Tear Jerker / Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.

It really is good to have friends... until they're gone.

"Prepare for a Rocket Raccoon origin story full of laughs, tears, thrills, tears, tears, tears, tears, and tears."

— Honest Trailers

This is the final journey of our beloved Guardians of the Galaxy line-up. So make no mistake, James Gunn has done everything in his power to make it a bittersweet one. And boy, did he succeed.

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Trailer

• This little bit of dialogue from Rocket from the first trailer, said without a trace of his usual caustic dry wit.
  Rocket: We'll all fly away together, one last time—into the forever, and beautiful sky...
• Most of the second half of the trailer in general has a more somber, sorrowful vibe, which, given what we know from Word of God, truly does underline that this film will be the end of the beloved Guardians trilogy and the end of the fellowship as we know it. The above dialogue just adds to the sense of melancholy, not helped by the fact that there are several shots of both Peter and Mantis screaming and crying in anguish cut in.

Film

• The opening credits, almost immediately after Rocket's first flashback, is not an upbeat dance number like the last two, but a somber walk amongst the streets of Knowhere, set to Radiohead's "Creep", setting the tone for the movie.
• Peter's alcoholism in the beginning, which is a result of him still mourning the loss of the original Gamora and how he involuntarily let Thanos get away with his genocide scheme. While Nebula carrying him passed out is sorta played for laughs, the other Guardians have a mix of concern and frustration. Groot worriedly looks over Peter while Drax comments "Again?"
  • As Nebula places him on a bed to rest, she hears him utter his love for Gamora. Even in his dreams Quill does not have rest.
    • Furthering the gentle, if still noticeable Mood Whiplash, Nebula looks away, gently removing her hand from Peter's shoulder, indicating Nebula herself still misses the Gamora of this universe, even if she's more subtle about it.
    • Becomes much Harsher in Hindsight when you remember how dreams work in the MCU. Peter is dreaming of a variant of himself who didn't lose Gamora.
• The looks on Mantis’s face when Rocket is badly hurt and bleeding trying to cover his wounds, showing that she cares for Rocket dearly and is crying when the med pads are hurting Rocket more.
• A very little Rocket meets Lylla and the others after getting horribly mutilated during experimentation. Not having a grasp on English yet, the poor thing could only utter “Hurts…” in a pained, broken little voice. Freshly sentient and tossed into a messy little cage, the only thing Rocket could voice was pain.
• The High Evolutionary makes it clear to Rocket that once he has served his purpose, he and the entire batch of experiments (i.e. all of Rocket's friends) are now useless to him and they will be executed by morning. Rocket's look of utter despair and betrayal as the man he once saw as a father-figure coldly tells him he's just another experiment for him to discard as a failure hammers home why Rocket became the very epitome of The Cynic.
  The High Evolutionary: We have the peaceful creatures we always sought, ready to inhabit the new world.
  Rocket: We're going to the new world?
  The High Evolutionary: Oh. "We?" Look at you, as if you were cobbled together by fat-fingered children. How could you be part of a perfect species? You're simply a medley of mistakes we could learn from and apply to the creatures that truly mattered. Batch 89 was never meant for the new world, P-1-3. You could figure out the complex workings of cytoplasmic filtration systems, but you couldn't figure out that? [caresses Rocket's head] But that brain? That, I'd like to study further. [stands up] Prep it for surgery and removal in the morning.
  Recorder Vim: What about the rest of Batch 89, Sire?
  The High Evolutionary: Incinerate them.
  • His delivery isn't just cold, and that makes it even worse. He sounds amused that Rocket thought he was really going with them to their new home. His tone is that of a cruel adult mocking the shortcomings of a slow child, without a shred of empathy or even the notion he saw Rocket as anything but a "medley of mistakes we could learn from and apply to the creatures that truly matter."
• The death of Lylla and the slaughter of Rocket's cellmates. Just when it seems like Rocket and the others will make it out, the High Evolutionary appears from nowhere and shoots Lylla in the back. Poor Lylla can barely react to her own death as she simply collapses and spends her final seconds dreaming of the sky.
  The High Evolutionary: Yes, I imagined you'd do something like this. Back in the cage, P-1-3.
  • Bradley Cooper really knows how to make Rocket's screams of anguish shatter the hearts of an audience. The image of young Rocket screaming in grief over the body of his first friend (and First Love) will haunt you long after the credits roll.
    • What makes this even sadder? When being interviewed on The Howard Stern Show, Cooper confirmed that he based the scream on his reaction to his father passing away.
  • Floor's and Teefs' reactions are equally heart-breaking, as Floor simply starts screaming at Rocket for them to leave and Teefs keeps asking Rocket what happened, both shocked and terrified by the scene before them.
    Floor: ROCKET TEEFS FLOOR GO NOW! ROCKET TEEFS FLOOR GO NOW! ROCKET TEEFS FLOOR GO NOW!...
  • Just to ram home what a horrendously evil bastard he is, the High Evolutionary's sole reaction to Rocket's traumatized, agonized wailing is to mimic him in mockery. The man just cannot walk past a dog without kicking (or hyper-mutating) it. It's unsurprising that Rocket's response is to attack him and mutilate his face.
    The High Evolutionary: [rolls his eyes] "Aaahhh! Aaahhh! Aaahhh!" ALL RIGHT, P-1-3! You win the crying contest! Now back in the cage!
  • Floor's and Teef's subsequent deaths, being collateral victims of Rocket's first-ever usage of guns against the High Evolutionary's mooks. Rocket just turns around and sees his two remaining friends unceremoniously lying dead, as Rocket lays there in shock and horror.
    • Even worse: Judging by his reaction, it's likely he knew that he was partially responsible for their deaths.
  • Even after the horrific torture the High Evolutionary put them through, even after the conditions they were kept in and the disregard he showed them, all of the batch truly believed that he would take them to the new world. They were truly devoted to the High Evolutionary and believed he was a kind creator. And he killed them just to do it. He could have set them free, left them alone, and it wouldn't cost him a thing. But he killed them because he didn't see the creatures he granted sentience as worthy of life on their own merits, and couldn't stand to keep failed experiments around.
• The scene where Rocket flies the ship in the blue sky after escaping. His plan worked, and he finally got to do the thing he wanted to do... but he didn't plan on ending up all alone, or all his friends getting killed. His hardened yet broken expression says it all.
• After stealing Rocket’s file from OrgoCorp, the Guardians are forced to watch a playback of his horrific experimentation. Everyone, especially Mantis, tears up at the sight of their friend being tortured, and Peter isn't even looking anymore. Nebula, who knows firsthand what it’s like to be experimented on, says that Rocket’s suffering was even worse than what Thanos did to her.
• Rocket's near-death experience. As soon as he sees Lylla walking towards him, he starts sobbing like a baby and apologizes for not being able to save her, Floor, and Teefs. Bradley Cooper's voice acting during this moment is devastating.
  Rocket: I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.
  Lylla: Rocket...
  Rocket: I let you down. I got you killed. I got everybody killed...
  • During this apology, he covers his mouth and averts his gaze. That's right, he's so ashamed of his failure that he can't even look at his friend.
  • In the same scene, Rocket's vision of the afterlife is an empty white void, with his first friends waiting for him, along with a lot of empty, opened cages.
  • Upon seeing the afterlife Rocket asks the single most heartbreaking question of the trilogy:
    Rocket: Can I come?
    Lylla: Yes!
  • Lylla means well, but it still hurts after a lifetime of pain for Rocket to finally be ready to join his friends in the afterlife and be at peace, only for her to stop him and tell him not yet.
    Lylla: You still have a purpose here.
    Rocket: A purpose for what? They made us for nothing! Just stupid experiments to be thrown away!
  • Floor and Teefs innocently waving hello to Rocket. It's as if they don't even realize that they've died and are just happy to see their old friend.
  • Peter's reaction to it while the Guardians are trying to save him is just as bad. As shown throughout the series and explained earlier in the movie, a lot of the people he cares about end up dying either figuratively or more commonly, literally. Seeing his best friend dying on the medical table right in front of him was likely bringing up many emotions he must have been bottling up for a long time, and the desperation to save Rocket even as he's flatlining can be felt emanating from his voice.
    Peter: NO! NOOOOOOOOOO!!!
    • Even worse, this isn't the first time Peter could only watch helplessly as someone he dearly loved died a slow and painful death in a hospital. No wonder he was so panicked at seeing Rocket in this state.
• When Rocket hears the voice of his creator for the first time in years, he's on the verge of a panic attack, which shows how traumatized he is of what the High Evolutionary did to him.
• Gamora's more ruthless and callous nature in this movie is a heavy reminder that the Gamora everyone knew and loved is gone and that Peter will never truly get her back. It's also a staunch nod to the fact that this Gamora is still a brainwashed young woman who doesn't (yet) have the capacity to open up to anyone besides Nebula and the Ravagers.
• Believing that his civilization is imperfect and must be rebuilt from the ground up, the High Evolutionary obliterates all of Counter-Earth. None of the citizens survive, not even the kind bat family that helped the Guardians. The entire planet perishes in a fiery, devastating explosion, all because their so-called “God” (whom they deeply worshipped and adored) believed that they just weren’t good enough for him.
  • Even before its destruction, Counter-Earth had the same problems as "regular" Earth: Drug dealing, homelessness, and random violence, making the High Evolutionary's claims of a perfect utopia completely, utterly pointless bullshit. The worst part? He is blaringly well aware of this and razes the planet so he can start over, not caring about them at all.
  • And just like Batch 89, even for the High Evolutionary's plans, they didn't need to die. He could have simply taken off, left them in peace and it would cost him nothing as he went on to try again on another planet, but he instead decided to exterminate billions because he couldn't tolerate the idea of anything he made not being completely perfect.
• As the citizens perish around her, Gamora looks around and sees a frightened couple clutching each other, helplessly looking on before an explosion engulfs them both.
• Adam racing to save his mother from Counter-Earth's destruction, only to be too late by mere micro-seconds and watching her die in a blaze of fire. Made especially sad when you remember not only is Adam Warlock still a child himself but in an adult's body, but Elizabeth Debicki was able to show a more human side to Ayesha and make her a more sympathetic character, only for the High Evolutionary to destroy her without a second thought.
• When they're trapped on board the High Evolutionary's ship, Nebula begins to tear into Drax for leaving Rocket behind and defenseless. Mantis comes to his defense... by saying that it's not his fault he's stupid. Drax, clearly hurt, just quietly asks if the she really thinks he's stupid. And Mantis completely sidesteps responsibility for hurting her friend's feelings (and arguably violates his mind) by forcing him to forget.
  • Mixed with heartwarming, but Mantis further defends Drax, saying that his ability to laugh and love others is not a liability and that he's the only one in the team who doesn't hate himself. She knows the most on how traumatized and hurt Drax when his family died and she's very upset not many people can appreciate that he still retains a joyous albeit immature nature.
• Crosses over with Heartwarming: Yondu's final appearance. A surprise to be sure, but BY GOD was it a welcome one. With one last warm, fatherly smile and a few words of encouragement, he allows Kraglin the secret to using the Yaka arrow. Not only does Kraglin take this to heart and master the arrow, but Yondu himself gives him a proud grin before he disappears for good amongst the crowd of terrified Knowhere residents. Such an incredibly poignant scene and one final love letter to the many fans who loved this character. Hopefully, the theatres will dispense tissues...
• Peter and Nebula's shocked faces when they realize that Rocket isn't with either of them, and since they didn't see the High Evolutionary, they fear he might've gotten taken by him. Keep in mind that it's barely been that long since they just saved Rocket from death, and now Rocket's stuck with the man who's done horrible things to him in his youth, has been after him and his brain for the whole film, and if Rocket is in his clutches might do God knows what to him.
• The scene where Rocket finds the other captured animals. He sheds tears at the sight of all the animals that were captured like he was, and silently vows to save them all before they die an undeserving death. And after the battle, you can hear the desperation in Rocket's voice when he begs Quill to help him save them.
• Drax is visibly on the verge of tears when Mantis decides to leave to find her own way without him. For all that the two bickered with one another, the holiday special showed how they enjoyed each other's company and this gesture shows that he truly sees her as a friend.
  • The reason that Mantis wants to leave is that she's never actually had control of her own life. She did everything Ego told her to do, then later everything the Guardians told her. Even though she loves all of the Guardians, she's never made her own decisions and wants a chance to live on her own.
• Blurp's reaction after Adam Warlock kills its owner. Even Adam feels bad about it when he hears Blurp's whimpers and sees him nuzzle his owner's burnt body.
  Adam: He looks sad. I really don't enjoy how that's making me feel, actually.
• The scramble to get all of the kids and animals off the High Evolutionary's ship and onto Knowhere culminates in Peter failing to make it off the former in time. While the shot of his face bloating up is bad enough, the reactions of the Guardians make it even worse; Mantis outright shrieks her brother's name in helpless despair, Rocket looks on in distress at the prospect of yet another one of his friends perishing as a direct result of the High Evolutionary's ghastly ambitions, and Groot makes a futile effort to try and reach Quill, with his branches turning into ice before they can do so.
• Even the High Evolutionary has a sad moment, but leaning more on pity. His entire life’s work, his company, his minions and his creations are all gone. He’s unmasked, literally and metaphorically, as the monster he truly is. Yet Rocket can only look down in pity for his creator and abuser. He’s left alone in his burning ship to die and there is not a single person in the entire galaxy who would even think of mourning him.
  • However, Word of God states that Drax rescued him and that he is currently imprisoned in Knowhere. Despite how monstrous the High Evolutionary is, even Drax won’t stoop to his level of cruelty.
  • Even Rocket's Shut Up, Hannibal! isn't filled with rage and scorn, he just sounds so tired and sad, as he explains to the High Evolutionary what his real motivation is.
  Rocket: You didn't want to make things perfect. You just hated things the way they are.
  • In response to Rocket's Armor-Piercing Response, the High Evolutionary can only glare up at him, defeated and utterly broken, proving two things: 1) he will never truly learn his lesson and 2) on some level, he knows Rocket is right and unlike any other moment in the film, he cannot offer a single retort, reason or excuse in reply. All he can do is wallow in the unclean-able mess he made for himself and the galaxy as a whole.
• Rocket sounds close to tears when he realizes that Peter is leaving and the Guardians are breaking up for good. It likely hits him the hardest because both he and Nebula had to spend five years with almost everyone in his Found Family dead, and now only a few years later, the group's gone again. No wonder Rocket's so upset.
• As Peter goes on a spiel in how everyone he has ever loved has died — his mother, Yondu, Gamora — Mantis then brings up that he's completely neglected about his grandfather for decades. What's he been thinking ever since that night Meredith Quill died and he ran away in grief?
• For a brief moment, Peter assumes the other Guardians had perished on Counter-Earth as Rocket asks for their whereabouts after he wakes up from his coma and Peter tries to find how to break it to him.
• Groot's final talk with Gamora. Remember, the original Gamora was like a surrogate mother to him, and now he's dealing with someone who's a Gamora, but not the Gamora he knows. The poor guy is probably confused about the whole situation.

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♫ And I'm a creep
I'm a weirdo
What the hell am I doing here?
I don't belong here ♫