Sure, the Guardians will succeed in their quest to save Rocket…but what if they don’t? After everything the Guardians have been through, and all the truly brutal moments they and the audience have endured physically and emotionally, what if they can’t save Rocket? That hypothetical almost became reality. Despite the Guardians’ best efforts, the code they hoped would bypass Rocket’s system doesn’t work fast enough. The bitter truth hits: Rocket is gone. Peter mourns the supposed loss of his friend, sobbing over Rocket’s body.
In an ethereal purgatory-like space, Rocket meets Dumbledore at King’s Cross Station. Okay, okay, so that’s not true. But the bright white surroundings in this scene does they resemble Harry’s “basically just died, but he’s about to come back to life” moment in “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2”. In this sky-adjacent aura, Rocket meets Lylla, who encourages him: “My beloved raccoon, the story has been yours all along, you just didn’t know it.”
The audience hears James Gunn speaking loud and clear through Lylla’s dialogue. The otter’s words don’t just refer to Rocket’s life; They also refer to the “Guardians of the Galaxy” trilogy. The story has been Rocket’s all along, and it’s not over. Rocket’s consciousness returns to his body and his friends hug him with joy. His brother is going to be fine. Yeah the audience it’s going to be fine… well, the jury is still out on that. I’ll have to dry my tears first.