Why Did Thanos give up in Avengers: Endgame?
Not a theory but two words- Honour and Respect.
Thanos gave his best in Avengers: Endgame. Note that this was the 2014 Thanos. He didn’t know about anyone’s strengths or weaknesses.
The Mad Titan always had one goal, to do the SNAP and then retire at the end of the world.
When he accessed 2023 Nebula’s memory, he learned that he did the SNAP. But after all that, not only did he die, but the Avengers also tried to undo everything that he had done.
That’s why he goes to the future to stop The Avengers. Even with the limited knowledge that he had, Thanos outweighed almost every Avenger that he faced.
He defeats:
- Iron Man, Thor and Captain America together
- Thor in a hand to hand combat
- Captain America with Mjolnir
- Captain Marvel
More powerful than Thanos
The only Avenger mighty enough to stop him was Wanda. But he sacrifices his own troops to stop Wanda. He understands that there’s no point in fighting every single Avenger. He just needs the gauntlet to do the SNAP.
Thanos also stops Avengers from taking the stones back to the past.
This just shows how powerful and aware he was of everything around him. I still feel that 2014’s Thanos was even better than the one in Avengers: Infinity War.
He didn’t have any prep time, as, of course, he belongs to a warrior race. But the Avengers had already faced him but still couldn’t defeat him.
When Thanos finally has the chance to take the gauntlet, Iron Man tries to stop him, but Thanos throws him to the side. He believes that victory is now his, and he cannot avoid it.
Hence, he says, “I am inevitable”, and snaps. But to his surprise, the tables turned.
Thanos then looks at Iron Man, whose nano suit had silently taken the stones from the gauntlet when he thought he had won. He’s looking at a mere mortal who stood out of all the Avengers—a human who’s willing to sacrifice himself to save mankind.
Hence, with Honour and Respect, Thanos surrenders himself to fate and accepts his defeat.
