Deaths that Left a Legacy

Hello Dear Readers and welcome back!

This week’s post is a continuation to my post from last week about living your life to leave a legacy. I thought it would only be appropriate to talk about the characters who have left a deep imprint on my life, and the legacies they left behind. As you can tell movies are very important to me. There are certain characters that have left a legacy in my life, and I wanted to share them with you.

There are five characters that came to my head immediately while I was writing my post from last week. These characters not only died in the most tragic way, but they left behind their amazing story and something that their loved ones will tell forever. Now it took me forever to decide whether I would put clips or pictures, so I chose to do a bit of both. I love these characters and I hope you will understand why they have impacted me.

My intention Dear Reader, is not to make you sad, but instead to encourage you to live your life with the mindset of death and live every day to the fullest. None of these characters had the intention of dying, but each one knew that there was a choice to be made and they were ok with leaving.

Now here we go…. brace yourself and be sure to grab the tissues.

SPOILER ALERT! And that was your final warning.

Newt: Maze Runner

Dear Readers, I cannot tell you how much I HATED this death! In fact, it made me so mad reading the dreaded page 250 that I cried for weeks and did not want to talk about it. When the series started to become movies, I knew the ending and I was determined not to fall in love with Newt again, but that didn’t last long. Newt has this special way of communicating with the boys in the Glade including Thomas. He is a wise leader and loyal to a fault, and for me he is literally a man I want at my side when we go to war. Through thick and thin he had Thomas’s back and even though he questioned Thomas’s motives he never gave up hope.

To give a bit of context to this clip, Newt is not immune to the nasty virus known as “The Flare,” and the infection is causing him to lose his mind and become a zombie that they call “Cranks.” Before it got too bad Newt begged Thomas that if it got to a point where he was dangerous to anyone, he wanted Thomas to kill him.

Thomas did NOT want to lose his best friend and especially not in that way. He was hurt and blamed himself even though he wasn’t to blame. He lost the one person who didn’t doubt him and made him feel like he was doing the right thing. Thomas was lost until he found a letter Newt wrote to him…

This was Newt’s legacy to be Thomas’s partner until death and to always believe in his friend even when times were hard. Newt’s words inspired me, and it makes me think about how I don’t want anything getting in the way of living the way that I want to live. It was the choices that Newt made that defined him as a character, but it also made him one of the most loved characters because he kept encouraging Thomas to move forward even when it was difficult. Newt left behind the legacy of a fighter and a friend, which is something that will not be easily forgotten.

Natasha Romanoff: Endgame

Oh boy Dear Readers this is not easy for me at all, but I will keep going because I think looking back helps us to move forward and take a piece of them with us.

This one was such a hard death for me because Natasha, aka Black Widow, was not only a superhero, but she was also a woman determined to obtain redemption from past mistakes. Natasha was a Russian assassin for most of her life and she harmed and killed many people, but the day she became an Avenger was the day she found her true place in the world and started saving people instead of killing them. As she said, “I got a lot of red in my leger and I want to wipe it out.”

Her death will forever be engraved in my mind because when I saw this in IMAX with my brother and friends, I remember the theater was dead silent and you could feel the sorrow and tears coming in all directions. Let’s just say that this was not the end we wanted for our badass redhead.

For video context, Nat and Clint have been friends for many years. Clint is the reason why Natasha became an Avenger and why she got a second chance to make things right. Natasha is the aunt to Clint’s three kids, and they have been together through thick and thin. In this scene they are trying to acquire the soul stone, but for them to obtain the stone they need to make a sacrifice of “that which they love the most.” For Nat the choice was easy:

When she whispers, “It’s ok,” we all know that it is NOT ok! UGH!

She knew the price, and she was willing to do it for her family. Nat was literally the soul of the Avengers, and no one will forget the sacrifice she made for the world. All her life she has been trying to make up for all the damage she did as an assassin, and this was her final mission: redeem herself and bring back her family. Her legacy lives on forever through her team, her family (which we find out about in her solo movie Black Widow), and all of the people she saved.

Tony Stark: Endgame

Come on, you guys didn’t think I would talk about Nat and not Tony, did you? This was the second heartbreak in one movie! Another sacrifice made for the whole world, but this one hit a little different.

Tony was the introduction to the MCU in 2008’s Iron Man, and we have had ten years to grow with his character. Going from spoiled billionaire with no care in the world to a loving father and husband who would sacrifice his life to save their lives is a HUGE accomplishment. Ten years we have spent with Tony and honestly, I could have gone another ten, but sadly all good things must come to an end.

Picture a whole IMAX theater clapping and audibly cheering after Tony’s final line, but then immediately silent seconds later…

Tony saved the world but the only people on his mind were his family. The last thing he sees is his wife, Pepper, as she is telling him it is ok to let go and rest. Tony did a lot of things in his life both good and bad, and along the way he was able to mentor and become a father figure to the generation that will continue his legacy. Harley Keener from Iron Man 3, Peter Parker, and his daughter Morgan are now the ones who will now carry his torch.

Aunt May: Spider-man video game

Now I know this is not a movie, but this video game storyline could have been a movie. Aunt May has always been an interesting person in my opinion and I was never sure what her occupation was, but in the video, she is a hero in her own way.

In this clip it gives a different look about how Aunt May lives to serve her community. She is running F.E.A.S.T which is a shelter for people who need a home, and it is also a program to help them get back on their feet with job training. There are lots of people in Queens who needs help, and she is running it all by herself, but she doesn’t regret it one bit.

In this clip, we see May and Peter in the climax of the game where the head of F.E.A.S.T, Mr. Li, has become Mister Negative and is terrorizing the city. After May and Peter have their small moment where she hints at Peter revealing his secret, the clip skips to the end of the game where May is dying due to a poison called Devil’s Breath.

Aunt May’s sacrifice and Peter’s hard decision saved thousands of lives. Aunt May left a legacy of compassion and kindness both in her actions and in her words. No one will ever be able to replace her, and everyone knows it. As you continue to play the video game there are people on the streets that mention May’s impact, and in the sequel, Miles continues her legacy with his mother to keep F.E.A.S.T going.

Gwen Stacy: Amazing Spider-man 2

Finally, the death that started it all. When I was young, I remember hanging out in the comic section in the public library looking through the Spider-man collection (the reason I am in love with Spider-man). The first comic I truly remember was “The Night Gwen Stacy Died” and let me tell you, Dear Readers, it was not easy.

Peter Parker has always been the hero that saves everyone no matter how impossible, so when he wasn’t able to save Gwen, his girlfriend, it broke my heart. His web was able to catch her but due to the momentum of the fall when the webbing pulled back it snapped her neck. His reaction was devastating!

In the comic we didn’t get much closure, but it was sad to see Peter moseying around without a purpose. He blamed himself for her death, but in the end, Gwen Stacy made her own choices and she knew the consequences of being associated with Peter or Spider-man and she didn’t care. His heartbreak made it worse because it truly shows that he was in LOVE with her and now he feels there is nothing left for him, but this is where Gwen comes to the rescue.

Gwen Stacy taught me that there are more important things than the sufferings we all go through. She was a beacon of hope for those around her and she never stopped shining, even in death. Now it is time for Peter to continue her legacy and shine the light of hope by being the superhero she knew he could be.

Now if you made it to the end of this, I want to congratulate you! I hope I did not hurt you too much, but I felt it was important to show you that no matter how old or young you are there is always a chance to leave a legacy behind. These are the characters that have meant the most to me and the legacies they leave behind inspire me to leave a mark of my own.

I know this was depressing, Dear Readers, but I am happy I can share this moment with you, and I want to send you off with an encouragement to live a life worth following. If you don’t live to leave an imprint, then what was the point. You only live once so live it spreading love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control.

Until Next Time,

Peace Out Lovers!