Following the defeat of the Magus, Thanos undertook a massive reopening and retrofitting operation of his hideouts secreted at various locales throughout the cosmos should he ever have need of quickly relocating to a new base of operations. During the cleanup of one particular hideaway, Thanos noticed some personal items...a collection of earthen yule/Christmas decorations and a scorched baby-doll. The sight reminded him of a time years ago when Gamora was but a young child of 5 years, and he celebrated the holiday with the young girl. One of the gifts he gave her was a baby-doll, which she cherished. She also asked him if he would take to to the nearby lagoon to watch the dolphins, to which Thanos answered "perhaps". On this particular yuletide, one of Thanos' enemies...Xtoral Laxtan... came calling, and managed to get into Thanos' sanctum undetected. As the alien stealthily aimed his blaster at the back of Thanos' skull, he failed to notice the young Gamora, who flung her baby-doll into the surprised assassin's face, throwing off his aim. The now-alerted Thanos whirled around and dispatched Laxtan with a burst of cosmic energy. The conflagration scorched Gamora's doll, and when a grateful Thanos told her he'd replace it, Gamora dismissed the offer saying the doll would be all-right. As she turned to leave, Thanos told her he would take her to the Lagoon, which overjoyed his young charge.

After reflecting upon the event, Thanos stated that he should have known Gamora would not work out as a good assassin because deep down she was too sentimental and emotional, and voiced some frustration over the fact that she now lived on Earth with Warlock's Infinity Watch. After telling his robotic servants to dispose of the decorations, Thanos was obviously troubled by an emotion quite foreign to him...regret.

The expelled good nature of Warlock would make its presence felt far sooner than Thanos expected, attacking Warlock and then Thanos, trapping them in the folds of a shifting reality. Renaming herself the Goddess, she would go on to call up those with any religous beliefs to become her Holy army. Using the powers of the cosmic cubes, she created an idyllic world that she dubbed Paradise Omega, and from there she would form her plan designed to cleanse the cosmos. As the remaining defenders of Earth formed a plan designed to find the culprit behind the Rapure of the faithful, the Goddess would appoint MoonDragon as her second in command, and she promptly entered the combined cubes, now dubbed the Cosmic Egg. However, her undoing was already underway, as Warlock managed to navigate through the ruptured reality stream and stop it at the source, thus freeing the reality gem's guardian, Thanos. Meanwhile, the heroes of Earth would attempt to contact the Goddess, and would be repulsed by her power. Warlock would soon form the shell of a plan, and decided to consult his Orb of Eternity while Thanos gathered intelligence about the Goddess and her power source. Thanos would deduce that the Goddess was using Cosmic Cubes in her plans, and prepared a contingency plan of his own. After reuniting with Thanos aboard the Titan's starcruiser, the pair would be confronted by Mephisto, who claimed to have secret knowledge about the Cosmic Cubes. While conversing with the demon lord, other events would transpire quickly, the Goddess' minions would plan and initiate an attack on the Earth forces, but would find them absent as the force had departed and were heading to Paradise Omega in order to attack.

As all of this occurred, Mephisto named his price for the divulgence of his information, and that price would be one cosmic cube, to be collected in the event of the Goddesses' defeat. Thanos agreed to his named fee, and Mephisto revealed that the cubes refused to violate certain inbuilt taboos, and one such taboo area was the realm of the soul which they refused to affect. However, the Goddess was aware of these restricions and was prepared to deal with them. Her plan was to contact every mind in creation and use their combined will to overcome the restrictions inbuilt in the semi-sentient cosmic egg. Then she would wish firey destruction upon all the universe. Warlock, angered by Mephisto's presence, departed to once again confer with the orb. However, Eternity and Infinity dubbed his concerns unimportant, and would give him the cosmic cold-shoulder. However, in a moment of inspiration, Warlock grasped the Goddesses plan, and returned to Thanos' starcruiser. He promptly gave Thanos his soul gem, which then absorbed Warlock's spirit and bestowed Warlock's knowledge upon the Titan, who would then enact the second phase of Warlock's plan. Thanos would teleport the Silver Surfer to his ship, and convince him of the need for his aid. Contacting the en-route Earth forces, Thanos informed them of his desire to create a diversion, which the Surfer would provide, empowered by the all the energy he could possibly absorb from from the Earth's sun. Charged by massive amounts of solar energy, the Silver Surfer rocketed into the moon of Paradise Omega and obliterated it, taking out the Planet's defensive systems. However, things would take a downwards turn as Thor attacked and crippled the Quinjets carrying the Earth forces, causing the contingent to head to Paradise Omega in escape capsules. Before the ensorcled Thunder God could in turn destroy the fleeing capsules, he was attacked by Drax and the Hulk, who kept him occupied.

Meanwhile, Adam Warlock journeyed deep into Soul World, and confronted the Magus in an attempt to enlist his aid. However, the Magus resisted and attacked Warlock, who repelled his evil self and left soul-world with renewed confidence, ready to foil the Goddess. Meanwhile, the Earth forces on Paradise Omega were attacked by the Goddesses' allies, who would manage to repel most of the invaders. However Thanos would distract and then attack the Goddess, using the catatonic Professor X to aid him. However, Thanos could not circumnavigate the Goddess' astral defenses in time to prevent the death of the cosmos.

One by one the stars went nova, until the satisfied Goddess relaxed. At that time, to her dismay, she found the cosmos alive and well...the universal destruction had merely been an illusion generated by Warlock, who had used the cosmic egg to create the vast mass-hallucination. The Goddess, who had relaxed her hold over the cosmic will, attempted to defend herself against the Combined might of Warlock, Proffesor X, and Thanos...and she failed. Soon, she would find herself in soul world, an invisible phantom to all save for the Magus, whom she could see, but not touch. Once again, the Earth defenders would blame Warlock for their troubles, causing the watch to return to monster island. Thanos went on to break down the cosmic egg...an act which surprised Warlock somewhat, who tried to paint the titan a Hero. Thanos would go on to say that the cosmic egg had flaws, and if should ever again decide to persue universal domination, he would be 100% certain of success. Thanos went on to honor his bargain with Mephisto...presenting him with a real cosmic cube. Mephisto would attempt to use the cube to kill Thanos, but found that the cube was powerless...a detail not stipulated in their agreement. Mephisto, enraged, would leave Thanos' presence.

Even devils should beware bargaining with Thanos of Titan.

Soon afterwards, the Thunder God Thor would go mad...an occurance that had started before his affiliation with the Goddess, who made matters worse. Claiming to be aided by a beautiful warrior maiden named Valkyre, Thor began a campaign of violence aginst those who he once called friends. His former love Sif, along with Beta Ray Bill and the Silver Surfer would become the first victims of his mania. Soon afterwards, Warlock would become involved, discovering that the Valkyre was merely a figment of Thor's deluded imagination. However, even Warlock could not restore Thor's sanity and soon the entire Watch would be involved, along with the Sorcerer Supreme, Dr. Stephen Strange. A disasterous encounter would result in the Valkyre becoming physically real due to Moondragon's botched attempt to restore Thor to sanity, and in the melee' that followed, Thor would gain the Power Gem from Drax the Destroyer, giving the insane God unlimited might. A panicked Pip immediately transported himself, Thor, the Valkyre, and the Surfer to the hideaway of the only being he thought could possibly subdue Thor...Thanos. Thanos and Thor grappled, and the powerful Titan would then battle the supercharged Thor to a standstill, until he tired of the battle. Thanos then managed to restrain Thor in a block of pure force. After Thor had been subdued, the watch, Strange, and Thanos would again attempt to purge the Valkyre, and restore Thor to sanity. However, Thor resisted, nearly trapping his would-be benefactors in the recesses of his fevered mind. The group would then decide that the only possible means to cure Thor existed on Asgard itself. The watch, with Thanos in tow would then teleport to the Rainbow Bridge and Odin would assume the group's intent to be malevolent. The watch would overcome Asgard's warriors in a heated battle that left Pip, Gamora, and Moondragon unconcious. Then Odin himself appeared and ordered his remaining troops to fall back, and promptly blasted Drax into unconciousness. Thanos also ordered the rest of his companions (except for the Silver Surfer.) to retreat, knowing that the stubborn Skyfather would not listen to reason until his undivided attention had been gained. Warlock gathered the rest of the watch and they, save for the Surfer who would aid Thanos, fell back. Moondragon would recover as they retreated, and would go on to claim that Thanos' plan was suicide, stating that he did not possess might enough to battle Odin. Warlock dissagreed, noting that the limits of Thanos' might had never been put to a true test. However, in the battle to follow, his limits would truly be tested.

Odin began the battle in earnest, blasting the Titan with a torrent of energy that would reduced almost any other foe to a pile of steaming ash. However, Thanos merely shrugged off the barrage. Seconds later, Odin would render the Silver Surfer unconcious, leaving Thanos to battle Odin alone. The two mighty figures would battle on, and Odin would gain the upper hand after summoning his enchanted spear, Gunginir, and using it as a focus to blast Thanos down. While saluting his fallen foe, Odin would become even more impressed when the battered Titan arose, ready to keep fighting. However, Beta Ray Bill and Sif would interrupt, telling Odin that Thanos and the Watch were only trying to aid Thor, and also telling him of Thor's madness. Discerning that Thor had been claimed by Warrior's Madness, an incurable condition, Odin was prepared to kill his own Son in order to preserve the cosmos. However, Warlock and Dr Strange reasoned that perhaps Thor was suffering a condition that Odin himself had caused. A Shocked and saddened Odin would go on to agree with their theory...in his many attempts to teach his headstrong Son humility, Odin had instead pushed the Lord of the Storm over the edge. Odin, now determined, entered Thor's mind and found the source of his mania in the form of the Valkyre. He grappled with the maiden, but soon Thor himself would rise to fight her, and he would then defeat and destroy the source of his madness, restoring his sanity. Afterwards, Thor thanked Warlock and the infinity Watch, giving back the power gem, and promising his aid should they ever require it. Thor would then go on to grudgingly admit that he owed Thanos as well, and the pair would leave it at that.

Thanos. However, Terrax, angered by Thanos' actions, refused and declared his intentions to depart. The weary pair gathered up Jack and Ganymede, and escpaed in Thanos' starcruiser. As they fled, the battle raged on, and Tyrant grew increasingly irritated by Thanos' power and durability. Finally, Tyrant went all out, claiming his power to be without equal. Thanos, grappled with him and asked him to prove it. In response, their combined energies vaporized Tyrant's tower. Afterwards, Thanos emerged from the glassy earth, virtually shining with satisfaction. The smiling Titan declared that since he had withstood the powerful Tyrant, further struggle was pointless. Thanos then laughed off Tyrant's threats, and teleported away, still holding the energy-shpere. Upon his return, he attached the sphere to his instruments, preparing to wrest whatever secrets he could from it. The cycle of power and knowledge continued anew.

Soon after this latest ploy, Eros contacted Quasar, and asked to meet with him on Titan. After a quick tour, Quasar accompanied his host to a desolate planetoid, a spot where Eros stated he wished to run an "errand". This errand turned out to be a meeting with Thanos, an annual event called "The Truce" where the two brothers would meet peacefully, and often exchange gifts. Quasar was dismayed by Thanos' presence, but since the young Protector of the Universe was a guest of Eros, Thanos gave his word to do Quasar no harm. On this occasion, Thanos gave Eros an item called the Destiny Crystal, in which it was said one could view their future. Unfortunately, Thanos had stolen the crystal from the Royal Treasure House of the Kharta'een Empire, and their Royal Guard tracked Thanos to the planetoid. The guards attacked, but were completely outmatched, and Thanos prepared to slaughter their leader, a move which Quasar refused to allow, despite Thanos' attempts at intimidation. Thanos was impressed that Quasar had called his bluff, stating that once his word was given, it was indeed his bond. Eros used his powers of mental manipulation to convince the guardsmen to peacefully return to their planet, with the Destiny Crystal in tow. Once they had left, the brothers said their farewells until next year, and Thanos told Eros to come alone next time. As Eros and Quasar departed, Thanos stood upon the desolate planetoid watching them go. Once they had flown out of sight, Thanos opened his fist to reveal the Destiny Crystal, into which he peered deeply, perhaps catching a glimpse of his own future.

A short time later, Thanos was sitting and quietly pondering about who knows what in his home one day, when an enraged Champion burst through his wall. As Thanos listened, Champion rattled off a bellowing diatribe in which the former possessor of the power-gem threatened all manner of horrible, violent vengeance against the Titan, whom had tricked Champion into giving up the power-gem during the events of the Thanos quest. Champion, now empowered by two mystical wristlets, was somewhat surprised by Thanos' continued silence, and asked if the Titan had anything to say before he died. Thanos merely raised a finger and said "Go away.". With that, Thanos blasted Champion, teleporting him light-years away to a lifeless world. Champion would later be subdued by the Surfer with the help of Nova and Drax, and the wristlets were then destroyed. All the while...Thanos sat in his sanctum, still pondering.

An unknown amount of time later, the SIlver Surfer would find himself assailed by disturbing visions of Death and devastation from his past as Galactus' hearald. Seeking relief from this mental assult, the Surfer sought out the advice of Adam Warlock. Warlock deduced that the Surfer was uneasy about his past, yet there was more behind his visions than mere angst. Theorizing further, Warlock went on to state that it was likely Mistress Death herself who was plaguing the Surfer's mind. Gamora went on to add that nobody could advise the Surfer about Death's motives better than her former foster-father, Thanos. Agreeing, the Surfer set off to request the Titan's aid and was confronted along the way by a horrible, decomposing creature. This, "mouthpiece of Death" went on to order the Surfer to accompany him to death's realm to become the Consort of Death. The shocked and angered Surfer refused, and battled the creature, whom he seemingly destroyed. Soon afterwards, the Surfer arrived upon Thanos' nondescript world and asked the Titan for help. Thanos turned the Surfer down, until the former hearald mentioned that his troubles involved Death. Thanos found this intriguing and went on to guide the Surfer into the bowels of his sanctum, along the way Norrin Radd told Thanos of what had transpired, and finally told him that Death seemed to wish to make him her consort. This last bit of news angered and confused Thanos, whom had striven to court Death for years to no avail. The Surfer then asked what Thanos had in mind, and Thanos stated simply his intentions to kill the Surfer. That said, the Titan attacked his gleaming companion, who retaliated. However, the Surfer's attempt to defend himself was far from adequate, and Thanos promptly beat him to the floor, nearly-dead.

With that done, Thanos gathered up his comatose foe and translocated himself into the realm of Death. He greeted his Mistress, and presented the bound and insensiate Surfer to her as a gift. The mouthpiece of Death spoke, stating that the Mistress found his gift acceptable. Thanos spoke, saying that he was pleased, but that he would speak only to Death herself, and not her lackey. The irritated Titan would go on to further add that he had long done everything within his power for Death, slaying millions and carrying her banner across the cosmos in her name, yet still she yet refused to show him any kindness. The mouthpiece would chastize Thanos, saying that the Titan was acting true to type, showering Death with gifts soley to gain favor. The mouthpiece would go on to suggest that Thanos leave Death's realm immediately. Thanos agreed, but decied not to leave an unnapreciative Death with his heartfelt gift, and surprisingly rekindled what remained of the Surfer's life-force. Enraged, Mistress Death ordered her warriors to restrain the Surfer and Thanos, and Norrin went on to grudgingly aid Thanos in the battle. Together, the pair decimated her ranks, and the Surfer stated his intentions to leave her realm. Thanos added insult to injury by commenting on how the Surfer seemed eager to leave, and how terrible Death must feel to be spurrned by her beloved. The mouthpiece of Death promptly told the Titan that there was a price to be paid for his insult, and went on to inform the implacable Titan that he would be forever barred from Death's realm, effectively cursing Thanos with Immortality. Thanos promptly vaporized the mouthpiece, and warned Death that if she ever again considered to contact him, she had better think of doing so herself. That said, Thanos and the Surfer left her realm and returned to Thanos' planet. Afterwards, the Surfer spoke to the brooding Titan, confused by Thanos' mystifying behavior and commented on how his own freedom cost Thanos his heart's desire. Thanos went on to reply saying "A worthy Irony, no? Thanos who craved only Death's embrace might well be cursed with immortality. The noble Silver Surfer who champions ALL life is the object of Death's fixation." Thanos added that he wished the Surfer to leave. The Surfer did as asked, telling Thanos farewell and stating that Thanos was "a most curious being.".

After the Surfer had departed, Thanos journeyed past the borders of his large cornfield and appoached a hidden cave. Thanos entered and opened a large metal door, and entered the chamber within. In the center of the room on a stony pedestal, and protected by a force field keyed to Thanos' bio-signature, sat the reality gem. Thanos took the gem from its protective containment and grasped it firmly. Then, he gave substence to a whim and with the gem he brought the desceased Captain Mar-Vell back to life. Surprised at having been ressurected by the very being who had guided him into acceptance of his death, Mar-Vell questioned Thanos as to how and why Thanos had brought him back. Thanos told him of the reality gem and of its power. He stated that he simply wished to test the gem's power, to see if it could be safely harnessed. Mar-Vell, was not convinced however, and continued to ask Thanos why he would attempt to change that which was destined to be. This angered Thanos, who struck Mar-Vell. Mar-Vell was somewhat shocked, and defiantly stated that if neccessary he would fight. Saying that, he also stated though that he knew that he was not brought back to battle. The wise Captain also went on to theorize that Thanos was planning to use the gem to change reality so that Death would love him, and in actuality had subconciously brought Mar-Vell back to talk him out of such a scheme. Thanos scoffed at this, and countered that he would not undermine his own wishes in such a fashion. However, Mar-Vell knew the Titan well, and stated that such was his way as Thanos believed deep down that he was unworthy, and thus formulated his own downfall. He went on to state that the reason he believed Thanos was entusted with the gem is that he was ultimately wise enough not to use it, and that there were some things in which men and even Gods were not meant to meddle. Thanos raised his fist and granted Mar-Vell his wish, using the gem to restore the Kree warrior to the afterlife. That done, the Titan placed the gem back into its protective shield, and returned home.

Not long after this, Gamora would grow angry at Warlock for continuing to harbor a being whom she had percieved would attempt to kill him. Watch member Maxxam had long grated on her nerves, and eventually her dislike of him turned into an altercation. Irritated at Gamora for her stubborn insistence that Maxxam leave, Warlock chastized her. Feeling underappreciated, and somewhat betrayed by the man she loved but whom could not love her back, Gamora left the Infinity Watch...returning the time gem to Warlock. Gamora then went on to rejoin her former master, Thanos. Soon, however, there would be no Infinity Watch, as one by one, the gems mysteriously vanished with nary a trace.* With the gems lost, the Infinity Watch then fell apart, having nothing left to protect. Afterwards Warlock promptly left, searching the Universe for his Soul Gem, and hoping to find the other gems as well.**

*In one account, the party responsible for the dissapearance of the Infinity Gems was the extradimensional, vampiric, dark-god, Rune, who appeared in the Marvel Universe and sensed the power of the gems. He went after the time gem first, a wise move which allowed him to then freeze time, and then steal the space gem. With those two gems in his possession, stealing the other gems, even Thanos' reality gem, was child's play. Or so he thought. He found himself challenged when he attempted to steal the soul gem from Warlock, who automatically drew Rune into Soul-World, where time had no meaning. Warlock faced down Rune, until he was betrayed by his own Soul-Gem. The turncoat gem attatched itself to Rune, forming once more the infinity gauntlet. However, Rune found he had bitten off more than he could chew, when the soul gem decided to use his new benafactor as a pawn rather than partner. The soul-gem soon forced Rune into creating a portal into his own universe, with Rune fighting the gem's will all the while. As soul-gem and vampire fought for dominance over the power infinite, the heroic Silver Surfer attacked him, spurred on by the Living Tribunal. The Surfer shattered Rune's right hand, scattering all of the gems (save for the Soul Gem, which had alighted on Rune's forehead.) and causing them to be lost into the other Universe beyond.

**In the same account, Warlock managed to discover a portal into Rune's universe. However, upon entering, he was hurled into the distant past of that dimension, finding himself on a huge, disk-shaped world called the Godwheel. There he remained for a time until Rune and his hordes attacked, and Warlock was forced into the role he had known for so long, that of a warrior. He fought Rune for hours, but found that without his soul-gem, his stamina was limited. Warlock weakened, and Rune seized the advantage, fatally wounding the golden warrior. Warlock, however, was master of his own soul, and would not let Rune claim it. As Rune screamed in frustration, Warlock was enveloped by the coccoon of his death...and rebirth.

Hundreds of years later, Warlock emerged from his coccoon, upon the Earth of Rune's Universe. He soon found his powers had adapted themselves during his long slumber, duplicating many of the abilities of his lost soul gem. Among these now-intrinsic powers was the ability to see into the souls of others, heal them, and even the ability to excorcise them. Warlock remained in this other dimension for a time, until he sensed that he was no longer needed there. He then journeyed into space, and found the portal back into the Marvel Universe.

It MUST be noted, that the events preceeded by asterisks happened in the Ultraverse titles (which Marvel had purchased) and not the MU proper. Marvel's previous stance seemingly ignores the Ultraverse. This apparent retcon left many wondering just what happened to the Infinity Gems. For several years after these events unfolded, no satisfactory resolution had appeared, until the current Thanos series, when Galactus apparently gathered the gems, one of which he fetched from another dimension, still attached to a skeleton resembling Rune's.