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A frequent criticism of Peter "Starlord" Quill is that, in an outburst on Titan, he disrupted a plan to rob Thanos of the Infinity Gauntlet, an action which later would result in the murder of half of all life in the universe(including himself) at the hands of Thanos. It has been argued frequently that for failing to stop Thanos and specifically disrupting the best chance to stop him, Quill is a mass murderer.
Balderdash! Quill himself did not murder anyone in this situation. Quill is only responsible for causing the plan to stop Thanos to fail. Thanos is still the cause of the "deaths" of half the population of the universe; entirely independantly of Peter Quill.
If one claims that Peter Quill bears responsibility for Thanos' "murders", this suggests that those that fail to prevent evil acts are responsible for those acts. This is a fundimentally flawed aurgument that undermines the free will and agency of the villian.
By blaming Star Lord for Thanos's murders, Thanos' evil act is diminished; his choice is stolen from him. Thanos' act becomes no more menevolent than a tornado that destroys a house, a wild animal that kills and eats your pet, or John Cena suddenly appearing behind you with a surprise chokeslam. Unfortunate and unpleasant events to be sure, but he would not be the one to blame at all since Star Lord is at fault for failing to stop him. I reject the idea that Star Lord is responsible for any deaths at all. Star Lord AKA, Peter Quill was simply not intending to make the choice to let the plan to stop Thanos fail. Star Lord failed because in his moment of rage he was blinded to the consequences of his actions. And that consequence was simply failing to contain Thanos. It was still very much Thanos' responsibility for those he "murdered".
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