there is only one reason steve rogers was not shot through the back of the head in this exact moment. a news helicopter. the only reason he was not killed by a strike team who he worked w, maybe even trusted, merely days before is because hydra couldn’t have captain america’s murder recorded and broadcasted on live television
it’s also interesting to note that this is steve giving up. this is steve stopping fighting. this is a broken man. this is a man who knows he’s going to die.
hydra has, whether intentionally or not, torn this man apart, attacking every aspect of who he is. project insight weakened his trust in the govt and what he’s been fighting for. Fury’s death and the realization that hydra had infiltrated shield and the very agents and teams he had been working with for years were potential enemies was another blow to the outer edge of steve; his career.
next, they attack his image & turn him into a fugitive. they turn his colleagues, they turn America, against him
then, the hits started to come closer to home. he’s led to the base he trained on, with photos of bucky and Peggy and stark hanging on the wall. & right below them, zola. zola, the man linked directly to bucky’s death, the man he let go in that first hydra base, was right there in front of him, untouchable and telling steve his life, his death, was pointless. hydra had persevered and flourished.
at this point steve is wounded. he has natasha, he has sam, but his life has been torn down around him, his values and beliefs are being questioned and challenged, and he is the number one fugitive in america. he’s on shaky ground, he’s swimming against a current that keeps getting stronger.
then, finally, a cumulation of it all, comes the winter soldier. the mask comes off and it’s all over. steven grant rogers has been attacked at his very core, and he’s been broken. shattered. he cannot fight, he cannot bring himself to save himself. w/o the news helicopter and Maria hill, steve rogers would have been killed.
the1timetraveller 