 Growing up I had a very interesting childhood. I was born in sunny San Diego California where I was raised on baseball, skateboarding, and other aspects of the so-called California lifestyle. I was also taught creativity, passion, and imagination alongside just general kid fun. My dad had to work a lot which meant my mom had a lot of free time with me and my little sister so I showed a bunch of movies like Indiana Jones, Star Wars, The Goonies and other stuff that taught me what it's like to be a cool action-adventure hero or just a general cool person. And since I was a kid I was also shown a lot of Disney and Pixar movies so yeah I also liked Lightning McQueen and Barney and Roly Poly-Oly. Since we lived in San Diego we were close to LA so I got to go to Disneyland, the zoo, and SeaWorld sometimes. And even though today I don't support SeaWorld in like any way being able to actually experience the presence of an orca at such a young age stuck with me my whole life and is still one of my favorite aquatic creatures actually just my favorite animal in general. I was on track to living a filled mid-90s like awesome childhood in good old San Diego which was next to Los Angeles where in the future I could have maybe found a way out there to make a life for myself as a struggling student or actor or whatever but at some point I had to leave my world and go to Las Vegas, Nevada for my dad's work. I was just a kid so I wasn't aware that Vegas was a boring hot shithole with nothing to do but what I didn't know is that I was leaving my entire life and family behind and that stuff felt really new again. The move was supposed to be temporary but later my parents divorced some time after I turned five which ended up with me staying in Vegas with my mom where I go visit Cali in the summers to see my dad and at some point my mom met my stepdad which meant they had to climb the ranks of social classes which meant that change was always on the horizon. It also meant that I was really never solidified anywhere. From kindergarten to fifth grade I went to like three different school zones for sixth grade I entered middle school so I had to go to a new school for that then I went to different school in seventh grade then a different school in eighth grade and these changes were not fun of course a lot of these school changes were due to moving from apartments and houses and whatnot which also meant I lost a lot of friends that I would make in the neighborhoods. The point of all this is that as a kid I found it very hard to connect with people. I was a funny kid with a lot of personality but I always left people's lives just as quickly as I came into them and as I grew older a lot of people's bonds and connections continued to tighten while I was always the new kid who had started at square one since it was hard to keep long distance connections since it was hard to be friends from long distance. Social media wasn't as cool as it is now and gaming wasn't as accessible so if they had a playstation we were never going to play together or talk again and no kid was going to use Skype to play Gmod with me except Cameron who's been around since third grade and got me into YouTube. If you're watching this I love you man you really changed my life. Yeah I rarely ever going to talk with him when he's in San Diego and this is like the first time I've ever talked with him in San Diego. Well we played Xbox but but sometime in 2014 an ad played on Disney Channel for a movie called Guardians of the Galaxy. There was a scene where Rocket does the fake laugh and says it's real they looped it like four million times. Yeah I got to watch it and I like this movie a lot like everyone else who is once a kid I thought Spider-Man was cool and Batman is cool all the other guys are cool but they always felt too big to me. I knew that I would never be the snarky billionaire or the morally clear and hand super soldier or the smart and good hearted web slinger they weren't like me and this isn't because I can't shoot webs or beat people unconscious I just couldn't find ways to relate to these dudes personally but in 2014 I started to find my grip with media literacy so when I watched Guardians of the Galaxy it really touched me in a personal way that other superhero films hadn't before. I think a lot of people forget how impactful the first Guardians of the Galaxy was before that Marvel was pretty vanilla and safe and a lot of superhero films feared to be fun and whimsical at the same time without being really corny. They took themselves really serious or were made intentionally to be very serious but Guardians of the Galaxy was fun and goofy but it was also really dark and sad. The first thing that popped out to me about Guardians of the Galaxy was how cool the characters were of course. They weren't typical heroes in suits named after animals or bugs but instead a group of outcasts and out laws. Star Lord isn't the nerdy Peter Parker but rather the cool Peter Quill who flies a six spaceship and gets a space woman and has a cool retractable mask before everyone started doing it but I can't relate to that either since I'm not a space dude getting with space chicks but what I can relate to are the other things with Peter because while Star Lord is the cool guy without a law name that gets space chicks that same outlaw only has his name because it's what his mom called him and his biggest regret in life is not committing to his mom during her passing watching her die without him and because of that he's never been able to commit to anybody else in his life including his own family so he's afraid of committing to anything. He's a scared little boy in a man's body and another guy that really stuck with me was Rocket, Rocket Raccoon and he's changed my life quite a bit. Rocket is a smart savvy little guy that shoots big guns, cracks jokes and is very sarcastic and expressive but he's also one of the most miserable characters I've ever connected with. Depression and media can sometimes be very one note. Andy, you okay? I'm fine. It's just that life is pointless and nothing matters and I'm always tired. Also I can't sleep, I'm overeating. None of my old hobbies interest me. Like in euphoria where the depressed character just rots in bed all day in his mopey which could be truthful to a degree. I've had many days where I did nothing but stare at the ceiling for sure but it's an overrepresented stereotype. Depression could range in many different ways and sometimes depressed people could be bitter, spiteful, mean and just general hateful assholes. Rocket isn't sensitive, he has no respect for anyone and only thinks about himself for the most part and his narcissism makes it hard for him to connect with people. So hard that his best friend is a tree that isn't smart and Rocket probably had to convince this tree into being his friend to begin with. When we're first introduced to Rocket, he's seen belittling people for fun. Look at this guy. You believe they call us criminals when he's assaulting us with that haircut? Where's your wife, old man? What a class A prever. And it's something I used to do all the time and sometimes could still do today. Miserable people often find silly ways to blow off steam, it could be through gossip, flat out shit talking, belittlement, or other ways that could put you in a big spire of misery. Rocket hates the world and only has one person who is his friend, and yet he'll find small opportunities to make his only friend feel bad while also taking every opportunity to point out how stupid he is. And it's shitty and I have and sometimes still do that to the friends I have now. It's not nice at all and sometimes you don't even notice it until it has effects later. You see little cracks in Rocket when he's in prison, he wants validation for how smart he is, and he tries to impress Quill even though he acts like he doesn't care about anything. It's not true. Rocket has a craving for friendship, he even protects Quill because deep down Rocket wants this guy to be his friend. If Rocket really didn't care about Quill, he wouldn't try to protect him or assist him when he puts his life on the line to save Gamora, especially when it interrupts his personal sleep. He doesn't want people to know his true desperation for companionship, so he acts like he doesn't care about anyone. It's a bullshit facade. When you deal with a band and a lot you tend to cherish people's company, even if you struggle to fit in a dynamic or could sometimes be overbearing to deal with, there's a lot of people I love being around and genuinely love their presence, but in the moment I might try to play a character to impress people or not reveal my true thoughts and feelings, so I tend to showboot or find ways to one up those who don't understand the same stuff that I do for validation or a quick pedestal or just white noise. I can close myself off hoping that someone might try to prime me open, but when you do that people might not think how you want them to think, so you never let them get to that lair. It's a sign of poor communication. I know this, Rocket knows this, but that's only a moment's reflection, not in the momentum of said moment. Rocket is very closed off because he doesn't like giving people ammo against him, and he also doesn't like how people would perceive him for the things that are out of his control. But when he's intoxicated all of Rocket's buried insecurities are put on full display as he reveals the reason for why he is the way he is. This road is always belittle Rocket and has turned their back on him for what he is, when his existence was never his fault to begin with, but the byproduct of someone trying to play God. He's never been accepted or appreciated so he grows bitter and spews the same momentum back to the world. But these new people he's met are all damaged, who also have no family or friends. These are people Rocket can relate to if he allows them in his circle, but Rocket continues the same patterns of behavior and projects his selfishness, aggression, and toxicity. I can't speak on behalf of others of course, but when I was in some of my worst cycles of depression, I started to hate the world a lot, and I assume a lot of people may relate to that. We never asked to be here. Your first breath is due to other people's choices. Your own name, which is one of the largest pieces of your identity, was never your choice. So much of life is out of your hands, and if you're in a position where you're constantly kicked while you're down and can't catch a break, then why care about the world? At that point, fuck the world. I never did anything for you, so why should you care for it? I hate the world so much. I still hate the world now sometimes, so when Rocket is given a responsibility larger than himself for the goodness of the world, he doesn't care. Hating the world can start to rub off in a bad way, where you start to be hateful to the same people in that world. Quillo's willing to sacrifice himself to save Gomorrah and Rocket sees this, but doesn't understand how anybody would care about anyone more than themselves. When Rocket tried that exact same thing, it only ended with him being hurt and alone. Since then, he's tried to convince himself that he's surrounded by idiots, and when confronting Jax about his mistake that put everybody's lives in danger, he has no vulnerability or sympathy, even though he relates to it directly. I love the acting in this scene. Groot is shocked and annoyed with Rocket's harshness, and for a split second, Rocket feels a massive way of regret knowing what he just did was wrong, but he has no choice but to double down, or else he has to face the truth that he's the asshole who knows that he's being an asshole. Groot prized Rocket's real feelings out of him, he's lying and putting on a character. These are the only people he's ever been able to relate to and call friends for a while, a long, long while, and what he says to Jax is a way of protection, to something he sees as his biggest mistake, which we'll talk about later. Rocket's mask is so well done, the mask could go up, and then go down as fast as it was up, and then right back up again. After saving all of his friends and a planet of innocent people, the only friend he's ever had sacrificed himself to save both Rocket and his new family, and like I said earlier, what goes up must come down, and Rocket has to deal with the consequences of his actions. He's not only filled with extreme grief, but also extreme regret for how he treated Groot when he was alive. Even though Rocket was a massive jerk, Groot was still extremely selfless and patient, and people like this make you question your whole life sometimes, and the stakes don't have to be so high. I've been horrible to people, people who love me, support me, and I used to hate myself for it a lot, for how I treated people who were so tolerable with me. Patience is key, but even with Rocket's mistakes, he's still loved and accepted by his new family, and let's go of being mad at the world, and allows his people in a circle. And going forward into the next chapter of his life, Rocket gives himself permanent responsibility and purpose to something other than just himself. Groot's remains are planned to be the child of the Guardians, mainly Rocket, and going forward Rocket has to take care of something that isn't just Rocket. 2019 was one of the worst years of my life. I was so miserable and sad, but a little maltease that no one wanted because he wasn't a girl, and since they usually show dogs, they go for the girls, but no one wanted him, but I did. I wanted him more than anything, and I instantly knew that this dog was going to be my little Rocket, named after one of the most impactful characters in my life. He's been on the channel a lot. The first time I made this video was in 2019, when I was 16, and it's really bad, but you can still watch it. He was just only three months old, and he made me so happy. That dog legit saved my life. I could be the most harsh and mean person on earth, but he's just an innocent little guy who has no hate or malice in his heart, so no matter how mad or sad I could get, it's never fair to leave him hanging whatsoever. Oh, yeah. Going into high school, I dealt with some of the same problems from middle school, but I grew very tired of them and wanted to make a change in my life and try to lead my comfort zone. In high school, I had a friend group for the first time of some of the coolest people I've ever met in my life, and it was great and I loved it, but with this group, I still had a lot of problems within myself, and I began to project them onto other people. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is probably one of my favorite movies ever, maybe my favorite movie, mainly because of Rocket and his arc. It's why I named my puppy after him, it's why I made this channel to talk about him, it's why I'm making this video, and it's why James Gunn is one of my favorite directors. Rocket is no longer mad at the world, he has people around him, he's no longer aggressive and hostile, but Rocket still has a lot of problems and doesn't want to face those problems, so he still puts on a mask and pushes people away. Instead of being mad at the world, he's a smart ass narcissist that uses his tongue and words as his main weapons. Hate can manifest in different ways, throughout high school I wasn't mad anymore, but rather just toxic. I instigated fights for no reason, I fucked with people for no reason, I would flex about things I was better at for no reason, I could destroy your confidence and self-esteem with forced swift moves, and it was hard to respond to me because it was always in a funny and passive aggressive way. I would set these traps on purpose so that if you gave me a reaction, you look soft and oversensitive. And the reason I say it's for no reason is because I would do this to people who liked me and were my friends a lot. And when you do this, it makes you really intimidating to approach. Rocket off the back is mischievous for no reason, other than a good laugh. He steals batteries from a job not for money but for the thrill, not thinking about his friends and how it puts them in danger. And when having to deal with this problem that's his fault, he doesn't take accountability, and instead tries to one-up Peter to prove that he's better than him, which also once again puts his friends in danger. Take in mind that Peter didn't do anything to provoke this and is the complete victim. Rocket's ego and pride is blinding him from perspective, so much so that he would have got his family killed if someone else didn't intervene. And yet he doubles down on this mistake. You know why I did it, Star Munch? I did it because I wanted to. And fuck man, I've done this so many times, it's so easy to get caught into selfish thrills and not take accountability for it or try to make excuses or play the blame game. A quick difference we see from Rocket in this movie compared to the first though is that Rocket's rage is now fully replaced with insecurity, which plays a factor toward this new mask. Peter, who is the victim so far, just got a really emotional bomb dropped on him about someone who once abandoned him coming back into his life. And he's made fun of it because that's easier than being vulnerable and empathetic. But unlike the Groot scene, Peter has a voice and uses it to hit Rocket in his insecurity, telling him the truth. Hope daddy isn't as big of a dick as you orphan boy. What is your goal here? To get everybody to hate you? Because it's working. Still doubling down, he keeps a smile, but it's after Peter turns around that he's hit with guilt and shame just like the first movie. He knows what he's doing is wrong, but he can't help himself. He doesn't want to be like this, but it is who he is. And going forward, Rocket is now in the next trial, which is reflection. Yondu is the same person as Rocket, someone with trauma and a sad past who puts on a mask from his true feelings. He's always been the father figure in Peter's life, and Yondu loves Peter, but doesn't want to accept him as a kid, and Peter doesn't want to accept him as a dad, so they have a weird standoff relationship. Peter doesn't commit to Yondu and finds ways to screw him over, and Yondu always finds a loophole to get Peter out of trouble. Even when he's fully screwed over by Peter, he smiles in admiration of his weaselness. Yondu gave up everything for money, and gave up all his money for Peter to be his son. These actions cost him his reputation, his family, and his legacy. And now all he's left with are our unloyal beast who could switch on him, whenever they become unsatisfied with his leadership, which gets put to risk constantly because of his love toward Peter. Like Rocket, Yondu craves companionship, and like Rocket, he masks his feelings with anger and resentment. But confronted with the truth, that bubble is popped, and he's left with the consequences of his actions. Looking for the Guardians of the Galaxy, Yondu finds Rocket and tries to find another loophole. Upset with his softness, a mutiny started against Yondu, losing everything he had. Imprisoned, Rocket keeps up the persona, being the class clown, even in moments of danger that put him and his friends at risk once again. And once again, he is saved last second by someone else. Rocket's pride and desperation for attention almost cost him and grunt their lives. Yondu sees his character fall on Rocket because he could relate to Rocket, which starts a very important scene. What Yondu has is what I like to call a dickhead detector. Most oftentimes people who have miserable traits can sniff it out in others because they share the same traits of that person. When you see a sad clown being a sad clown in action, it's really easy to tell that person is wearing a mask. But get that sad clown in a one-on-one setting, it's really easy to pick them apart and see who they really are, because the same has most likely happened to you. Yondu screwed up his life, and he sees that Rocket is heading toward the same path as him, so he tries to level with him and show him the warning signs. But in Rocket's fashion, he deflects and doesn't take accountability, he even tells a lie. Rocket puts on the entire show for this discussion. Deflects blame, doesn't take accountability, doesn't listen and belittles Yondu after a vulnerable moment for self-validation. But you'll never hear the horns of freedom when you die, Yondu. You broke all our hearts. This is what I deserve. Slow down, drama queen. You might deserve this, but I don't. We gotta get out of here. Where's Quill? Eh, went off with his old man. Eagle? Yeah, it's a day for dumbass names. You smiled, and for a second I got a warm feeling, but then it was ruined by those disgusting ass teeth. You're like a professional asshole or what? Pretty much a bro. But Rocket was listening. He knows that if he continues this journey, he could possibly be like Yondu, so he asks Yondu about Pete, asking why he risked everything for this kid, and being a dickhead, he has the dickhead detector as well, and sees that Yondu's putting up a mask, not accepting his feelings, where Rocket can sniff out the lie, just like him. Why didn't you deliver Quill the ego like you promised? He was skinny, could fit into places we couldn't, could fit deep in. This makes Rocket insecure, that he really is just like Yondu, and instead of dealing with a head-on, he denies, denies, and moves on. Eventually Rocket grew and Yondu break out of prison, and just like the batteries, the ship, taser face, Rocket's pride and ego, thinking he knows everything, puts everybody's life at danger again, and Yondu has had enough of it, seeing that it's his responsibility to stop the sad clown from losing the only family he has. We're here to save Quill. For what? Huh? For honor? For love? No, I don't care about those things. I want to save Quill so I can prove her better than him. I can lord this over him forever. What are you laughing at me for? You can fool yourself and everyone else, but you can't fool me. I know who you are. You don't know anything about me, loser. I know everything about you. I know you play like you're the meanest and the hardest, but actually you're the most scared of all. Shut up. I know you're still batteries you don't need, and you push away anyone who's willing to put up with you because just a little bit of love reminds you how big and empty that hole inside you actually is. They said shut up. I know them scientists what made you never gave a rat's ass about you. I'm serious dude. Just like my own damn parents who saw me, the old little baby in the slavery. I know who you are, boy, because you're me. This scene is a test of everything in Rocket, ripping apart each mask one by one, stripping him of his walls. The goal isn't to piss off Rocket or belittle Rocket, but make him so insecure that he understands why he is the way he is. Every word said was true. It sits with Rocket and shocks his worldview. He's been held accountable by someone who fully relates to him. Yondu calls him out with nothing to gain. No pedestal. No one up. Just a raw reality check for a friend that he sees going down the wrong path. Rocket finds every excuse to not accept who he is, but now with no more mask, he has to face what he thinks of himself. A little monster that pushes everyone away. Later, Yondu confronts all of his past actions and wants redemption. Rocket, relating closely to Yondu, sees this and has full empathy, no longer fearing to be vulnerable. Yondu says how important it is for Rocket to take care of Groot and his friends, and states his mindset behind these actions. Rocket seeing this selflessness from Yondu shows him that damaged people could have a chance at redemption and make up for their past mistakes. That Rocket, with how flawed he is, can be a good person if he allows himself to be, and accepts himself for what he is and moves past it like Yondu. Rocket isn't Yondu though, this isn't his redemption story, and Rocket has to be the observer to a friend sacrificing himself to save the one person he's always loved his whole life, destroying the mask completely, accepting himself and redeeming his past actions. The worldview of Rocket has shifted, and like the first movie, what goes up must come down. Rocket is hit with pain and regret, but also hope. He isn't the same person he is, but he knows what he did was wrong, he knows that he's not a good person, but he also knows that it's not permanent. He gives word to Yondu's old friends about what he did, and they forgive him, and seeing this puts Rocket in a moment of reflection of how bad of a person he was, and he doesn't deflect, he doesn't pin the blame, he just hates himself, reflecting on how his friends are still around and how much of a shitty person he's been to and he tells us to Peter, and Peter doesn't respond with an okay, luckily not, or he almost did, he says of course not, because that's not what a real friend does, they don't give up on you, and with this we head into volume three. Volume two ends with Rocket seeing Yondu's arrow of redemption, and following this Rocket falls into a massive depression. In between volume two and three, Infinity War, Endgame, and Thor Love and Thunder were not handled by James Gunn, but the development of Rocket is still present. He's empathetic, and he even accepts that he has a lot to lose in his life. Rocket is still himself though, so he jokes and taunts, but he's not aggressive and toxic like before, he's grown as a person. He also still plays the father role to Groot, who for a period was a teenager, he then lost his family, he stayed on Earth for five years, and became close with Nebula, who shares a lot of his character traits, and then he got his family back, and it's brushed over quickly. During the Christmas special, Rocket's maturity was also displayed with Cosmo, he has a small moment of relapse, and when challenged, he concedes quickly. Cosmo, what use is telekinesis if you can't even aim? Just concentrate mutt. What? I refuse to do any more work while you demean me. All right, all right, I'm sorry, chill out. He's not flawless, but he's better, and he still doesn't like to be called the R-word. That's a talking record. I'll kill you! Don't ever call me that! But in volume three, we pick up from volume two, where Rocket is in a massive depression. Volume three is heavily centered on the past of Rocket, explaining why he is the way he is, and how his past connects to his now-guilt and insecurity. Rocket is not mad, or hateful, or angry, but he's rather defeated, and depressed. Rocket's arc isn't completed, so he's in a state of limbo. This is shown in the intro. In volume two, Rocket picked up interest from Quill, like his music from Awesome Mix 1 and 2, and since his Walkman was smashed by Ego, Peter got a Zoom, which Rocket takes a massive liking to now as its main care-holder without consent. The beauty of music is that it can be used to bring out emotions. It can enhance a fun party, wedding, or graduation, as well as enhancing discomfort, sadness, and self-hatred, calmness and relatability. The film starts with Rocket's first tragedy, that he was chosen from everyone else because he was the most afraid, staying in place as his littermates through each other at harm's way in hopes of survival. Rocket's innocence was the main reason it was chosen for it to be stripped away from him. Then the film transitions to Rocket as an adult, listening to creep by Radiohead, reiterating the words of Melancholy as we follow him around in his day-to-day life. For those who didn't pay attention, the song is a direct correlation to the headspace of Rocket and how he feels in the beginning of this film. Creep is very literal, stripped to even its basics. I'm a creep, I'm a weirdo, what the hell am I doing here? I don't belong here. And as you go further down the lyrics, it makes even more on-the-nose statements such as, I want to have control, I want a perfect body, I want a perfect soul. Rocket hates what he is, he feels out of place, and he doesn't understand his purpose and doesn't think he should exist at all. While he's now empathetic and much nicer, without shields of mask, he's also now confused with no confidence. He has an interaction with Peter who's also out alone his life, where he remains patient and understanding, but it also displays his main problem. Rocket denies who he is a raccoon. I've seen a lot of people with different interpretations of Rocket's deniability of being a raccoon. I think he knows he's a raccoon, but its context has never been used in a positive light, making him associated with other terms like abomination, rodents, pest, or many other insults and mischaracterizations. Rocket not being a raccoon is Rocket denying who he is and what he is. It's the main road block in his life that is halting his arc. In Volume 1, he accepts the world, and Volume 2 accepts his family, so all he has left to accept is himself. It's why it's important to visit Rocket's past to fully understand why he hates himself and feels that he does not deserve to be redeemed. In Rocket's room, we see the scars and augmentations that we've seen so many times before, but then Rocket looks at an object from his past that he holds guilt for. He's then put into critical condition by Adam Warlock, who's serving the role as a bounty hunter to bring Rocket back to his creator, the High Evolutionary. The plot turns into a situation where he can't be medically saved due to a kill switch designed in him, so no one can mess with his engineering, so they need to bypass the switch to save his life. Rocket is no longer present in the main plot, and from here we get flashbacks from his coma. Through this video, I've explained how Rocket is a messed up guy, but his rage, anger, and self-hatred all has a root. The baby raccoon is experimented on and treated with coldness, becoming intelligent and advanced, but also feeling nothing but complete fear, given the identity of 89P13. He has no understanding of how or why he's in the situation he is. He just only knows the pain he's feeling and that he's scared. And in this horrible state of fear and panic, he sees the rest of Batch 89, who is interested in him, until he's attended by someone with compassion, empathy, and love. The first time he's ever felt a different emotion, other than fear. The creatures he's surrounded by have all gone through what he's gone through, stripped away of body parts replaced by metal and robotics, with no understanding why. But throughout all the pain they endure, their child innocence is not broken. They do not feel like victims or lab rats, but as 89P13 gains more intelligence, he becomes more curious. 89P13 is noticed by his creator because of this, and with that the creator explains his purpose. 89P13 sees a whole world beyond his situation, beautiful blue sky full of wonder that could be voyaged by the rockets flying through the sky. The High Evolutionary is a really interesting character. In his first scene with 89P13, you could see the same child innocence that's shared alongside children. The High Evolutionary is fascinated with history, exploration, and the idea of expanding boundaries of normal life. 89P13 admires his creator and the passion that motivates him to larger goals, and at the same time, his creator validates his genius mind and gives him perspective. His goal is to make a Utopia, turning simple creatures into something greater. 89P13 could have been an average trash panda demonized by society, but now he has a greater purpose, and when completed, he will be a functioning member in that same Utopia. He admires his creator, he has finally found purpose in all the pain and suffering he's gone through. It's for a good cause for both him and his friends, and with this admiration for his creator, he strives to be like him and think like him, trying to help him find solutions to his problems. Doing this 89P13 feels proud and happy, and is now filled with optimism. Child innocence could be a beautiful thing. No matter how bad life could be, it's always good to have friends. With this new sense of purpose and optimism, the batch want identities for the new world they will live in, so one by one, they all choose a name. Well, all being names for silly reasons, 89P13 calls back to what he saw and chooses his identity. Someday, I'm going to make great machines that fly, and me and my friends are going to go flying together into the forever and beautiful sky. Lila, and Teeps, and Floor, and me. Rocket. It really is good to have friends. And just when you thought everything might be looking good for Rocket, he's then hit with a reality check that what he thinks is all delusion. In a vulnerable position, his creator seeks him in a nonsensical state, where before he was seen as an imaginative and patient role model, he is now deranged and spiteful. The solution by Rocket worked to help his creator, but the creator is not proud or impressed, but instead jealous, confused, and agitated. Rocket thinking he did everything right is also just as confused, expecting praise for this accomplishment. But his child innocence still remains. And for a slight second, he's optimistic that they are still going to the New World since the equation has been solved, to then be followed up by the true intentions where Rocket once saw his creator as an ambitious creative, he now sees him as a radical, jealous perfectionist that is angered that the creature he created is now smarter than him. And quickly, Rocket's child innocence is stripped away from him. He has no purpose, and there was never a good ending. But now knowing the truth, his friends' lives depend on him. So instead of being a scared kid, he now needs to be a leader and a hero. From a fear of a bad outcome, Rocket has been smuggling parts to recreate an access key to their cages, the same access key he still holds as an adult. He needs to break his friends out and escape. He succeeds at making the access key and meets the first person who's ever showed him love, as they join with an embrace standing in front of one another for the first time, for it to only be stripped from him in an instant by his own creator. Tiefs and Floor who were once skeptical and excited are now shocked and panicked, wanting only to escape this false reality. And Rocket, who is full of grief and an extreme amount of sadness, begins to break down. And still, even in this state of loss and sadness, his creator refuses to respect his existence, still seeing the batch as disposable lab rats that could be abused and manipulated easily. He overlooks that a possible result of extreme sadness and trauma can be rage. Complete character death, where Rocket was once intimidated and mesmerized by his creator, he's now filled with blinding rage as he rips him apart, so blind that he forgets about the rest of his friends who are still in danger. While in this frenzy, Floor is in full panic, reiterating the same sentence over and over again. Even Tiefs asks Rocket to stop, begging for him to save them. Still blinded, he continues to rip his creator to shreds before snapping back to reality, and then he faces the consequences of his actions. Rocket's anger and rage distracted him from saving Floor and Tiefs, who were killed by incoming fire. Instead of being consumed by sadness or anger, he's consumed by guilt and emptiness. Going back to Volume 1, it's why Rocket was so passionate to Drax. Rocket was in the exact same predicament, and his passion toward the death of Lila blinded him from saving the rest of his friends, who were still alive. Rocket then steals a ship and escapes, and as he leaves, we see his child innocence fully die. We see his grief die, and his sadness die, and he pushes out everything, birthing the Rocket we see in Volume 1, someone who hates the world and everyone in it. But after such a troubled history, Rocket has healed. He found new friends, he learned how to love again, and he learned to be a better person, and he has a new family. And while he goes through these memories of how he got all his friends killed, he continues to hate himself. He's a little freak, he's a piece of shit who treated everyone like trash, and everyone hates him. But that same guy who said he would never give up on him, never gave up on him. Through the coma, Peter and his family have been on a journey to help save the member of that same family. Rocket is not alone, or hated at all. He has a family who loves him, and cares for him, and does not want to see him die. And even in death, they still refuse to let him go. And in this state of death, Rocket is finally confronted by his internal conflict. Seeing Lila and his friends, he apologizes, still hating himself and blaming himself for their deaths. But the conversation takes a shift. The deaths of Tiefs Lila and Floor was never Rocket's fault. They were all victims of something despicable and evil, including Rocket. And the cruelness made him heartened, but he is not the bad person he believes he is. Wanting to join Lila and his friends in the forever, he's accepted, then denied. Because his story is not over yet. Rocket listens to Lila's words but is still confused and has questions. What's his purpose? What is his arrow of redemption? And how is he the hands that guide the hands? What is his story? And toward the end of the conversation, he still denies what he is, a raccoon. But coming back to life, he's comforted by something he forgot he had, love and family. The thing he partially had back then, he fully has now. And after reliving his tragic life and having his friends see how tragic it was, they hug him and tell him how much they love him. So he knows. And after a joke, Rocket's past comes back to haunt him. This is the first time Rocket learns about the high evolutionary's desire for him. The curse of perfectionism has him seeking for Rocket's mind so that he can understand how something he created can see the things that he cannot. Trying to get him, he holds his friends hostage. To get his friends back, Rocket enters a dogfight and wins, crash landing in his childhood home alongside the other guardians. Where the original goal was to save his friends and leave, his friends are now free and tell him about the children that the high evolutionary has captive on the ship. The group debates on leaving are staying to help and understanding the predicament of these kids on the ship since he was also in the exact same position himself, Rocket's done running from his past and is ready to face the head on. And after saying this, he doesn't run for the rest of the film. And it's also pretty neat how everyone slides for him. And after a fight and getting all the high life forms off the ship, Rocket hears a familiar sound he hasn't heard in a while. Heading toward the sound, he sees a litter of baby raccoons in the same position he was as a child. Seeing these creatures locked up, he pulls out the object that has haunted him his whole life. What he sees as his greatest failure is used for other people's salvation. Something so demonized for being a mistake is now the key to other safety. Using the key, Rocket faces the children and everything makes sense. For so long, Rocket has felt out of place, an abomination that has no place in the world, a disposable monster. But reading the word raccoon, he sees that his outlook in life was wrong. Rocket was a victim to horrible people, and Rocket was not the only one. A bunch of creatures like him are going to suffer all the bad things he had to suffer with no voice and no way to fight. All they had was innocence and fear before seeing Rocket. When these creatures see Rocket, they're not disgusted or annoyed, they're full of hope. He's not a monster, he's not a freak, and he has a purpose. Rocket will never get back what he lost, but he could live as what he is now, and be the hand that guides the hands. He could be the one that saves the innocent. Rocket was never saved as a kid, but he now could be the protector that he always needed. Everything Rocket has gone through has led him to this position. His greater meaning is not to himself, but to others just like him. The lower life forms who do not have the privilege of his intelligence to save themselves. He couldn't save his friends then, but he'd save all these innocent creatures now. And for the final test, Rocket meets his creator again. The high evolutionary, who was the root of all of Rocket's insecurities, attempts to strip Rocket of his new purpose. And in the face of adversity, 89P13 accepts who he is, the voice and protector of the innocent. With help of his friends, Rocket sheds his past and learns to move past it. And in a moment of vulnerability, Rocket explains to his creator why he is wrong. Relating to his creator about how his mindset was the wrong way to go about life, the high evolutionary was never satisfied. He never cared about Utopia. He just wanted to be the God who made it. And unlike his creator, he will not be consumed by his past. He can't dwell on all the wrong he's done in his life. Being consumed by what could have been, while reflecting on every failure that haunts him, he needs to live now. He needs to be better. His arrow of redemption is serving a purpose higher than himself. Rocket could be like how he was before, and get his revenge. But he isn't that person anymore. He isn't an abomination that hates the world. After saving all the lifeforms on the ship, Rocket sits with all his friends. People grow up and split apart. It's the bittersweet of growing up. We all have our own identities and have to go down our own path. Faced with this information, Rocket is terrified. All he ever wanted was the family he has now. And it's all going away. And he will be alone again. But Peter, who was always by his side, explains to Rocket that while everyone has to go in different directions, that he still has an obligation. Rocket, who once didn't care if the world died, who didn't care about anyone but him, is now given the keys to serve his purpose. He said it earlier, he is a guardian of the galaxy. And while all the others find themselves, he will continue as captain and serve his higher purpose. As captain, we now see Rocket in the same position from the start, but not in the same position. At the beginning of the film, he had a Zoom, he stole it to play Creep. And now he has the Zoom that was given to him to play Dog Days Are Over. In the same fashion, it's quite literal. The Dog Days Are Over. Rocket has won, and now he's happy. Dancing with all of his friends, overcoming all the obstacles in his life, Rocket can now finally be happy. I think it's pretty clear from watching this video that I love Rocket Raccoon. And the only way to make this video was to be honest. People are extremely complex, and we're not always perfect. Like I've said before, I've been bad to people, but I'm not a bad person. It's really easy to feel like it sometimes, but I know deep down that I have made so many people's lives greater and that they love to have me in them. Rocket is a beautiful character study of depression, self-hatred, and guilt. But he's also a beautiful character study of self-love, purpose, accountability, redemption, and perseverance. No matter how bad you've been, you could always be a good person. You could be kind, you could be loving, you're not doomed. If you feel like Rocket, take it from someone who's felt like him too. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. There is an arrow of redemption. And if you have someone else who is a Rocket in your life, please be patient and please understand that they are happy you are in their life. They might not always show it, or say it, or demonstrate it, but they are. And please just check up on them, and if you genuinely love them, please remind them that, because sometimes that's all it takes. People are complicated, but people are also beautiful. Thank you, James Gunn, for saving my life and giving me purpose. This little CGI creature means the world to me, and I'm happy I have this platform to talk about it with you. My name's Skipper, and thank you for listening to me. And if you have anything to say, I'll be reading every comment on this video. To those who support me, I love you. You matter. Thank you. I know good men don't exist, Lord. Righteous men exist. Strong men don't exist, Lord. Undying men exist. Weak men don't exist, Lord. Just flesh and blood exist.