Unless you’ve been on a social media blackout, or you haven’t watched either of them (in which case, please leave) you’ve seen this phrase being bandied about a lot. This last weekend was a seismic one in pop cultural entertainment.
Let it be known that this post is full of spoilers for Game Of Thrones & Avengers: Endgame.
In the end, when the world needed saving, it called upon the Starks.
The Avengers were up against their biggest villain yet, someone who had just a year ago, reduced the entire living universe by half, and our heroes to shells of the once-powerful beings they were. Except maybe Thor, who went full Lebowski.
And back in Westeros, Daenerys and her new found allies in the North, were battling for their very existence, against an enemy who felt no pain, who didn’t tire, and seemingly could not be killed. Again.
Both instances were decade-long stories, culminating in this one weekend. Both were epic battles, with the odds stacked heavily against the ‘good guys’. And both were seemingly seconds away from catastrophic defeat.
But both also had a Stark up their sleeve.
Yes, yes, Winterfell had three Starks (4 if you count Jon) but Sansa was hiding in the crypts, Jon was busy screaming in the battlefield, and Bran was… Okay, so Bran was being Bran. So obviously, it was down to Arya.
Arya and Tony.
Two Starks cut from the same cloth. Two Starks who’ve both been on crazy journeys over the last decade.
A decade long journey that finally culminated in that one moment for both of them. For Arya, it was one on one with the Night King, with the catspaw dagger that started this whole mess in the first place.
And with Tony, it was with a completed gauntlet, facing down the foe that has haunted him for years, with that now iconic line that started it all.
When all hope seemed lost, when Bran was at the mercy of the Night King, Arya ghosted in from the shadows.
Some may call it anti-climatic, but the point is neither you, me or even the Night King saw her coming.
And back in Avenger HQ (or what’s left of it), when Thanos was seemingly just a snap away from obliterating the universe, Tony stepped in.
He knew what it would cost, and did it anyway.
So here’s to the Starks, Arya and Tony. Because in the end, when the world needed saving, that’s who it called upon.
