Why would Groot protecting the other Guardians kill him?
I just rewatched the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie and this part wasn't well explained. Why would Groot die just because he wrapped up his friends? He was already shown to be able to expand/stretch his body with no repercussions, but as soon as he starts to expand to encircle his friends in a protective tree wrap Rocket says "No Groot, you'll die!"
Did I miss something, why would changing his shape into a protective sphere kill him?
Best Answer
I found this on MCU wiki page about Groot:
Groot sacrificed himself by forming his body into a protective crash sphere to save the other Guardians, allowing them to survive a crash from low orbit, but shattering him in the process.
It wasn't the changing of the shape that killed him, it was the impact of the high speed crash.
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Why did they kill off Groot?
"We are Groot" isn't just a throwaway line, but rather a weighty declaration that the team stands unified in their fallen brother's memory. His demise gave them a cause to rally around: working together to avenge Groot. It acted as the catalyst for their transformation into a legitimate team.Why is Groot the last of his kind?
2017s Marvel Animated Universe (Earth-17628) Groot was the last of his kind once Ronan's army had erased the Flora colossus, however Groot was able to save the World Pod within himself, which he could use to recreate the Flora colossus race by planting it in the sacred pool.How did Groot save everyone?
While Rocket was seen by Star-Lord and was picked up to meet with rest of the team, Groot observes the ship's structure crumbling down and decided to save his allies from the wreckage by forming a large branch to protect them.Does Groot have a gender?
\u201cThe reason we are tempted to call Groot a male is the tenor of its voice, its actions, its interactions with other characters \u2013 the cultural connotations of male. And also, we're given no clue that Groot undergoes any kind of sexual reproduction at all. There may be only one 'mating type' that reproduces by cloning.\u201dGroot's Sacrifice ⁄ “We Are Groot “ Scene ¦ Guardians of the Galaxy 2014 Movie Clip
More answers regarding why would Groot protecting the other Guardians kill him?
Answer 2
To expand on other's answers here, we don't know the full extent of Groot's regenerative capabilities. We DO know that he can regrow smaller parts quite quickly, but it takes him a little bit of time (we don't know exactly how long) to regrow his arms when they were cut off by Gamora.
Rocket probably has the best understanding of Groot's capabilities, having been friends and partners for who knows how long. Rocket's estimation of Groot not surviving the crash and impact was technically correct, given that the new Groot is still an infant/toddler in Guardians 2 and is most likely an off-spring/clone of Groot, rather than the original Groot regrowing.
Answer 3
Groot is destroyed in the ship crash. He is shielding everyone else by encircling them, absorbing most of the damage. Even so, the characters are all seen immediately afterwards with injuries, and Groot is gone. Rocket says "No Groot, you'll die" because he knows the crash will destroy him.
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