Endgame

This is a spoiler heavy article.

You’ve been warned.

***SPOILERS***

So, on that note, let’s start with the biggest spoiler of the entire film : Does Iron Man die?

No, no he does not.

I appreciate some people who watched the movie may disagree. I can see why they have got confused, what with it showing him die, without any wiggle room for doubt. I mean it’s not subtle, it’s not questionable, he’s very dead. Or is he?

Let’s try something else. Do Jean and Scott die in X-Men: Last Stand.

Sure, they do, but then timey- wimey stuff and they’re fine at the end of Days of Future Past.

But, timey-wimey stuff and Tony still ends up dead right? Only because Endgame breaks the golden rule of time travel movies. 

Finish on the final timeline, not the original timeline. 

It is very common for bad stuff to happen in the original timeline, and various timelines in the middle can get even worse, but the film ends on the final timeline which sees everything working out nicely.

Now, Endgame itself lists a bunch of these other movies and states that they are bullshit for using the “wrong” theory for how time travel works. But, even when the multi-verse theory used by Endgame is used, the golden rule still normally applies. Take Dragonball Z for example. Same time travel theory, do most of the main characters die? In the original timeline, yes, they’re all slaughtered by the Androids along with a high proportion of humanity. But that is NOT the timeline the story focuses on. It is the last, not the original, timeline that is considered to be the main one. The last timeline has everyone saved thanks to Trunks warnings from the alternative (original) future.

Endgame breaks the golden rule. It focuses entirely on the original timeline from start to finish. In this original timeline, Dr Strange informs Tony that the 1 in 14 million chance for them to “win” relies on Tony’s sacrifice. For an original timeline, it ends reasonably happily. Yes, Tony dies, but the vast majority of people don’t. 

But was this the “win” Dr Strange was talking about? Sure it definitely could count as a win, but let’s take another look if we applied the Golden Rule and finished this movie like every other time travel film.

After witnessing Tony’s death, Captain America goes back one more time. And stays there. It is hinted at that a big reason for Captain America’s decision is because Tony died - is this still part of Dr Strange’s plan?

It is this timeline that the Captain stays in that is the last timeline created, hence this final timeline that *should* have been the end of the movie.

What happens in this final timeline? Good question. The film skips that part. But you can make a few fairly safe assumptions based on how happy the Captain appears to be at the end of it:

Captain America lives his life with the love of his life.

He saves Bucky from becoming the Winter Solider.

He stops Hydra from infiltrating Shield.

He saves Tony’s parents. He probably becomes like an uncle to Tony growing up. He encourages Tony to use his gifts for the good of humanity a lot sooner.

He prevents Thanos from ever getting the infinity stones. This could be done in various plausible ways, but he definitely does it. That smile is not from a man who just lived through the flick a second time around.

You can assume various other things about this final timeline, pretty much all of it good. Captain America has detailed knowledge of the future for Earth, Asguard and beyond, with decades to put right what once went wrong. And it ends with him smiling.

He keeps Tony alive.

Maybe that’s Dr Strange’s real win?