4.1. Guardians of the Galaxy: Ego War
In 1980, Meredith Quill is courted by Ego who shows her an alien seedling he had planted in the woods of Missouri.
34 years later, the Guardians of the Galaxy are now renowned as heroes for defeating Ronan the Accuser. They accept a job from Ayesha, leader of the Sovereign, to defend a bank of Annalux Batteries from the Abilisk, in exchange for Nebula, whom the Sovereign captured following the battle on Xandar. After defeating the Abilisk, Rocket steals several of the batteries for himself. When the Sovereign discover this, they attack the Guardians' ship, the Milano. The Milano is heavily damaged and forced to crash-land on a nearby planet, but the Sovereign fleet is single-handedly destroyed by Ego, who reveals himself as Peter Quill's father. Ego invites Quill to return to his home, accompanied by Gamora and Drax. Rocket and Groot remain to repair the Milano and guard Nebula.
Ayesha hires Yondu Udonta, who we learn had been exiled from the Ravagers for trafficking children, to recapture the Guardians. Yondu's Crew manage to locate the Milano and capture Rocket. When Yondu shows reluctance at the idea of turning Quill over to the Sovereign, Taserface leads a mutiny, helped by Nebula, who tricked Groot into freeing her.
Quill, Gamora, Drax, and Ego, along with Mantis, travel to Ego’s home, a living planet that is an extension of his body. Ego explains that he is a Celestial who created a humanoid avatar to travel the galaxy and interact with other species. Quill learns he can access and manipulate the power within Ego’s planet.
Drax becomes friendly with Mantis, telling her the story of his lost wife and daughter and reminiscing about his life on Kylos. Mantis mentions that she wants to reveal a secret about Ego.
Taserface imprisons Rocket and Yondu aboard the Eclector, while Nebula takes a ship and leaves. She intends to track down and kill Gamora, who she blames for the torturous cybernetic surgeries inflicted on her by Thanos. In their imprisonment, Rocket and Yondu discover they are very alike. Yondu shares his low opinion of Ego, who originally hired Yondu's Ravager crew to deliver Quill to him after Meredith Quill's death. He reveals to Rocket that he decided to keep Quill with him, instead of handing him over to Ego, in an attempt to protect the boy.
Groot attempts to steal a Controller for the Yaka Arrow to aid an escape attemp. With the help of Kraglin Obfonteri, they're able to escape. Taserface alerts the Sovereign of the escape before Udonta kills him and the mutineers. Then Rocket, Groot, Yondu, and Kraglin plot a series of dangerous hyperspace jumps in order to reach Ego's planet in time to help Quill.
Nebula arrives at Ego’s planet and attacks Gamora. The fight is long and brutal, but they argue as they fight, coming to understand one another's possition, and eventually reaching an uneasy truce. Together, they explore the caverns beneath Ego’s planet and discover the skeletons of hundreds of children.
Ego reveals his master plan to Quill. He had traveled the universe and, finding the life-forms he encountered 'disappointing', he had planted seedlings on thousands of worlds that would terraform them into new extensions of him. However, in order to activate them he needed a second Celestial’s power. He had systematically conceived children with hundreds of women all across the galaxy and then hired Yondu's crew to collect them. Every child they brought him was killed when they proved unable to access Celestial power. But as Quill can harness the power, Ego uses him to activate all the seedlings, which begin their terraforming. Quill is hypnotized by Ego’s power until Ego reveals he deliberately caused the death of Quill’s mother, prompting Quill to fight back.
Mantis informs Gamora, Drax, and Nebula of Ego’s plan just as Rocket, Groot, Yondu, and Kraglin arrive. Reunited, the Guardians fight their way through a fleet of Sovereign drones, as well as Ego himself, to reach the core of Ego’s planet, where a thick shell protects the Ego's brain. Groot plants a bomb made from the stolen Sovereign batteries on Ego’s brain. Most of the Guardians escape, while Quill remains to battle his father using Ego’s celestial power. When the bomb explodes, Ego melts away and the planet starts collapsing. Yondu saves Quill, but sacrifices himself to protect his adopted son.
Later, Nebula reconciles with Gamora but chooses to leave to kill Thanos anyway. The Guardians cremate Udonta's remains and release his ashes into space. Suddenly, a swarm of Ravager ships appears and surround the Guardians' ship. It turns out that Rocket sent word about Yondu's sacrifice, and the Ravagers have come to perform a traditional Ravager funeral for Yondu, signifying his acceptance back into the brotherhood.
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