series. The universe is as it was before Akhenaten appeared in #1. Not even the cosmic beings are aware of the recreation (unlike last issue), and no-one but Adam remembers the Titan's heroic sacrifice (because he wouldn't want to be remembered for altruism). Adam finds himself on Thanos' farm-planet with the discarded hood at his feet. He remembers from the Infinity Abyss affair that Thanos was again seeking a source of power, and he predicted then that the Titan would as usual be disappointed by achieving his goal. He feared then that someone(s) would have to pay for his hubris, but he never dreamed it would be Thanos himself.