NOT Just Once, Star-Lord Is the Reason Why Thanos Survived TWICE

Star-Lord, the lovable yet sometimes frustrating leader and main dancer of the Guardians of the Galaxy, has had his share of heroic moments.

But when it comes to stopping Thanos, Star-Lord’s actions (or inactions) have cost the Avengers and the universe dearly not once, but twice.

Let’s take a closer look at how Star-Lord played a crucial role in allowing Thanos to survive, leading to some of the most tragic events in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

The First Time: Letting Thanos Off the Hook in Guardians of the Galaxy

In the first “Guardians of the Galaxy” movie, we see Star-Lord and his ragtag team face off against Ronan the Accuser, who has betrayed Thanos.

Ronan was supposed to deliver the Power Stone to Thanos, but he decided to keep it for himself, intending to use it to destroy Xandar and eventually take down Thanos.

Now, here’s where things get interesting. In the main MCU timeline, Star-Lord and the Guardians manage to defeat Ronan before he can carry out his plan.

This victory saved Xandar, but it also meant that Ronan never got the chance to turn his attention to Thanos.

In an alternate universe explored in “What If…?” Season 2, Episode 1, Ronan makes a different choice – he decides to kill Thanos first, successfully ending the Mad Titan’s threat before it even begins.

If Ronan had killed Thanos in the main MCU, the entire Infinity Saga would have played out differently.

No Infinity Gauntlet, no snap, no devastating losses.

But because Star-Lord and his crew stopped Ronan before he could challenge Thanos, the Mad Titan lived on, setting the stage for the tragic events that followed.

The Second Time: The Punch That Cost the Universe

Fast forward to “Avengers: Infinity War.” The Avengers, along with the Guardians, have finally cornered Thanos on the planet Titan.

They’ve come up with a brilliant plan to restrain him and remove the Infinity Gauntlet, which would have ended his reign of terror once and for all.

Everything was going smoothly, Spider-Man, Iron Man, and Doctor Strange were seconds away from victory.

And then, it happened. Star-Lord learned that Thanos had killed Gamora, the woman he loved.

Overcome with grief and rage, Star-Lord lost control and punched Thanos in the face, snapping him out of the trance that Mantis had placed him in.

This moment of emotional outburst gave Thanos the chance to regain his strength, overpower the heroes, and eventually complete the Infinity Gauntlet.

The result? The snap, which wiped out half of all life in the universe.

In this crucial moment, Star-Lord’s actions didn’t just allow Thanos to survive, they directly contributed to the catastrophic events that followed.

If Star-Lord had managed to hold back, Thanos could have been defeated right then and there, saving countless lives and preventing the universe from falling into chaos.

Last Words

It’s easy to criticize Star-Lord for these moments, but it’s important to remember that he, like all the heroes in the MCU, is only human.

He acted out of love and grief, emotions that many of us can relate to. However, Star-Lord’s decisions, whether driven by impulsive heroism or emotional pain, allowed Thanos to survive TWICE.

It shows that even the most well-intentioned actions can lead to unforeseen and tragic outcomes.

What do you think? Could anyone else have held back in Star-Lord’s position, or was his reaction inevitable?

Let’s discuss how things could have been different if only he had made a different choice.