What Happened to Drax in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’? 

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 concluded the franchise is in the most epic way possible while at the same time also being bittersweet. Most fans expected that one of the Guardians members would die on this last journey for the team, and well, most people expected it to be Drax due to Bautista’s comments that he is done with the role. Now after the movie’s release, we are happy to see that no one died, well, at least no one from the team, and Drax is safe and sound, albeit separated from the team. Due to this, we’ve decided to dedicate a few minutes to Drax to analyze his story in the final installment of the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise. Let’s see what happened to Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

At the end of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Drax leaves the team to take care of the children saved from High Evolutionary’s ship. Nebula and Drax decided to resign from their Guardians duties to take care of the children on Knowhere since Nebula figured out that Drax could perfectly communicate with the children and take care of them. This is the fitting ending for Drax’s character since when we met him in the first installment of the franchise, we learned that Ronan killed his wife and daughter. Now at the end of his journey with Star-Lord, Drax gained multiple children and can once again experience the joy of being a father. 

Now that we’ve given you a summary of what happened with Drax, it’s time to analyze his journey over the course of the movie in more detail. If you’re interested in more, stay with us and keep reading!

The Drax we met differs greatly from the Drax we saw in the last installment. 

Back in the first Guardians movie, we learned that Drax is one of the deadliest beings in the Galaxy. He found himself in Kyln prison at the same time as Gamora, and we learned his story.

He comes from a race of primitive Kylosian people. A race that does not understand jokes or metaphors and is extremely underdeveloped in terms of intelligence. However, Kylosians are extremely talented and gifted warriors using their natural affinity for savagery and strength to their advantage. Drax’s home planet found itself on Thanos’ path of destruction. Thanos set out to bring the planet to balance by slaughtering half of its population and sent Ronan the Accuser to enforce this.

The population of Kylos was split into two halves at random, with one half being slaughtered. Drax found itself on the surviving side, while his wife Ovette and his daughter Kamaria found themselves on the losing side. After the death of his family, Drax set out on a murderous rampage killing everything in his way until he could have his revenge on Ronan. 

Since that first installment, Drax evolved, and we mostly forgot about his savagery and his difficult history due to him mostly being a comic relief. GotG Vol. 3 honored both Drax’s history and his future in the most beautiful way. 

Adam Warlock attacked Knowhere, and Drax attempted to subdue him 

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 starts with Adam Warlock attacking Knowhere in his pursuit of Rocket Raccoon. Nebula and Groot attack Adam but he ultimately manages to overpower them. Drax and Adam eventually lock into combat, with Adam Warlock severely beating Drax before Nebula stabs him, and he escapes empty-handed and seemingly hurt.

Drax recovers but soon learns that Rocket has been severely injured at the hands of Warlock, and the med-packs they have at their disposal do nothing to help his condition because he has a kill switch installed that requires a special type of password. 

Drax played a role during the infiltration of OrgoCorp

Guardians managed to locate Rocket’s “maker” and figured out that the password for the kill switch has to be at OrgoCorp, one of High Evolutionary’s corporations that he uses to fund his more ambitious projects. 

The team is once again reunited with Gamora, who the Guardians employ to take them into OrgoCorp undercover and extract them without being noticed by the security guards. 

Once at OrgoCorps, the team separates. Mantis and Drax are supposed to find a ship that will carry them back to Bowie because their spacesuits are accidentally destroyed. Mantis makes one of OrgoCorp’s security guards fall in love with Drax and finds it amusing while Drax plays along with the fantasy.  

Drax had trouble following orders, and it almost ended up catastrophically for the team 

After leaving OrgoCorp, Guardians discovered they needed to find the code at High Evolutionary’s Counter-Earth. Once there, the team again separates, with Quill ordering Drax and Mantis to stay near Bowie and protect Rocket Raccoon in case someone attempts to kidnap or kill him while he is away at High Evolutionary’s ship looking for the kill switch code. 

Drax failed to follow Star-Lord’s orders. Instead, he stole a motorbike from an unassuming bypasser and talked Mantis into going to the High Evolutionary’s ship to help the rest of the team out. Once they arrived near the ship, they surprised Nebula, who was frustrated with both of them; they decided to board the ship to help Star-Lord out; little did they know that Star-Lord had already evacuated and they were walking into deadly danger. 

Once inside the ship, Mantis, Nebula, and Drax get into a huge fight, with Nebula insulting both Drax and Mantis for being useless and never following orders. She really unpacked a whole lot of it on Drax, with Drax barely understanding that she was insulting him in the first place. 

Mantis started defending Drax, which caused Nebula to also turn on her. At the end of the argument, Mantis uses her powers to make Drax forget everything. 

Drax turns into an unexpected hero 

In the High Evolutionary’s ship Drax, Mantis, and Nebula come across numerous children, experiments of High Evolutionary. Among them is Phyla-Vell, and they have trouble communicating with children, which is vital because Star-Lord plans to blow up the side of the ship where children are being kept in cages. 

After every form of communication fails and Nebula starts shouting at the children, Drax uses his “monkey” routine, and the children start smiling. It appears that Drax can communicate with the children despite their language being mostly unintelligible gibberish. 

Drax tells the children to spread the word that they need to move from the side of the ship, and the plan is successful. High Evolutionary’s ship is attacked, but no children are harmed in the process. 

Following this, High Evolutionary knocks Mantis out, imprisoning the three Guardians and three hungry Abilisks. Luckily for the Guardians, the Abilisks eat batteries only, and Mantis somehow manages to subdue them using her empath abilities. 

Does Drax die in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3? 

Everyone assumed Drax would die in the franchise’s final installment, but no such thing happened. The team disbanded after the death of High Evolutionary and Rocket’s rescue. Gamora returned to her rightful place with Ravagers, with Mantis announcing that she was done with following orders and she wanted to explore the Galaxy on her own. On her adventures, she will be accompanied by the three Abilisk she managed to calm down.  Star-Lord also decided to leave the team so he can return to Earth and visit his grandfather.

Nebula likewise announces that she is leaving the team; she needs to take care of the children they rescued from High Evolutionary’s grasp, and to the shock of everyone involved, she wants Drax to help her. Drax is the natural father figure these children desperately need, and he is much more gentle and calm with them than Nebula is. 

So no, Drax didn’t die at the end of the movie, but he did leave the team to assume a more fitting role for himself. Even though we met him as a ruthless killer looking for revenge, Drax ultimately found himself in the role of father once again, and we think it’s the perfect conclusion to his storyline.