When Kang the Conqueror killed his first member of the Avengers, the hero made a declaration which has only grown more heartbreaking over time. Though killed by a villain who hails from the future, it was Swordsman’s own instinctual knowledge of the events that would come to pass that made his demise particularly heartbreaking. He spoke as someone whose foresight far exceeded his longevity.
In Marvel Comics, Swordsman, aka Jacques Duquesne, was a circus performer with an innate talent for using all bladed weapons and was largely responsible for training Clint Barton, providing the foundation for his exceptionalism as Hawkeye. Swordsman took a criminal turn, however, as his gambling problem made him desperate to repay his debt. This caused his attempt to join and dupe the Avengers, believing it would lead to bigger scores. Though his original intentions in joining Earth’s Mightiest Heroes were ignoble, he ended up infatuated with Scarlet Witch, ultimately committing a heroic act of bomb dismantlement that was misconstrued by his team as him setting the bomb instead. Expelled from the Avengers, he returned to crime, but longed to rejoin the team.
Despite an interesting backstory and being one of the earliest Avengers (albeit under false pretenses), Swordsman seemed to be aware of his coming place in the history books, or lack thereof, when Kang blasted him in Giant-Size Avengers #2 by Steve Englehart and Dave Cockrum. Taking a blast from the Conqueror was his last heroic act. Both men desired Mantis for different reasons, with Duquesne actually loving her and Kang wanting access to Mantis' unborn son, the Celestial Messiah. As it became apparent that the time-traveling villain wouldn't achieve this aim, he decided to kill her rather than let her go free. Dying in her arms after jumping in front of the blast, Swordsman emphasized that he didn’t feel worthy of the Avengers, gasping, “I’m just... one of those people... who doesn’t... count.” Sadly, time has proved him right.
While superhero deaths don't tend to last, Jacques Duquesne's has. Though his body was possessed by an alien consciousness to create a new being and he was later raised as an unquiet spirit during the Chaos War event, he hasn't truly returned like other Avengers. In contrast, Scarlet Witch just reappeared within the same year as her high-profile death. In Krakoa, mutants are being resurrected left and right, regardless of a character’s likability or stature.
More importantly, Swordsman tends to get overlooked as a part of Avengers history, missing out on the alternate universe and flashback stories which have fleshed out the heroes who joined the team before and after Duquesne. Swordsman has at least appeared in the MCU - as depicted by Tony Dalton - but only as a side character in recent TV series Hawkeye, while heroes like Black Widow, Black Panther, and Vision have acted as the focal points of entire movies, despite joining the comic team later. Iron Man assured Swordsman that every Avenger counts on his death, but it's become even clearer since then that some count more than others. To rub salt in the wound, Swordman's killer Kang the Conqueror is more relevant than ever.
The self-awareness that Swordsman possessed regarding his own importance is reinforced by the fact that he has not truly been relevant for nearly 50 years, making his infamous last words sad beyond measure. In the end, Kang the Conquerer killed an early Avengers member like it was nothing, and it is heartbreaking that when it came to Swordsman, he was right.