Spoilers ahead for Avengers: Endgame and Game of Thrones Season 8
After being beaten down by the Lannisters, suffering through the Red Wedding and the capture of Winterfell by the Boltons, the Starks have finally emerged triumphant (for the time being, anyway).
Oddly enough, Tony Stark of the Marvel universe enjoyed a massive victory of his own this weekend.
But whose accomplishment was greater? Let’s put the two victories into context.
Humble Beginnings
Tony Stark
Tony Stark’s first appearance, in Iron Man, was that of an arrogant arms dealer, a playboy who had inherited a fortune, and didn’t particularly care where the money came from.
After being kidnapped and injured by a terrorist group, Tony found himself humbled, on the receiving end of the violence he was spreading throughout the world. After forging an armored suit out of metal scraps, Tony makes his escape, and vows to halt the sale and distribution of weapons.
Tony crafts another, superior suit of armor, eventually taking on the identity of Iron Man and dedicating his life to protecting others. Tony’s suits have been a constant obsession throughout the Marvel films, constantly refined and rebooted, until eventually, he forges a nano-tech suit capable of taking on Thanos, the Mad Titan.
Arya Stark
Our first introduction to Arya Stark feels somewhat familiar; she’s the princess who wants to be a warrior, like Melinda from Brave. Her father, Ned Stark, laughs at her ambitions, understanding that in the patriarchal world of Westeros, there is only one role for women – motherhood.
But Arya is determined; her father humors her, allowing her to take sword-fighting lessons, the first step in a long, violent journey, which sees Arya lose most of her family, but learn how to survive in a deeply hostile environment.
Arya learns as much as she can from the grim-faced, bloodthirsty men that take her under their wing, and eventually makes her way to Bravos, where she is taught the supernatural assassination skills of the Faceless Men.
Arya subsequently becomes wildly skilled, able to change her face at will and slaughter her enemies with ease. The young girl, once mocked for her delusional ambitions, became one of the most dangerous people in Westeros.
Triumphant Endings
Tony Stark
In Avengers: Endgame, Tony Stark and his team went up against Thanos, the alien antagonist that has been teased ever since The Avengers, way back in 2012.
The arrival of Thanos absolutely crushed the superhero team, as they suffered their first major defeat, on an epic scale, with 50% of all life in the universe extinguished in a single snap.
In a sense, Tony had contributed to Thanos’ victory, allowing an ideological split to fracture the Avengers, weakening the team before the arrival of the Mad Titan.
But as soon as he was back on Earth, Tony recovered, starting a family and inventing time travel along the way, opening an opportunity to reverse all the destruction wreaked by Thanos. Upon facing Thanos again, Tony was ready, having engineered his suit to absorb and control the Infinity Stones, snapping his fingers to destroy Thanos and his invading army.
But Tony understood that he wasn’t going to survive the snap – he sacrificed himself so that others could live, so that his wife and daughter could thrive in a renewed world.
Arya Stark
Upon arriving back in Westeros, Arya didn’t waste time putting her abilities to good use, heading straight to the home of Walder Frey, the man who slaughtered her family and decimated their army.
Arya went slightly overboard in her revenge, taking her violence to Tarantino heights, baking Frey’s sons into a pie and watching him eat it, before slitting his throat. Next, Arya ruthlessly executed Littlefinger, the Machiavellian schemer who betrayed her father.
But Arya’s finest hour came during the Battle of Winterfell, as her family home was ravaged by hoards of the undead, the defending army on the verge of annihilation.
The triumph of the Night King would result in the extinction of all life in Westeros, but Arya managed to charge behind the demonic creature and take him down with one sneakily efficient stab, saving countless lives and destroying his entire army instantaneously.
Who had the bigger, badder weekend?
It’s a tough choice.
I’ve watched these two Starks evolve over the course of several seasons and films, years worth of character growth and development. Both Starks went from average citizens to superheroes, reaching giddying heights that wildly contrast with their humble origins.
But I’m going to go with Arya Stark.
Tony Stark might be the messiah of the Marvel universe, but we always knew Iron Man was destined for great things, larger-than-life feats of heroism.
Arya, on the other hand, has been an underdog since day one, and managed to not only survive the brutal world of Westeros, but thrive, single-handedly taking down the White Walkers, the threat that has lingered over Game of Thrones from the very first scene.
At least, that’s what I think. Which Stark do you think reigned supreme? Let me know on Twitter.
If you enjoyed reading, check out my (spoiler-filled) review of Avengers: Endgame, and my recap of Game of Thrones: The Long Night
