On Control, or lack there of

We all know Tony is a control freak. But here's a question: Exactly how much control does he really have?

Howard Stark, bless his crazy little head, was a very demanding father, to say the least. He wanted his son to follow in his footsteps, something Tony wanted nothing of. Tony was plenty happy staying indoors, lost in books and computer parts. Howard didn't seem to think this was fitting of his son, so he sent him off to boarding school to learn some discipline. Rather than beating it out of his son himself, Howard let the boys at school do it for him.

So, once Tony gets out of school, out of M.I.T., what does he do? Immediately starts making weapons for daddy. And when daddy (and mommy, of course) die a couple years later, he steps right up to take over the company.

Now, Tony's said that he didn't enjoy making weapons, but it paid the bills. However, is seems like he didn't have much choice in the matter. Stark was built as a munitions company and it will always be as such. Even within recent (comic) years, he's been trying to steer Stark International away from military contracts with no avail. While he is CEO, it seems he has no real say in the direction his company takes. In the Extremis arc, we see that his board of directors don't even want him as CEO any longer because of his time spent out of the board room. The only reason he stays is because he knows that if he steps down, his name will be put back on the side of bombs.

As Secretary of Defense, he opened himself up to manipulation via political agenda -- rather ironic considering the fact that he only wanted the job in the first place so he could control the use of his patented technology. During the Avengers: Disassemble prologue, it's brought to light that Howard Stark created a robot that would destroy Manhattan in case of World War III. Tony's first reaction is to call in the rest of the Avengers to help deal with it. While he is, technically the most powerful man in the room, the various government officials there coerce him into leaving his teammates out of it saying that it's for the great good that news of the robot doesn't get out. And Tony goes along with it, against his best judgment, leading to some rather upset teammates when the plan eventually backfires.

And then there have been the times when Tony, literally, has lost control of himself; when outside forces have taken advantage of his mind in some way, shape, or form. From Immortus to the Scarlet Witch to Yinsen's son, he's been subject mind control a number of times. One can only imagine how traumatic that might be for a person and no doubt these instances still linger with Tony. We know that in a case where the armor, not even Tony himself, was controlled by an outside force and used to kill, it led to Tony drowning himself in liquor.

Speaking of which, there is also the fact that Tony is an addict. Being addicted to something is, by its very definition, to be dependent on something, so much so that you do not have control over your urges – in Tony's case, drink. Tony spent years of his life pickling his brain in booze, and he didn't even realize it. Just like another form of mind control, it snuck up on him, forced him to build his life around getting that next drink.

So how much control does Tony actually have? Not a whole lot.

He's a control freak because he has no control. He can't manage his own life, so he tries to micromanage the lives of the people around him. He tried to control the fallout against the metahumans by leading the pro-reg cause. He tried to control the enforcement of the SHRA by becoming Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. But even then, he doesn't really have any power – the Registration Act is subject to the whims of the people and while S.H.I.E.L.D. is supposed to be an international organization, it is still very much subject to the American government. So while he may believe he's the man in charge, he's really just still a pawn, and that's where the problem lies. The moment he realizes that he's not in control is the moment things are going to start coming down around him.

Please comment here or here