>>97648773Others have already spelled it out in a number of ways, but for some reason You and CS seem not to get Ego loved Meredith longer than Peter and killed her after enough contemplating on the expansion, so he not knowing how much Peter revered her he assumed he'd fall in line.
The movie hints much of Ego's affected behavior towards Peter is from things he's overheard about him, his need to be considered this famous cool hero, Starlord, so he'll want to be more than just a guy, trying to warp his love of 80s songs to reflect the thoughts of a god instead of a tragic human. It's so obvious even Peter, who knows the reality is he dreams of those things but they're not the case, smells something's up. Ego only seems to register how much Peter loved Meredith when he tells and confronts Ego about abandoning her, and for once he has no real canned response. He just says he didn't want to wither and "had" to leave, even though he could have just brought her with him, and then throws out something about not wanting to return to a world without her once she was dead. It's not this genius thing, but it was a moment for me that spelled out to me how Ego's mind works, once he doesn't have material to connect with someone he defaults to Me Me Me.
Anyway, last but not least Mantis tells the group that she suspects Ego will have converted Peter at a point, so the implication is this expanse viewing thing brainwashes. Ego said it because he was recalling the moment from his perspective, the way anyone would talk dismissively about a bad experience in company they assume won't object. I will say Peter even asking about Meredith in a trance should have cued to him lingering focus elsewhere, but I gather Ego just thought it lingering curiosity that would subside the way his grief over it did.
What I don't get is why he cancer'd her when the Expanse would have killed her anyway.
