Warning: SPOILERS for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3!
The trailers and promotional material for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 teased at least one tragic death, and while the movie delivers on this promise, it still subverts all expectations with the characters it kills off. The Guardians of the Galaxy unite one final time in the MCU’s Phase 5, making peace with their past and deciding to move on by dissolving the team. Before moving on, however, they have various brushes with death, which rival those they had with previous enemies such as Ronan, Ego, and Thanos.
The Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 trailer included shots of Star-Lord and Mantis crying, a wounded Drax struggling to walk, and emotional flashbacks to Rocket Raccoon’s tragic backstory, all of which suggested that either Drax or Rocket, if not more, would meet their end. In the movie, Rocket, Groot, Nebula, Drax, and Star-Lord come dangerously close to dying in various moments. However, to everyone’s surprise, James Gunn delivers a bittersweet farewell for the Guardians of the Galaxy without actually killing any of the heroes.
None of the Main Guardians of the Galaxy Die
The events of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 are kicked off by Adam Warlock’s arrival in Knowhere. Fulfilling the Sovereign’s threat of revenge, Warlock attacks Rocket Raccoon and defends himself from the Guardians, destroying Groot’s and Nebula’s bodies and heavily wounding Rocket in the process. While Groot and Nebula manage to regenerate themselves, Rocket Raccoon is on the brink of death, and the Guardians’ MedPacks are rendered unusable due to a self-destructing chip in Rocket’s heart — a leftover from the High Evolutionary’s experiments on him.
In their quest to find a way to save Rocket Raccoon, the Guardians of the Galaxy infiltrate the High Evolutionary’s intergalactic company OrgoCorp, where Drax gets shot twice by Nathan Fillion’s alien character. Thankfully, the Guardians manage to heal Drax, but after other close calls in the High Evolutionary’s Counter-Earth, it’s Star-Lord who almost loses his life while evacuating the High Evolutionary’s test subjects to Knowhere, as he freezes in outer space in a scene that mirrors Yondu’s sacrifice Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2. This time, Adam Warlock takes the initiative and rescues Star-Lord.
Lylla Is Shot By High Evolutionary
The fact that all the Guardians of the Galaxy survive doesn’t make Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3. any less tragic, as the few major deaths in the movie are still heartbreaking. While Rocket is succumbing to his wounds, flashbacks show that he managed to create a key to break out of captivity back when he was still the High Evolutionary’s test subject. Rocket began to help his friends escape, but the High Evolutionary caught up with his plans and shot Rocket’s best friend, Lylla the Otter, as soon as she exited her cage.
Lylla never gets to see the sky as Rocket had promised, but she reunites with him in the afterlife while he’s dying. Rocket apologizes for failing to protect her and tells her that he feels ready to stay with her, but Lylla says that while eternal peace is waiting for him, it’s not his time to move on yet. Star-Lord’s CPR is effective, and Rocket comes back to life having made peace with Lylla’s death.
Floor & Teefs Are Killed by The High Evolutionary’s Guards
Rocket’s other friends in captivity in Guardians 3, the bunny Floor and the walrus Teefs, also suffer tragic deaths while trying to escape. After the High Evolutionary kills Lylla, Rocket goes on a rampage and jumps on the High Evolutionary’s face, ripping it off with his paws. Unfortunately, Rocket kills the villain’s henchmen too late, and he realizes that Floor and Teefs have been fatally wounded in the shootout. Floor and Teefs then appear to also be waiting for Rocket Raccoon in the afterlife alongside Lylla, complete with their technological enhancements.
Ayesha Dies In The Destruction Of Counter-Earth
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 reveals that the High Evolutionary created the Sovereign, Rocket Raccoon, the organic headquarters Orgo-Corp, and an entire planet that closely resembles Earth, named Counter-Earth. As his invention, Ayesha addresses the High Evolutionary with great respect, but still considers Adam Warlock her own son. Obeying the High Evolutionary’s orders reluctantly, Ayesha sends Adam Warlock to recover Rocket Raccoon while Counter-Earth explodes. Adam Warlock loses valuable time fending off Gamora, and he arrives too late to save Ayesha from an explosion.
Adam Warlock is weakened but still manages to escape, and Ayesha’s death makes him more sympathetic to the Guardians, which motivates him to save Star-Lord and stay in Knowhere with them. So, while Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2‘s post-credits scene suggested Adam Warlock was going to personify the end of the Guardians — and while he almost fulfilled his purpose at the beginning of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 — it seems he and Ayesha were always purer at heart that the Guardians realized. What’s more, Adam Warlock even joins Rocket Raccoon’s new team in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3‘s post-credits scene.
High Evolutionary Is Seemingly Killed When His Ship Is Destroyed
Guardians of the Galaxy 3‘s the High Evolutionary has hundreds of underlings, a massive ship, and telekinetic enhancements, which make him an incredibly powerful MCU villain. However, the Guardians of the Galaxy are smart enough to not face him directly. Instead, the heroes infiltrate OrgoCorp to retrieve the files that help them understand his experiments on Rocket Raccoon and the code that saves Rocket Raccoon’s life, and then they rescue the High Evolutionary’s test subjects. It’s only until the High Evolutionary himself catches up with the Guardians that they attack him head-on, and they waste no time beating him up.
All the Guardians participate in the beatdown, with Gamora using her sword to give the final blow. The Guardians remove the High Evolutionary’s face, revealing the mangled remains that Rocket had left back when he attacked him for killing Lylla. Although Rocket refuses to finish him off, the Guardians leave the High Evolutionary behind while evacuating his ship, and the ship blows up with him inside. The Guardians rescue the High Evolutionary’s test subjects successfully without any major casualties, although Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 casually ignores the billions of deaths that may have resulted from Counter-Earth’s destruction.
