Thanos’ mercy was based on the fact that the universe could be a better place if there was balance in existence. Under that premise, he used the Infinity Stones to end half of life. We even saw how he sacrificed Gamora, his daughter, to achieve his mission. But there was only one Marvel character I didn’t want to kill off..
In the Thanos Quest comic series, the Mad Titan is searching for the Infinity Stones, chasing the Elders of the Universe in order to fulfill his mission. In volume #1, as the report published on the website of Alpha Beta PlayWhile looking for the Time Stone, he comes across The gardener.
Also known as Ord Zyonz, this character is an arcane, one of the oldest in the universe and is almost immortal. He dedicated his life to natural beauty planting seeds, flowers and trees in devastated worlds, hence he is called The Gardener.
In his encounter with Thanos, the Titan shows him respect and tells him that he likes his gardenbut admits that he needs the Time Stone in order to complete his mission.
Thanos and his dilemma with The Gardener
Thanos invited the Gardener to back down, but he refused to comply with Thanos’s wish, seeing that Ord Zyonz was unwilling to cooperate, murdered him.
Before finishing him off, the Mad Titan tells him that he wishes him “no harm” and later apologizes for his actions: Thanos manipulates the Gardener’s plants with the Power Stone to assassinate him with his own creation..
This encounter between Thanos and the Gardener demonstrated the Titan’s respect for him and his actions in the universe, but neither he nor Gamora nor anything that existed was more important than his mission to collect the Infinity Stones.
