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One of the toughest battles the Avengers ever fought resulted in a very personal and devastating loss for Captain America.
The Sentinel of Liberty in the Marvel Universe, Captain America, is usually regarded as a major fixture in the superhero community; he remains one of the great inspirations for people all over the world. But at his core, the original Captain America (Steve Rogers) has had to deal with all the lingering pains one would expect from a man who was taken from his own time, and it can resurface in the most painful of ways.
In one of the most famous Avengers storylines of all-time — Avengers: Under Siege, which ran from Avengers #270 through #277 by Roger Stern and John Buscema — Captain America suffered one of his most seemingly minor losses to Baron Zemo. But when the full weight of what he lost is revealed, it speaks to the inherent tragedy at the core of the character.
Avengers: Under Siege focused on a tumultuous time for the Avengers. The team’s official roster — Captain America, Wasp, Black Knight, Spectrum (during her time as Captain Marvel), and Hercules had recently introduced Namor to their number, causing backlash from the public. Meanwhile, Hercules was increasingly combative with Wasp, who was serving as the chairperson for the Avengers. All of this left the Avengers particularly open to an attack from a genuinely massive new version of the Masters of Evil. Helmut’s team consisted of Absorbing Man, Titania, Mister Hyde, the Wrecking Crew, Moonstone, Fixer, Screaming Mimi, Tiger Shark, Whirlwind, Black Mamba, Goliath, Grey Gargoyle, and Yellowjacket — with the intention of overwhelming the heroes by sheer numbers.
With a mentally broken Blackout as their secret weapon, the team waged an unexpected and deadly attack on the Avengers Mansion, using Blackout to cut off the heroes from their allies and preventing reinforcements from arriving for a time. The opening salvo left the team divided — with Captain Marvel believed dead, Hercules in a coma, and Captain America, Black Knight, and the Avengers’ loyal butler Jarvis captured. Personally committed to breaking Captain America, Zemo tried multiple means to morally crush the hero. In an attempt to emotionally shatter Rogers before killing him, Zemo increasingly tried to push him to the edge — first by having his allies find the last of Captain America’s possessions (such as his original shield) and destroy them, even unleashing Hyde against Jarvis.
Jarvis was almost killed by the beating, with Captain America forced to do nothing but watch. At the time and in the heat of battle, Captain America’s resolve was not shaken, and he eventually helped lead the Avengers to defeat Zemo — shocking his enemy with his force of will. But after the battle, Captain Marvel found Captain America amongst the rubble of his old room, surrounded by the last traces of his old life torn asunder by their enemies. He was quietly crying out of the loss he felt and holding the ripped shreds of the last picture he had of his mother. Captain Marvel helped him accept that it’s okay for him to be emotionally shaken by the experience, and to feel grief over some of the last vestiges of his old life being ripped to shreds in front of him.
It’s a genuinely heartbreaking reveal for Captain America and a good reminder of the inherent tragedy at the heart of the character. At his core, Captain America is a man out of time, removed from the world he grew up in. And while the lessons he learned in his youth continue to inspire him (and countless others) in the present day, it remains tragic that outside of the handful of people who’d survived in the present day that everything as he knew it was gone the second he was frozen.
Those last few remains of his original life mean very little to people like Hyde, but following this battle Captain America had to effectively lose his last connection to his original life all over again. The fact he could keep fighting is a testament to his will — but it’s his grief afterward that proves beneath it all, he’s still very much human.
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