Sometimes I really get pissed off when I see posts about people complaining about Steve’s ending in Endgame. And every complaint I’ve ever seen thus far goes like this:
“Omg, how dare he leave Bucky all alone by himself??”
“I CANNOT BELIEVE HE LEFT BUCKY!”
“STEVE LEFT HIS BUCKY?? STEVE WOULD NEVER”
Cool. Steve left his best friend behind to go live his life and yall wanna commit murder. I get it, that’s fine. It’s okay to feel passionate about your ships. However, I never see any of yall complain about Steve’s treatment of Sam?
There’s a couple of points I wanna make, so lemme list them one by one.
- - Bucky is his own person. His life doesn’t revolve around Steve. He’s a man of his own agency. Even if you ship him with Steve, Bucky is allowed to feel heartbreak and heal from that without his entire character being dependent on Steve.
- - Steve is his own person. While shippers tend to believe that Steve’s entire focus was Bucky and Bucky alone, they are quick to erase other valid people he’s extremely close to and loves deeply. The mains being Nat, Sam, and Wanda. Steve has many people in his life that he would do anything for. It’s not just Bucky. Bucky was the catalyst in the movies, sure, but if Bucky’s predicament was replaced with Nat or Sam, you best believe Steve Rogers would make the exact same decisions for them. Steve’s entire life isn’t dependent on Bucky. And vice versa.
So when Steve makes the decision to go back in Endgame, it’s not about Bucky. It’s about Steve making a choice for himself, and he did the responsible thing and he talked to Bucky and told him what he was going to do. Steve was not wrong for leaving in Endgame. Steve was wrong for not telling Sam.
When Sam first met Steve, he was (is still) a recovering vet. Sam and Steve became fast friends and it took Sam no time at all to decide that he’s willing to risk his life over and over again for Steve Rogers.
That’s not even the beginning of Sam’s devotion or loyalty. Sam then spends the next two years of his timeline not going back to his own life. He’s searching the world for Bucky (as stated in AOU). He doesn’t need to do this, but he does it for Steve because he’s a good friend, but more than that, he’s a good man.
Then, he refuses to sign the accords and sacrifices himself and gets tossed in an underwater prison. I don’t even want to get into what they did to Sam down there. If the raft is anything like the raft in the comics, he was probably tortured and waterboarded for shits and giggles.
And even after being imprisoned, Sam smiles, and decides to quietly and discreetly save the world with Steve and Nat.
Sam’s loyalty, Sam’s endurance, Sam’s love -- all of that was tossed in the garbage without a second thought by Steve Rogers.
I don’t care if people say ‘well, he gave sam the shield’ LMAO What the fuck does that matter? The Shield means shit all to Sam. I can’t imagine the actual pain Sam must’ve gone through once he realized that the white man he literally spent almost a decade helping and saving gave no real shits about him.
Only Bucky was worth the goodbye and honesty. Sam wasn’t.
So when ya’ll complain about Steve leaving little Binky behind -- I can’t help but laugh at yall. That’s what you’re mad about?
If I was Sam -- I too would’ve gotten rid of that dirty ass shield as fast as I can.
