In my headcanon, Steve maybe thinks he can slip into this anonymous low-key life in the past, but without really thinking it through. It takes him maybe a day to realise that he'd have to live every day knowing Bucky is in captivity being tortured and broken, and like you say, how could he possibly live with that? Every story I can imagine ends up with him running a crazy solo mission into some Hydra stronghold to get Bucky out.
So there can't be a single time loop that ends with Bucky not being rescued. But if it's a multi verse, how is old Steve there in the final scene? Does he transition back from his alternative timeline?
Oh hang on. What if there's a reason Steve can't save Bucky? Like he gets a glimpse of how, in an alternative timeline, if Bucky doesn't assassinate him, Howard Stark Sr creates a race of super soldiers who destroy the civilised world. So he has to endure the torment of not acting. Unpleasant but not out of character at least.
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Date: 2019-08-08 10:20 am (UTC)In my headcanon, Steve maybe thinks he can slip into this anonymous low-key life in the past, but without really thinking it through. It takes him maybe a day to realise that he'd have to live every day knowing Bucky is in captivity being tortured and broken, and like you say, how could he possibly live with that? Every story I can imagine ends up with him running a crazy solo mission into some Hydra stronghold to get Bucky out.
So there can't be a single time loop that ends with Bucky not being rescued. But if it's a multi verse, how is old Steve there in the final scene? Does he transition back from his alternative timeline?
Oh hang on. What if there's a reason Steve can't save Bucky? Like he gets a glimpse of how, in an alternative timeline, if Bucky doesn't assassinate him, Howard Stark Sr creates a race of super soldiers who destroy the civilised world. So he has to endure the torment of not acting. Unpleasant but not out of character at least.
Thanks for the food for thought!