capslockapocalypse:
poutysoldier:
Steve’s first shield was neither the shield he had before he saved the 107th, nor was it the vibranium shield we’ve all become accustomed to.
Steve’s first shield was Bucky.
SHU T U P SHUT UP SHUT UP
And he was technically his last too.
It’s interesting to consider the parallels between FA and WS and how it seems to speak of some punishment from trying to upset the natural order of things. Bucky is Steve’s protector and savior. That’s the way the universe has seen fit to arrange things. Steve’s post-serum hero man persona started to flip this, but ultimately he couldn’t save Bucky because that is just not the way it works…that’s not his role and the punishment for trying to fit into it was failure.
And at the end of WS, you think the whole movie has been about Steve once again trying to save Bucky, but it’s not. Steve is the one lost and lonely and has nothing to make him happy. And then Bucky comes back. And, yes, Bucky is going to need some help (a lot of help), but essentially Bucky’s reemergence signals the start to Steve being saved. And at the end when Steve’s horribly injured and falling from the hellicarrier, that’s the moment the dynamic is starting to shift back to what it’s supposed to be and is, significantly, the thing that begins the Winter Soldier’s deprogramming.
And, even worse, Bucky is actually able to accomplish what Steve failed to do – save his friend from falling. Because that is the role he is supposed to play. That’s his “mission”, I suppose, in life. And while Steve can look out for Bucky and help Bucky, ultimately saving Bucky is not Steve’s mission.
But by letting himself be saved by Bucky, he is saving Bucky because he’s allowing them to play the roles they were meant to play, unlike what he did in FA. And that’s the only way either one of them can actually survive (and be happy).
Seriously though, this is brilliant.