In the closing minutes of Iron Man 3, Tony Stark categorically sums up the events of the entire trilogy by making note of a particular pattern that had occurred to both himself and Aldrich Killian, one of the film’s antagonists. He describes it like this – and don’t worry, this spoils nothing – and I paraphrase: we start out with something new that is pure and exciting, but pretty soon we make mistakes. Those mistakes have consequences; some of which are minor, some of which are lasting. And those which last end up changing you as a person, whether for better or for worse.
The film also makes it clear that no matter what circumstances drove you to make those mistakes, they ultimately are the results of your own choices. Whatever changes you go through, good or bad, are still of your own volition. Most importantly, however, it is also made clear that any acts of penitence, of making up for those errors are still on you – they are still also your choices, they are never taken away from you; what may be lacking are just the opportunities to follow through on those decisions.
And it is that last important lesson Mick Foley had been trying to get through to Ryback at last Monday’s RAW. It wasn’t exactly phrased that way, but Foley’s search for the old, fearless Ryback implies that what the world is looking for is the Ryback who did good. Not well, but good.
From WWE.com
Quick recap, for those who aren’t caught up: Ryback turned on Cena two weeks ago because he had felt that Cena had taken him for granted every time the Shield came to ambush him. Ryback reasons that every time the Shield had come for Cena, he had always come to help him because he thought them friends, but when Ryback was the target, the champ was nowhere to be found. This seemed to have traumatized the big man, as he finally started to realize it may be true that nice guys finish last.
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