‘What If…?’ Season 2: Is Steve Rogers / Hydra Stomper Still Alive?

‘What If…?’ Season 2 Episode 5 presented us with a continuation of Peggy Carter’s story. We know that she believed for several decades that Steve Rogers was dead, being killed in Argentina on his last mission to destroy Hydra, but as the most recent episode showed, that wasn’t exactly the case. Both Fury and Black Widow knew that Steve Rogers was completely fused with Hydra Stomper, who was hijacked by Red Room and proceeded to create some of the worst terror attacks in the history of the world. We know that Peggy and Steve seemingly got close, only for Steve to betray her and ultimately sacrifice himself to destroy the Red Room. But he was dead once already, so now we’re going to analyze whether he is ultimately dead or alive.

Hydra Stomper suit is the only thing keeping Steve Rogers alive currently

At the beginning of the episode, when Black Widow showed Hydra Stomper to Peggy, Captain Carter was beyond shocked to discover that her former (and current) love interest was still alive within the suit. Despite all evidence showing that Steve was…something else, she still believed that remnants of her former sweetheart were still in there somewhere.

Peggy had no idea that Steve might still be alive, considering that she believed, as well as the rest of the world, that Steve perished on his last mission in Argentina in 1953, which was several decades ago. But a picture tells a thousand words, and seeing his face was more than enough proof for Peggy that some remnant of her Steve survived.

Black Widow then admitted that Red Room possibly hijacked the Hydra Stomper and that Steve is quite possibly beyond saving at this moment. He is working with the enemy and committing terrorist acts.

This proved to be correct since Steve attempted to kill Bucky and had to be knocked out and deactivated by Black Widow so Peggy could examine him.

The examination proved that the only thing keeping Steve alive after all these years was the Hydra Stomper suit, and it’s most likely that there isn’t a lot of him left, of his biological body, that is. His face appeared to be as young as Peggy saw him the last time, and Black Widow also confirmed that every time Steve is rebooted, the chances of him surviving drastically drop, which is why Red Room used him on special occasions only.

Steve was brainwashed the whole time

Black Widow and Captain Carter successfully rebooted Steve at least they thought so, since he was acting like his old self and even offered to lead them to Red Room base. Steve and Peggy even had a heart-to-heart conversation regarding their future and their past, and before they could kiss, the Red Room arrived. It turned out that Rogers actually led them into a trap; it wasn’t easy to just erase decades of programming with a few sweet words. Rogers attempted to kill Peggy in a million ways but ultimately gave up. It seemed like something within him truly snapped, and he started flying toward the Red Room base to destroy it completely, and he succeeded in the attempt.

This meant that Peggy lost him for the second time.

Peggy believes that Steve survived the destruction of the Hydra base

Even though it seems like Rogers committed suicide by flying into the Red Room base, it seems like Peggy doesn’t believe that he is truly dead. She admitted that she will look for whatever it takes to restore him. Her exact words were, “Steve is out there somewhere.”

But this makes sense: Hydra Stomper suit is nearly impossible to destroy, and as long as Steve is inside it, what’s left of his body cannot be that easily destroyed either. Peggy Carter fully believes that Red Room has the answers to how to save him, and she will look for them. When she returned from 1602, that is.

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