The Battle of Xandar, also known as the War of Xandar,[2] was the height of the Kree-Nova War, when Ronan the Accuser, fueled by rage and resentfulness at the Kree-Nova peace treaty and his personal hatred against the Nova Empire, launched a blitzkrieg attempt by using his entire army of Sakaarans to bomb the planet's homeworld.
The Nova Corps, joined by the Yondu Ravager Clan launched a counteroffensive to fend off the crashing Necrocraft, issued an evacuation of the Xandar Homeworld, while the newly formed Guardians of the Galaxy infiltrated the Dark Aster to stop Ronan. The fanatical tyrant used the Power Stone to overcome the Guardians, destroy the Nova Corps blockade, and crash the Dark Aster to the planet's surface, resulting in many Nova Corps and Ravager casualties.
After the Dark Aster crashed into the center of the Xandar, the Guardians successfully utilized the Power Stone to vanquish Ronan and save the planet from complete and utter destruction. The Guardians had surrendered the Stone to Irani Rael soon after, and the Corps had pardoned all members of the Guardians as a sign of their gratitude.
Background
- "I will unfurl one thousand years of Kree justice on Xandar and burn it to its core! Then, Thanos... I'm coming for you!"
- ―Ronan the Accuser to Thanos[src]
The Kree-Nova War was over after a thousand years of battle when a peace treaty was signed between the Kree Emperor and Irani Rael and the Kree were not pleased and rioted constantly. Ronan the Accuser decided to take it upon himself to destroy Xandar and made an alliance with Thanos to obtain for him the Orb in exchange for his resources.
Ronan the Accuser betrays Thanos and prepares to unleash war on Xandar
Taking the Orb with a skirmish on Knowhere and discovering the Infinity Stone inside, Ronan disobeyed Thanos and put the power of the Infinity Stone in the Cosmi-Rod. More powerful than ever, Ronan took the Dark Aster to Xandar. Aware of his plan, the Guardians of the Galaxy convinced the Ravagers to help defend the planet in exchange for keeping the Orb. Rhomann Dey, bringing a message from Star-Lord, warned Nova Corps that the Guardians could help.[3]
Battle
Attack on Xandar
The Necrocrafts launch the immolation initiative
- "Xandar! You stand accused. Your wretched peace treaty will not save you now... 'tis the tinder on which you burn!"
- ―Ronan the Accuser[src]
On Xandar, the Dark Aster was confronted by Yondu Ravager Clan, the Nova Corps, and Guardians of the Galaxy, which breached the Dark Aster. Meanwhile, the Nova Corps attempted to slow the Dark Aster's descent at the cost of leaving the civilians unprotected when Ronan the Accuser began to launch explosives on the ground. Rocket Raccoon, with the Ravagers, arrived keeping the civilians protected and saving Xandarian civilians in the process as they looked on in wonder.
Star-Lord and Drax the Destroyer attack the Dark Aster
Unfazed by his enemies' attack and filled with more power than all of them combined, Ronan responded by standing before the fleet of Nova Corps ships and accusing them before sentencing them to resolute destruction. Ronan then used the Stone's power to fire a powerful blast from the Cosmi-Rod which destroyed the Nova Corps' entire fleet, as the burning remains of the army flew to the ground below and Ronan looked at the destruction with a sense of satisfaction as he saw the pain he was causing to his enemies. Rocket called out to Garthan Saal, but he too was consumed by the Power Stone.
Ronan defends himself from the Guardians
In the meantime, Drax the Destroyer cornered and killed Korath the Pursuer, and Gamora defeated Nebula, who fled in an enemy fighter, having realized Gamora was not on her side and Ronan had become insane with power, and calling them both crazy for that. Victorious, Gamora unlocked Ronan's chambers, but even with Star-Lord wielding the Hadron Enforcer, the group found themselves outmatched by his power until Rocket crashed the Warbird through the Dark Aster and into Ronan.[3]
The Final Showdown
The Guardians of the Galaxy withstanding the stone's power
- "Behold! Your Guardians of the Galaxy! What fruit have they wrought? Only that my father and his father shall finally know vengeance. People of Xandar, the time has come to rejoice and renounce your paltry gods! Your salvation is at hand!"
- ―Ronan the Accuser[src]
The damaged Dark Aster crash-landed on Xandar, with Groot sacrificing himself to shield the group. Ronan the Accuser emerged from the wreck unharmed and prepared to destroy Xandar, but Star-Lord distracted him by challenging him to a dance-off, allowing Drax the Destroyer and Rocket Raccoon to obliterate Ronan's Cosmi-Rod with the Hadron Enforcer. Quill grabbed the freed Power Stone, and with Gamora, Drax, and Rocket sharing its burden, they used it to destroy Ronan.[3]
Aftermath
Nova Corps' Gratitude
A new Groot born from the original
- "On behalf of the Nova Corps, we'd like to express our profound gratitude for your help in saving Xandar."
- ―Irani Rael to the Guardians of the Galaxy[src]
In the aftermath, Star-Lord tricked Yondu Udonta into taking a container supposedly containing the Power Stone, then gave the real Orb to the Nova Corps. As the Yondu Ravager Clan left Xandar, Udonta remarked that it turned out well that they did not deliver Quill to Ego.
Quill's group, now known as the Guardians of the Galaxy, had their criminal records expunged, and Quill learned that he was only half-human, his father being part of an ancient, unknown species. The Guardians left in the Milano that was rebuilt by the Nova Corps, along with with a regrowing Groot.[3]
Ego
After hearing about the events of the battle and that a man from Earth had held one of the Infinity Stones and survived, Ego realized that the man was none other than Peter Quill, the son he had sired with Meredith Quill and had paid Yondu Udonta to abduct in 1988. Ego managed to track down his son while the latter was being attacked by the Sovereign, saving his son and luring him to his planetary form.[2]
Attacked by Thanos
- "Thanos already has the Power Stone because he stole it last week, when he decimated Xandar."
- ―Thor[src]
Several years later, Xandar was once again invaded, this time by Thanos, in order to acquire the Power Stone protected by the Nova Corps. Despite all of the Nova Corps' efforts, Thanos decimated half of Xandar's population and acquired the Infinity Stone.[4]
Behind the Scenes
- James Gunn took inspiration from films like Top Gun and The Right Stuff for the Battle of Xandar. Additionally, the scenes where the Ravagers are shooting down the dive-bombing Necrocrafts was inspired by the videogame Space Invaders.
References
- ↑ The Marvel Cinematic Universe follows a general real time policy in most of Phase Two - set when the media is released when suitable.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Guardians of the Galaxy
- ↑ Avengers: Infinity War