Synopsis / Summary / Plot
Last issue Star-Lord got a message from his father's planet Spartax. Now we hear it's from his sister Victoria, current ruler of Spartax, asking him to attend the yearly Gilded Hunt. As he watches Gamora and Nebula killing skeletons in a computer game, Mantis practising gymnastics with a long ribbon, and Drax just holding his blades he decides to go.
The Gilded Hunt in the golden spaceship land on the designated planet. Peter Quill is on board and he's only brought Drax with him, leaving the rest of the (much-reduced) Guardians Of The Galaxy behind. The Spartoi have sterilised the landing area from orbit to protect themselves from contamination. (That's not going to help when they go further out to hunt.) The Hunt is led by Captain Sagittar Of The 1st Arcana in a ceremonial uniform, heading a bevy of similarly dressed nobles and some robots. Quill and Drax are conspicuously in their normal (outlaw) Guardians getup. Sagittar makes a disparaging comment about barbarian Drax and his knives. Drax promises to show him what he can do with them. He also comments on how many big guns the hunters have brought. A robot offers Prince Peter regalia commensurate with his status but he refuses it. Sagittar comments that not to wear it will curse the hunt and probably lead to the Spartoi Empire's rapid decline. (The Spartoi have recently revived astrology and other superstitions.) Peter remembers his sister's letter telling him not to mess this up, so he reluctantly dons an antlered cap.
The expedition sets off into the wilderness. It turns out this is a planet in the Manifold Territories that its colonists called Ra'thalamzi. (Like all Manifold planets there were no indigenous sapients.) Star-Lord agreed to come here because it had been devastated by Grootfall, and it shouldn't now *have* a forest for them to hunt in. Sagittar knows all about Grootfall which caused Spartax to quit the Proscenium (the Galactic Council that the GOTG used to work for in their last series), a good thing in his opinion.
They come across a beast which Sagittar blasts with his big gun. The troop bag many more and the boss hopes to beat his grandfather's record. Quill protests that there shouldn't *be* any beasts to hunt after Grootfall. Drax protests that this isn't a hunt, it's butchery. A Spartoi sipping tea served by a robot replies that to hunt is just to take what you want, so Drax changes his definition to theft.
A robot detects a huge target in the middle of the forest and it turns out to be a Flora Colossus (Groot's species). Star-Lord forbids Sagittar to attack the being before he talks to it and finds out how it survived Grootfall. The huntsmen say Quill has no authority here. So Drax uses his knives on them while Star-Lord jets up to chat with the tree. Its branches grab him and insert tendrils into his brain to communicate. He has a Groot conversation where he asks Groot why he's killing people. Groot says that he used to be alone but now all is Groot. He says that Rocket Raccoon knows, and suggests that Peter goes to find him so they can be family again. But it's too late for this 1 (has he absorbed some Mantis?). Because while Drax has been fighting other Huntsmen, Sagittar has fired a shot that destroys the big tree.
Sagittar declares the Hunt a success and they'll all go home safe in the knowledge that the Astrologers Of Spartax reign supreme. He even speculates that the next Master Of The Sun may be among them to wash away the stain of the Earth hybrid. (Peter became Master Of The Sun in the previous series.) Drax watches them go as Peter digs himself out of the remains of the Flora Colossus.
The duo return to their own spaceship. Nebula reports that the planet's livable atmosphere is declining rapidly. Peter says that the planet was a Groot and the Hunt killed it. Gamora thinks they should use the same method to kill the Groot that's causing Grootfall, but Quill tells her to open the cargo bay door. He activates his Star-Lord helmet and uses his element gun to blast the Hunt's golden spaceship to smithereens.