Avengers: Endgame and Game of Thrones Leaves Fans Shook Over Brutal but Epic Weekend

Pop culture took a harsh hit over the weekend with the arrival of Avengers: Endgame and Game of Thrones Season 8 episode "The Battle of Winterfell."

Spoilers for Avengers: Endgame and Game of Thrones.

As the end of the first 11-year chapter of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel Studios' Avengers finale brought with it the end of an era: Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) died saving the universe from Thanos (Josh Brolin) and his cosmic army in a battle that ended with the original iteration of Earth's mightiest heroes again disassembled.

Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) trekked back through time to return to 2023 as an old man, retiring and passing the mantle of Captain America to Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), while Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) again retired for life on a farm as a family man following the death of longtime close friend Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson).

An out of shape Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is once more off-world, this time in the company of the Guardians of the Galaxy, leaving Bruce Banner-slash-Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) — whose Hulk form was left with a mangled arm after snapping Thanos' vanished victims back to life — as the last-remaining original Avenger still in play.

The chapter-closing Endgame comes as HBO's fantasy drama winds to its own close, coming with its own epic battle: the Battle of Winterfell.

Like the Avengers-versus-Thanos' army climax that rattled the universe in Endgame, the latest strife to reach Game of Thrones saw an epic clash between the heroes holed up in the castle of Winterfell against the legion of undead warriors loyal to the Night King (Vladimír Furdík).

The Battle of Winterfell claimed the lives of many, among them Eddison Tollett (Ben Crompton), Beric Dondarrion (Richard Dormer), young noblewoman Lyanna Mormont (Bella Ramsey), Theon Greyjoy (Alfie Allen), Jorah Mormont (Iain Glen), and the Night King himself.

Both the battle against Thanos and the battle against the Night King left fans either bracing for impact or shaken by the major Avengers and Game of Thrones shake ups: