The point of the sacrifice
Natasha and Clint arrive.
CLINT BARTON: Wow– Under different circumstances, this would be totally awesome.
[Natasha and Clint starts walking towards the mountain and climb it.]
NATASHA ROMANOFF: I bet the raccoon didn't have to climb a mountain.
CLINT BARTON: Technically, he's not a raccoon, you know.
NATASHA ROMANOFF: Whatever. He eats garbage
RED SKULL (2014): Welcome. [Natasha and Clint draws their weapons.] Natasha, daughter of Ivan. Clint, son of Edith.
NATASHA ROMANOFF: Who are you?
RED SKULL (2014): Consider me a guide. To you, and to all who seek the Soul Stone.
NATASHA ROMANOFF: Oh, good. You tell us where it is. Then we'll be on our way.
RED SKULL (2014): Ah, liebchen– If only it were that easy.
[Red Skull leads Clint and Natasha to the cliff]
RED SKULL (2014): What you seek lies in front of you... as does what you fear.
NATASHA ROMANOFF: The stone is down there.
RED SKULL (2014): For one of you. For the other... In order to take the stone, you must lose that which you love. An everlasting exchange. A soul, for a soul.
[scene cuts to Natasha sitting on a log while Clint watches the Stonekeeper.]
CLINT BARTON: How's it going? Jesus...Maybe he's making this shit up.
NATASHA ROMANOFF: No. I don't think so.
CLINT BARTON: Why, 'cause he knows your Daddy's name?
NATASHA ROMANOFF: I didn't. Thanos left here with the stone without his daughter. It's not a coincidence.
CLINT BARTON: Yeah.
NATASHA ROMANOFF: Whatever it takes.
CLINT BARTON: Whatever it takes.
This is the line when EVERYONE hold their breath, just to note, she said it first.
[Natasha stands up.]
NATASHA ROMANOFF: If we don't get that stone, billions of people stay dead.
CLINT BARTON: Then I guess we both know who it's gotta be.
NATASHA ROMANOFF: I guess we do.
[Clint holds Natasha's hand and she reciprocates and they look at each other]
CLINT BARTON: I'm starting to think– we mean different people here, Natasha.
NATASHA ROMANOFF: For the last five years I've been trying to do one thing: Get to right here. That's all it's been about. Bringing everybody back.
CLINT BARTON: Oh, don't you get all decent on me now.
NATASHA ROMANOFF: What, you think I wanna do it? I'm trying to save your life, you idiot.
CLINT BARTON: Yeah, well, I don't want you to, because I– Natasha, you know what I've done. You know what I've become.
NATASHA ROMANOFF: Oh I don't judge people on their worst mistakes.
CLINT BARTON: Maybe you should.
NATASHA ROMANOFF: You didn't.
This beautiful tragic moment. There was NEVER going to be another outcome.
Natasha is amazing, but she said from the first Avengers film back in 2012 – “I’ve got red in my ledger, I’d like to wipe it out”.
The tiny smile on her face as she says "You didn't" shatters my heart into a million pieces.
I have no doubt, if she's been there with anyone else: Steve, Bruce even Tony - the outcome would have been the same.
CLINT BARTON: You're a pain in my ass, you know that? [Both Clint and Natasha lean their heads against each other] Okay. You win. [Clint smiles and knocks Natasha to the ground] Tell my family I love them.
[Natasha returns the favor by tackling Clint to the ground]
NATASHA ROMANOFF: You tell them yourself.
[Natasha electrocutes Clint and she runs towards the cliff. Clint gets up and shoots an explosive arrow knocking her down. Clint then runs towards the cliff and jumps. Natasha jumps after him and hooks him up to a grappling hook]
CLINT BARTON: Damn you!
NATASHA ROMANOFF: Let me go.
CLINT BARTON: No. Please, no.
NATASHA ROMANOFF: [smiles, gently] It's okay.
CLINT BARTON: Please– [Natasha kicks the wall, falls off the rope, and plummets to the ground.] NO!!!
[The shot shows her body on the ground, dead. A boom in the sky sends Clint in a pool of water with the Soul Stone in his hand. He hits the ground out of sadness. His Quantum Suit activates and he shrinks back to the present day, soon joined by the others returning from their journeys.]
Before we move onto the next scene, many stated because Natasha doesn’t have children, she was expendable.
How freaking crazy are you?
This was NEVER about who deserves to live, or even who deserved to die.
It was about characterisation.
They both deserved to live, both had their reasons to die / sacrifice.
Both these people, Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff loved with all their hearts.
Clint has his wife, children, Natasha, Wanda, the team – he dedicated his life to SHIELD and protecting the world.
Natasha [at this moment, we know nothing about her life before SHIELD, that will come up in a later chapter.]
She LOVES Clint, you can see in the whole of this scene he means the WORLD to her. She lost him once after the Snap, she REFUSES to lose him again.
This wasn’t just about Barton’s family, it was about EVERYONE. This sacrifice was to restore EVERYONE taken by the Snap. (Which will be covered later)
I have no doubt she loves Bruce, the team and the life she’s built. But her making the jump was made from love.
It’s beautiful and tragic that TO THIS DAY, she can’t let her past go – her character has been, from day 1, to be better and now she can restore what was taken.
If Clint had been successful in jumping to his death, what would it achieve?
• A wife would lose her husband.
• Children would lose their father.
• What is left of SHIELD and the Avengers would lose a valuable member.
And, as much as I love his character, that would be it.
Natasha spent 5 years managing what was left of the Avengers, she’s a leader and a warrior.
Her sacrifice left more impact as she fought SO HARD to overcome the things she has done. REPEATEDLY though the films, Natasha makes it known that her past is bleak, and BARTON saved her from it – ultimately not SHIELD, it was HIM.
Her death here, completed her characterisation.
I am in no way saying you should die to atone for your sins, but that was her mindset from the second they found out one of them would have to die.
She wants to save him, she wants to give him the chance to be able to make amends from the horrors he committed – like how HE gave her the chance a very long time ago.
When he’s hanging off the cliff, notice he’s hanging onto her with all his might, she’s not gripping his arm AT ALL. He uses every ounce of strength he has to hold onto her, he LOVES her and SHE makes the choice to die to save the world.
If you want to be picky, and bring it down to the basics, here it is:
Clint: spent a long time doing right and being good, then lost himself to grief and anger, and went dark.
Natasha: started dark, and was given a second chance to be better, and did so much good.
She now repaid the kindness he showed her so long ago:
By dying herself, she let him live, giving him the opportunity to find himself again to earn his a second chance.
[Cut to the Avengers HQ and the Quantum platform everyone looks around to see all the recovered stones]
BRUCE BANNER: Did we get them all?
RHODEY: You telling me this'll actually work?
[There's a pause as everyone starts to realise someone is missing]
BRUCE BANNER: Clint, where's Nat?
[The silence from Clint tells them all they need to know. The mission was completed but at a dire cost. Sadness overtakes everyone. Bruce falls to his knees and pounds the floor in grief.]
[Cut to outside HQ. Lakeside, Tony, Steve, Thor, Clint, and Bruce are mourning their fallen teammate and friend]
TONY STARK: Do we know if she had family?
STEVE ROGERS: Yeah. Us.
THOR: (confused) What?
TONY STARK: I just asked him a question–
THOR: Yeah, you're acting like she's dead. Why are we acting like she's dead? We have the stones, right? As long as we have the stones, Cap, we can bring her back, isn't that right? [GROWLING.] So stop this shit. We're the Avengers, get it together.
CLINT BARTON: We can't get her back.
THOR: Wha– what?
CLINT BARTON: It can't be undone. It can't.
[Thor dryly laughs.]
THOR: I'm sorry. No offense, but you're a very earthly being. Okay? We're talking about space magic. And "can't" seems very definitive don't you think?
CLINT BARTON: (to Thor) Yeah, look, I know that I'm way outside my paygrade here. But she still isn't here, is she?
THOR: No, that's my point–
CLINT BARTON: It can't– be undone. Or that's at least what the red floating guy had to say. (shouts) Maybe you wanna go talk to him, okay? GO GRAB YOUR HAMMER, AND YOU GO FLY AND TALK TO HIM!
[Clint's anger is quickly replaced with grief]
CLINT BARTON: It was supposed to be me. She sacrificed her life for that goddamn stone. She bet her life on it.
Now Clint has to live with the added guilt that she’s gone, he tried to sacrifice himself, it’s not like he “let her” die, she took that choice into her own hands. And now they HAVE to win, they have to live – for her.
[In a burst of anger, Bruce grabs a bench and hurls it clear across the lake. His anger spent, he turns to the others with a resigned look on his face]
BRUCE BANNER: She's not coming back. We have to make it worth it. We have to.
STEVE ROGERS: We will.