Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 (2017): Cast, Plot, Ego and Ending Explained

The Guardians guard the Sovereign batteries from a monster, but Rocket steals some of them and the Sovereign attack the team's ship. Ego rescues them and reveals he is Quill's father. Quill, Gamora and Drax travel with Ego to his planet, joined by his empath companion Mantis, while Rocket and Groot stay behind to guard Nebula.

Meanwhile, Ayesha hires Yondu and his Ravagers to catch the Guardians, but Yondu's crew turns on him for going easy on Quill. Taserface leads a mutiny, helped by Nebula, who then goes after Gamora. Kraglin helps free Yondu and Rocket, and Taserface dies when the Ravager ship is destroyed.

On Ego's planet, Ego explains that he is a Celestial who built a human body so he could explore the universe. He has seeded many worlds so that he can spread across them, and he needs a child with his powers to activate the seeds. Quill learns that Ego caused the death of his mother, and he fights back, but Ego drains his energy to start the seeds.

The other Guardians, Yondu and Rocket reach Ego's core, where Yondu admits that he kept Quill in order to protect him. They build a bomb from the stolen batteries, and Groot plants it on Ego's brain. Quill uses his own Celestial powers to hold Ego off while the others flee, and the bomb destroys Ego and the planet. Quill loses his powers, and Yondu gives his life in space to save him.

The ending of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 settles three things: Ego dies, Yondu is recognized as a Ravager and a father figure, and Nebula chooses her own path. In my opinion, the film earns its emotional weight because it puts the Yondu and Quill relationship at the center, rather than the more obvious bond between Quill and the father who turns out to be the villain.

Ego's plan is the engine. He seeded many worlds so that he could spread across them, and he needed a child with his powers to activate those seeds. That is why Quill's Celestial inheritance becomes both the threat and the weapon. Quill holds Ego off while the others escape, and the bomb built from the stolen batteries finishes the job. It could be argued that the battery theft in the opening is the setup for the whole third act, and I think that is smart plotting.

The funeral is the real ending. The Guardians, now including Mantis, hold a service for Yondu, and many Ravager ships arrive to honor him and accept him back as one of their own. That is a payoff to the crew turning on him earlier. Nebula leaves to keep hunting Thanos even though she has made peace with Gamora, so her arc stays open.

The extra scenes then set up later stories: Ayesha making a new being called Adam, Kraglin taking up Yondu's arrow, and Groot growing into a teenager. Adam is the thread that matters most, because Will Poulter's Adam Warlock is the attacker who opens Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 has several mid credit scenes and one final scene. Kraglin takes up Yondu's arrow and control fin. Stakar meets his old teammates. Ayesha creates a new being called Adam to use against the Guardians. A teenage Groot sulks in his room, and that is the final scene.

The Ayesha scene has the longest reach in the saga, since it leads into the Adam Warlock storyline that arrives in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.