Grimlock ♥ Ultra Magnus

It turns out that getting to Earth was about something, something deep, something that influenced Groot and changed his life.   Everything else?   Well, that was just the journey.   See, Groot needed to find someone, to thank them, to catch up with them, before either of them lost the time to say hello, thank you, this is what's been happening with me. 

And it made me tear up a bit. 

It was a beautiful, touching moment.   And that isn't to say that this issue didn't have the irreverence that it had before.   It was funny, it poked fun at a whole bunch of things in the Marvel universe - and in ours - and it focused a lot on Groot and Rocket, at least until the last half, when Groot finally did what he came to Earth to do. 

And the whole gratitude, and focus on friendship's forged in fire, isn't that odd: the journey has been full of friendships tested, and proven, and gratitude for the company of good friends who would walk through fire for each other.   It may not have ended with Groot and Rocket sharing that friendship, but Rocket often points out that Groot is more amiable, more optimistic, and makes friends far more easily.   It isn't surprising that it ends with Groot and another person who was close to him, although he'd only known her briefly before this.  

It isn't surprising at all.   And it's lovely how that doesn't take away from Groot and Rocket; Rocket is quietly tabled, although I would argue that it's more than that.   Rocket leaves Groot to his business, respects his need for other friends, and time alone with them, and is comfortable enough to realize that this diminishes his friendship with Groot by absolutely nothing.   None of this is said, but the series leading up to it said it well enough. 

Another thing that is left unsaid is that Groot will go back to Rocket, and they'll leave Earth together, to continue their friendship and adventures.   It's not even a question.   And it's a testament to this series that it doesn't have to be said.   It's been said via the first five issues and the first half of this one.   Saying it again would only diminish the beauty of this ending, and everything that had built up before this.   

No, leaving these things unsaid is a beauty all its own.    It was far more powerful an ending to this miniseries than I could have hoped for.   I look forward to more work by Loveness.