Peter Quill's Not to Blame for Thanos' Victory in "Infinity War", Nebula Is

There's no shortage of moviegoers who point the finger squarely at Guardians of the Galaxy-leader Peter Quill for allowing Thanos to defeat the various heroes on the latter's homeworld of Titan during Infinity War. There's no denying that Quill's blows to the Purple People Killer's face broke new teammate Mantis' hypnotic hold over him, which allowed him to think clearly enough to realize that the Infinity Gauntlet had nearly been pulled off. As fans know, he subsequently pulled the famed glove back on and handily vanquished the assorted Avengers, Guardians and Doctors arrayed against him. But there's plenty of blame to go around.

Nebula made a point of making sure that Quill understood - at the moment that the guantlet was nearly off, as opposed to say, when the fight was over - that Thanos had killed the love of his life (Gamora). Maybe if she'd actually pitched in to help subdue the big lug she would've been too busy being productive to give news bulletins regarding Gamora's fate. Nebula's actions in the scene are eerily reminiscent of Mephisto's (who's completely absent from the movie) role in the comics story from which the film is adapted. Nebula goading Quill to strike (and let's face it -- she had to know that he'd lash out) mirrors Mephisto's subtle prodding of Thanos toward violence in the source material. In each case, the manipulator (Nebula, Mephisto) exploits the listener's feelings of love (Quill's love for Gamora, Thanos' love for Death -- it's a long story). The comparison begs the questions: Did Nebula have an ulterior motive? Was she as grief-stricken as Quill? Or was she just being bone-headed?

Originally Posted 9/9/18