It all stems back to Thor #362 by Walt Simonson, where, after retrieving mortal souls stolen by Hela, Thor and his fellow Asgardians seek to escape Hel. In the process, it’s revealed that Skurge, who stood against them, had been tricked by Hela into thinking he was assisting Amora when it was another. This revelation causes Skurge to realise that his whole life has been being someone else’s weapon. The Executioner pointed by women in a direction with no agency of his own, treated as nothing more than a pet. “I LOVE, THEY ALL LAUGH AT ME,” he tells Baldur after striking Thor from behind, knocking him unconscious, as the Thunder God prepared to guard the Gjallerbru, the bridge out of Hel, from the pursuing army of the dead. His first real choice for himself is to take Thor’s place and guard the bridge, to protect his fellow Asgardians from Hela’s army of the dead, armed with nothing more than two machine guns. Skurge standing on the bridge, gunning down the dead is an image so powerful that it was used in Thor: Ragnarok. It was an act that resulted in Skurge’s death but also made him immortal. Thor surely would have died on that bridge just as Skurge had, and Skurge took that death, and proved that he was more than Amora’s lapdog.
Over the years, Skurge has appeared and reappeared and, while Thor #362 is held in high esteem, one of the many high points of the Simonson run, that esteem made subsequent creators want to use Skurge – and each use lessened the meaning of that issue and the story is contained. So, Al Ewing used that lessening as fuel for Skurge’s story, his metafictional redemption arc that will culminate with him guarding the black bridge that leads to Utgard and giving his life to sever the Utgard Gods from the universe outside that Realm. It’s a dead simple story and that what makes it work so well. Simple motive, simple payoff, big emotion, big impact. It’s what wins Thor over in this issue as they fight. He can’t deny the longing for meaning in Skurge, a man whose life wasn’t what he wanted it to be, but was able to find satisfaction in death – a death that became increasingly meaningless. By no means is Thor prepared to let Skurge die for him, but there’s meaning in fighting and living, in stopping the Utgard Gods from destroying the Earth and Asgard.
We know that both die and go to Vidbláinn, but, when the two join forces, the dying is unimportant, if only for a moment. What matters is their willingness to stand beside one another, to journey to a strange land, and fight for something bigger than both of them. They’re both willing to die and that’s more important than actually dying, if that makes any sense. Sometimes, it’s the offer...
And, they do enter Utgard here. It seems important that Thor doesn’t go alone, just as he didn’t go alone the first time. If you’ll recall, both Thor and Loki were tested, so it would be unfair for Thor to face the test alone. Something I’ve also been mulling over is that Skurge holds a third weapon tied to his soul, a soul that once took the place of Thor’s soul in death. Is Skurge also meant to be a physical representation of Thor, after a fashion? And, if so, is Skurge’s new Bloodaxe the missing third weapon – or a substitute? Is that why Ullr was willing to craft it for Skurge and tie it to his soul? Knowing that Thor was missing that final weapon, his older brother sought to compensate and give him one, even if it is wielded by another, a soul brother? (As The Immortal Thor #25 and The Mortal Thor has shown, the soul is a key element of this story.) After all, as we’ll see, Skurge’s presence and assistance helps Thor survive the Utgard Gods until Loki kills him, something they said they would do, if needed.
And speaking of which...
Who is ‘Thanos?’ In the context of the issue, Thor is meant to think it the embodiment of Death – his death, specifically, or how he conceptualises it after the vision of his death as presented by the Black Winter in Thor #6 (the Cates/Klein run) where he saw Thanos holding Mjolnir, studded with the Infinity Stones and an army of zombies superhumans (as shown again in The Immortal Thor #20). Yet, why would Death appear here? Does it fit with the rest of the series? And why does Loki’s narration end as soon as the confrontation with Skurge begin here at the gates of Utgard?
Well, I have two theories, each equally plausible: it is actually Loki or Utgard-Loki. I would make separate arguments for either, but I’m not entirely certain it matters which it is. Most of the reasons to argue for either overlap and are complicated by the next issue where Utgard-Loki usurps the narrative and Loki’s narration is nowhere to be found (the only issue where that is the case). That ‘Thanos’ stands on the other side of the gate suggests Utgard-Loki as the more likely figure, half-taunting half-testing Thor in his steadfastness to run towards his fate – his death. The line “NOTHING SO SMALL AS THAT” suggests Utgard-Loki, who usually appears giant (but Loki’s ego putting them above Thanos works as well). It also tracks with the previous visit to Utgard Hall where Thor and Loki first encounter Skrymir, later revealed to be Utgard(-Loki), a disguise before making it to Utgard proper where the true form of the God-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named is revealed.
After Thor and Skurge pass through the gates and walk through the giant forest, they soon find themselves boxed in, trapped by Utgard-Loki within the very panels of the comic, growing smaller and small until the Elder God holds them, the storyteller of this Realm. Thor says that they’ve “TRANSCENDED FROM PROSE TO POETRY--FROM HARD TRUTH TO FLOATING, FLOWING METAPHOR,” which is similar to the differentiation between Loki and Braggi. If Loki’s storytelling is prose, then Utgard-Loki is also poetry, metaphorically holding Thor and Skurge within their narrative in Utgard.
Then, was ‘Thanos’ metaphor? A representation of Thor’s fated death, teased by Utgard-Loki, challenging Thor to face it by passing through the gates? I still allow the possibility that it was Loki doing the same, albeit for their specific purposes, knowing that the taunting of ‘Thanos’ would prompt Thor to eventually make peace with Skurge and venture into Utgard with the Executioner at his side. After all, Skurge destroys the black bridge, which also destroys the Bifrost, and that all seems to be part of Loki’s scheme... Perhaps, ‘Thanos’ was merely an assurance that Skurge would be there to accomplish that task.
A slight nudge of the story.
Next week, The Immortal Thor #22, the endless city, and the final death of Heimdall.
