In the funeral scene, the parting shot of the old arc reactor, placed on top of the flower wreath, was beautiful. That device is technically the reason why the MCU exists — it saved Tony’s life all those years ago in Afghanistan (then in Los Angeles) and morphed into a symbol of his heart. Both literally and figuratively. As soon as Tony built himself a new arc reactor, he told Pepper to dispose it. Instead, she kept the reactor and had it inscribed (Proof That Tony Stark Has A Heart). Long after Tony had the shrapnels removed, and built far more complicated arc reactors, I loved that the two of them had held onto the original one, despite everything they went through. Between 2008 and 2023, Pepperony survived a break-up; they were attacked in their own house; they lived through multiple world-ending catastrophes as well as the actual end of the world. The reactor became a symbol of their perseverance, their love for one another — it was a promise, it was a guide that led them back to each other. It was their North Star. In Iron Man 1, it was Pepper’s voice that pulled him back from the brink — of certain death — and inspired the idea of making an arc reactor. It was fitting that in Avengers: Endgame when she put the arc reactor on top of the flower wreath, she was finally letting him go.
