The Battle of Mojave Desert was a conflict that resulted from Ego's return to Earth and attempts to reclaim his seedling to begin his expansion. Despite overpowering the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D., Ego's corporeal form was destroyed by his son, Peter Quill, upon the boy's switch to the Avengers' side.
Background[]
- "Six months earlier, the Ravagers were dispatched to abduct Peter Quill from his home world. But young Quill's captor couldn't bring himself to turn him over and chose to raise him as his own. At least, that's how the story often goes. But in this universe, Yondu never had his change of heart. So he turned Peter over to his father, the Celestial being known as Ego."
- ―The Watcher[src]
The Celestial Ego wished to expand his essence across the entire universe; however, he was not powerful enough to achieve his goal on his own, so he began having children with females of various species, hoping that one of them would inherit his Celestial powers. Ego also planted a seedling on every planet he visited, as they would be crucial in beginning the expansion on the respective planet.
Peter Quill is kidnapped by the Ravagers
Eventually, Ego met and fell in love with Meredith Quill on Earth and had a son named Peter Quill with her. However, Ego came to love Meredith more than any of his past lovers, and so to prevent himself from becoming distracted from his ultimate mission, he heartbrokenly decided to kill her. Leaving Earth and his son, Ego soon learned that his powers had been passed on to Peter, leading him to hire the Ravagers to kidnap him.
Peter Quill is imprisoned by S.H.I.E.L.D.
The Ravagers brought Peter to his father on his planet, but Peter escaped and used Ego's ship to travel back to Earth. The ship crashed in Manhattan after being attacked, so Peter made his way to Coney Island. However, the Avengers, who had been assembled by S.H.I.E.L.D. to stop Peter, defeated him in battle, with the help of Thor, and brought him to their facility. Ego then arrived on the planet to reclaim his seedling as it had been taken by S.H.I.E.L.D.[1]
Battle[]
- "We'll hold them off for as long as we can, but Ego's forces are coming."
- ―Peggy Carter[src]
Thor, Black Panther, Goliath, and Peggy Carter went out in the Mojave Desert to confront Ego while the rest of the Avengers went to retrieve Peter Quill, who had escaped to Missouri. Ego asked the team for his seedling back, but Thor refused and flew into the air, intending to pummel Ego with Mjølnir. However, Ego simply created a pillar of rock that slammed into Thor midair and sent him sprawling.
Ego then created an army of copies of himself made of rock, and it began battling the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. A few of Ego's copies attempted to tackle Goliath, but he grew to his giant size, threw them off of him, and slammed his fists into the ground, destroying several of the copies. Thor threw Mjølnir into a crowd of the copies, decimating them. A horde of copies attempted to swarm the S.H.I.E.L.D. tanks, but they were mowed down.
Peggy Carter shoots down Ego's fighters
Thor recalled Mjlønir, and the shockwave created when it returned to his hand destroyed all of the copies around him. However, as Thor laughed, Ego created more copies before creating a rock monument of himself around him. The S.H.I.E.L.D. forces began firing at the monument, and Carter radioed to Howard Stark, who was back in the base, telling him they would hold off the copies for as long as they could.
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Black Panther slashes at Ego's rock copies
Goliath, still in his giant form, used his hand and leg to swipe a crowd of the copies away, but they soon climbed him and covered his entire body, so he shrunk down to his normal size and waited until a substantial amount of copies had piled on him. He then grew to his giant form again, flinging the copies every which way. As he, Thor, and Black Panther continued fighting, Carter told all of the S.H.I.E.L.D. units to fall back.
The Avengers were soon overwhelmed by Ego's army. Ego created blue tentacles from within the monument and sent them toward the base, with the Avengers powerless to stop them. Carter attempted to warn Stark, but it was too late, and several of the tentacles punched through the base wall and retrieved Ego's seedling. As the tentacles returned to Ego's monument, Quill, Ant-Man, and Mar-Vell arrived, as Ant-Man had swayed Quill to their side.
Ant-Man and Peter Quill confront Ego
Ant-Man and Quill jumped out of the Asis and shrunk down before landing on an ant. Quill managed to snatch Ego's seedling from the tentacles and the duo flew into Ego's monument, where they jumped off their ant and returned to normal size. Exchanging words, Ego revealed to Quill that he was the one who killed the boy's mother, enraging Quill. Ego acknowledged Quill's feelings but said that he did not have enough power to defeat him.
Peter Quill destroys Ego's corporeal form
Quill, however, replied that Ego himself had enough power and that with the seedling, a little bit of his father's essence would always live inside him. Quill proceeded to destroy the seedling and absorb its power, much to Ego's anger, who belittled Quill and said he was human after all. Quill defiantly replied that his mother called him a Star-Lord and blasted Ego with cosmic energy, destroying his corporeal form and his copies in the process.[1]
Aftermath[]
- "The boy may have destroyed Ego's corporeal form, but his planet still lives, and the universe will not know peace until I have avenged the ones we've lost."
"So, what, Thunder Brother? No invite?"
"Perhaps you forgot, Goldilocks, we have sort of a team thing going on here?" - ―Thor, Bill Foster, and Hank Pym[src]
In the wake of their victory, the Avengers and their allies got together at the Pym Residence for a celebratory feast. Despite the joyous occasion, Thor announced that he would have to depart, because although Peter Quill destroyed Ego's corporeal form, he was still a threat. Bill Foster and Hank Pym, however, reminded Thor that they were a team now, and so the gang set off together to end Ego for good.[1]