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After becoming zombified in the newest What If…?, Steve is given a harsh farewell by his closest friend.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for What If…? Season 1, Episode 5, “What If… Zombies!?,” streaming now on Disney+.
Marvel’s What If…? is no stranger to small tragedies, and in “What If… Zombies!?” that seems to be the fate for Steve and Bucky. In this dark hour we see their signature line, referencing the “end of the line,” reach the worst possible conclusion.
The final confrontation between the two was far more bitter than sweet, and given the short runtime of these episodes, did not last very long. Bucky was forced to fight his best friend, who’d been turned into a zombie like many other Avengers, and there is little satisfaction in the fact that he won.
The What If…? series is pretty comfortable with killing off major characters at this point, having proved in previous episodes that anyone is fair game in these alternate universe scenarios. In this episode, nearly all of the original core Avengers are turned into zombies, including Steve Rogers. Unfortunately, this means that the remaining heroes are chased through Manhattan and onto a train by these zombies, and a zombified Steve manages to sneak his way onboard and turn Sharon Carter during his rampage.
Bucky does not get there in time to save Sharon, but he does manage to fight off Steve. It is, given the constraints of the episode, a rather short fight, but Steve was probably not bringing his best work to the table considering he was undead at this point. Using the Captain America shield, Bucky promptly bisects Steve at the belly and kicks him off the moving train, which is an unfortunate parallel to his own near demise in Captain America: The First Avenger. As Steve goes, Bucky says, “Sorry, pal. I guess this is the end of the line.”
This is a reference to the well known line from Captain America: The Winter Soldier, “I’m with you ’til the end of the line,” spoken first by Bucky, then echoed by Steve. The phrase was first meant to reassure Steve that Bucky would always be there for him after his mother’s funeral, and then at the end of the film it was meant to remind Bucky that Steve was still, after everything Bucky had done while brainwashed, willing to lay down everything for him. It is a pretty common reference to their friendship, as well as the strength of their connection, which has weathered decades of hardships and tragedy. Unfortunately, it could not weather a zombie apocalypse.
Bucky telling Steve that it is the “end of the line” is an incredibly bleak turn when recalling what the phrase meant to both characters. In The Winter Soldier Steve was more or less willing to die to convince Bucky to come back to himself and remember who he was. Since Bucky had no interest in trying to bring Steve back to his senses, or appeal to the man he once knew, it’s clear that this Bucky had given up hope that the Steve he knew was still there before the fight even began. Calling it “the end of the line” means that Bucky has effectively mourned Steve, and he is at the very least comfortable with the fact that he has to kill him.
Earlier in the episode, Bucky had to kill Sam Wilson, something that did not actually bother him all that much, despite the fact that it is pointed out that they are friends. It seems that Bucky’s attitude toward the zombies is that they are no longer the people they once were, and therefore killing them is not actually much of a problem. Though it probably helps that it is a kill or be killed situation. Regardless, it is a tragic end to the long-lasting bond Steve and Bucky shared.
The newest episode of What If…? is streaming now on Disney+. New episodes are available every Wednesday.
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