The very Mask of Eternity that they’ve fashioned into an arrow and run Thor through with, which is part of Loki’s spell, their effort to free everyone. We’ve spent 24 issues so far watching Thor contend with the threat of the Elders Gods of Utgard, go through trials from Loki the Enemy, solving riddles based on the runes of his own name, rescuing his brother from the clutches of Oblivion, contending with the fact that his own mother is responsible for the overwhelming dangers he faces, having Earth taken away from him, regaining a son from a future that never happened, fighting his way through Utgard, and, then, holding the line at the edge of Utgard to protect Asgard and the other Realms... only to be stabbed in the back, literally. We’ll never know what the third trial and weapon representing a part of Thor would be, but we know that Loki forces the issue by taking away Thor’s physical self here in a shocking move.
The opening pages of The Immortal Thor #25 focus on the immediate aftermath with the shock of Loki’s betrayal. Even Utgard-Loki is taken aback. It’s a fairly utilitarian nine pages that greatly advances Loki’s schemes. The key lines seem to be the few words that Utgard-Loki says: “ARE YOU A PIECE IN GAEA’S GAME? OR IS SHE PART OF YOURS...?” and “WHAT AN INTRIGUING TALE YOU WEAVE, ASA-LOKI. / YOU WILL TEMPT ME TO MAKE IT TRUE.” To this point, Utgard-Loki has been depicted as being above everything, the metafictional god that exists apart from reality, but Loki’s actions place the Elder God firmly within the story, unable to actually see all that lays beyond. They’ve been set up as a false threat, not totally aware that they’re a retcon by Loki, something that may or may not be true. Even as Loki does things that astound Utgard-Loki, they continue to act like they’re above the God of Stories, unaware that they exist in the story for a specific purpose: to go away and to take Thor’s physical body with them.
The continued threat of Utgard-Loki spurs Skurge to follow through on his promise to Thor to destroy the Black Bridge that connects Utgard with the other Realms. It’s actually a moment of kindness that Loki delivers Skurge by setting this moment up, ensuring that he’s in place to enact this crucial part of their scheme. Since Skurge was able to escape Valhalla in Avengers Inc. #3, his obsession has been taking Thor’s death for him, regaining that glory that he once had when he took Thor’s place to fight to the Hordes of Hel. While he’s obviously unable to take Thor’s death for him, what he’s able to do here is have a noble death of his own that is entirely his. He takes his own death for himself. He sacrifices his life to destroy the Black Bridge and save the Realms from the onslaught of Utgard. The problem with taking Thor’s death is that, over time, Thor encounters death so frequently that saving him once becomes relatively meaningless. But embracing your own noble end? That can never be taken from Skurge, especially now that Valhalla (and Hel?) is closed off to him. As I said, it’s a kindness as Loki gives Skurge freedom from the burden of Thor’s death by giving him his own, rich in its own meaning.
This is also where we learn how Loki was able to restore the Bifrost in the first issue of this series and why there was a sense of sadness in it. The Rainbow Bridge and the Black Bridge are tied together through magic. It’s confirmed that Gaea wasn’t truly the one to unlock the gates of Utgard: Loki’s recreation of the Black Bridge as the dark opposite of the Bifrost did that. And the destruction of the Black Bridge is also the destruction of Rainbow Bridge, a symbolic (and literal) act that severs not just Utgard from Asgard, but Asgard from Midgard. It’s an act of magic and meaning that’s hard to completely understand. In the immediate aftermath, it places Asgard back in the same status that it occupies in our world, one of stories and myth. Thor was not a founding member of the Avengers, for instance; Beta Ray Bill was – a change that itself raises so many questions still unanswered.
This isn’t the sacrifice that we all knew was coming. Maybe it’s Loki’s sacrifice. Sacrificing Asgard’s connection to Earth to further their ends. It’s also a furthering sacrifice of Thor. Loki specifically goes out their way, as Utgard fades away and Utgard-Loki expresses their admiration at how everything played out, to point out that Thor’s body is still in the dark wood of Utgard and, as Utgard disappears, where exactly is that? It’s ambiguous if Utgard has simply receded into its former place in the story of the Realm Outside Realms, gate locked, waiting for someone to unlock it once again... or has it actually faded into its true beginning place of nonexistence in the story? What is a retcon before it happens? And if Thor’s body is with a piece of continuity that wiped from the story... well, what then?
What does it mean to be free? What is Loki doing? Would you know more?
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In the middle of this issue is basically a regular-sized comic. The opening of the issue is a sort of epilogue/continuation to the previous issue. This section, drawn by Justin Greenwood, is its own thing. The epilogue/conclusion to The Immortal Thor, actually breaking from tradition by opening with the title of the issue, “The Twilight Kingdom.” Every other issue, including the prologue story in Thor annual #1 has had the title/credits on the final page. Here, it’s on the second page of the opening spread. The title alluding to both the coming darkness/winter and to Ragnarok, the ‘twilight of the gods.’ Except there is no more Ragnarok, because Thor broke that cycle when he sacrificed both of his eyes for the knowledge to see the cycle of fate that he and his people were trapped in. With that knowledge, he was able to use Rune magic to sever the thread of fate, and end the cycle of birth/Ragnarok/rebirth that the Asgardians were trapped in. But, now that Thor is dead and there is no rebirth, he finds himself in Vidbláinn, a sort of limbo or ‘lands of lost souls,’ as he calls it.
Specifically, Thor thinks, “I STAND FOR A THIRD TIME IN THE THIRD HEAVEN--VIDBLÁINN, LAND OF LOST SOULS.” The first time was in the immediate aftermath of his severing the thread of fate that kept Asgard trapped in its cycle. He was freed from the limbo by Donald Blake who was able to lift Mjolnir after it fell to Earth, resting in Broxton, Oklahoma. Vidbláinn became something of a liminal space for Thor and Blake during the J. Michael Straczynski run, a place outside of time and space where each would reside while the other was in the world – and was also treated as a common place for the two to converse. The second time was at the beginning of The Immortal Thor #17 after the Grey Gargoyle had turned Thor to stone and Mr. Hyde had shattered him, and Thor was met by Blake once again. This is the third time and it will, again, involve Blake. I almost forgot the first given how differently Ewing treats it. For Straczynski, Vidbláinn was an endless void, almost peaceful. For Ewing, it’s more like the realm the Mindless Ones come from, albeit where Thor is more a ghost than anything. A real, solid place that lacks all meaningful form and substance.
Prior to his confrontation with Blake, Thor encounters a trio of godly beings that resemble Those Who Sit On High, but may actually be Odin. The inspiration for the trio comes from The Prose Edda, specifically the section called “Gylfaginning (The Deluding of Gylfi)” where various parts of history are related to Gylfi by a trio of kings that are actually all Odin. Per the annotation by Jesse Byock in the Penguin Classics edition that I have: “he was called High . . . was called Third: High (Hár), Just-as-High (Jafnhár) and Third (Þriði) are names for Odin.” (136) Here, the trio are called Hár, Jafnhár, and Thirdi (which seems to be an Anglo version of the original name for ‘Third’) and, like, the trio in “Gylfaginning (The Deluding of Gylfi),” they grant wisdom for the one asking questions – in this case, Thor. But, where Gylfi asks more general interest questions about the gods and other things of the world that result in answers akin to relating facts, Thor’s question get into the area of prophesy.
Hár’s prophecy has already seen fruition in the pages of The Mortal Thor where Odin, seeker of knowledge, has left Valhalla and confronted Lukki about Sigurd Jarlson – and, in the most recent issue, seemed to begin presiding over three trials via Blake, who is acting, in part, at his will. Jafnhár’s trio of predictions are still unfolding with the intermittent looks in on Magni in the isolated Asgard. And Thirdi’s predictions are actually fulfilled in this issue after Thor is confronted by Blake. The actual meaning, though, remains somewhat elusive.
The confrontation between Thor and Blake solidifies Blake as the new antagonist of the story. The Serpent and the God of Lies, stepping into a role once held by Loki. In Ragnarok, Thor and the Midgard Serpent always fight to the death – an idea that Matt Fraction played with in Fear Itself where Odin’s forgotten brother Cul is called the Serpent and becomes a stand-in when they both kill one another (with Loki’s manipulations). Thor and the Serpent are forever tied together, enemies destined to fight and kill one another forever. But, the cycle of Ragnarok was stopped, so shouldn’t the forever conflict between the two have been severed/ended as well?
Instead, what we get is the continuation of the Thor/Serpent conflict combined with the continuation of the Thor/God of Lies conflict. Blake has become the Serpent and the God of Lies and the brother of Thor... three-in-one that reflects earlier, past conflicts for Thor. Blake’s attempt to kill Thor, even in Vidbláinn helps Thor to see what’s actually going on and what he must do. Loki’s narration drops from the first page to the final two of this section of the comic, but it’s apparent that this is all part of the plan. Thor, while blinded from Blake’s blast to his eyes with the hammer from Thor #27-28 that’s a dark mimic of Mjolnir, claims that he sees the spell that Loki have woven around him and, from there, he puts into place the crucial action of the issue:
Saying “FOR IF WE ARE BOTH GODS AND NEITHER MORTAL... THEN BETWEEN THE TWO OF US... / ...THERE IS A HUMAN SOUL THAT GOES SPARE. / A HUMAN LIFE. / LET THERE BE A NEW SACRIFICE, THEN! A SACRIFICE OF ALL POWER AND PRIDE! OF MYSELF TO MYSELF! A SACRIFICE BEYEOND MERE DEATH! / LET THE WINTER OF GODS COME--/--AND LET IT COME NOW!” Thor strikes the hammer over Blake’s protests, turning to stone and enacting an old spell. Exactly what he does is known in action, but the true meaning isn’t yet apparent fully. Nor what Loki’s end goal is. That’s the frustration of the end of this first act: it’s only the first act. You can speculate all you want (andI will), but that’s all it is. I’ve been wrong before, I’ll be wrong again.
The sacrifice “of myself to myself” that Thor makes brings to life Sigurd Jarlson in the final section of the issue. If he seemed familiar, it’s because Sigurd Jarlson is not entirely new. First appearing in Walt Simonson’s Thor run, he was the replacement human alter ego for Donald Blake, whose existence was ended by Odin when he used that enchantment to allow Beta Ray Bill to transform back to his mortal self. Thor, as we know, is a god of both Asgard and Midgard, and, wishing to continue to reside, at times, on Earth, he created that human identity. It was basically Thor with a ponytail and glasses in a funny play off the Clark Kent/Superman dynamic. Sigurd appeared periodically, got a job working construction, and even lasted into the Tom DeFalco/Ron Frenz run until Eric Masterson and Thor’s souls were joined. That Thor takes the spare human soul that is half his and half Blake’s and this is the human that’s created is significant.
Going back to the Clark/Superman dynamic, I’m reminded of the speech that Bill gives in Kill Bill Vol. 2 by Quentin Tarantino where he talks about how Superman is unique in his secret identity because Superman is his true self, while Clark Kent is the assumed identity, an inversion of most superheroes. He even argues that Clark Kent is a critique of humanity with his traits being the things that Superman sees in us. Most comic fans seem to think this is a simplistic and wrong reading of the character, but it actually works here: Sigurd Jarlson is how Thor wishes to see humanity. As we learn in The Mortal Thor, he’s got a strong sense of justice and fairness, he’s self-sacrificing, and kind. He’s somewhat fearless if it means doing the right thing or protecting others. He’s also emotional and quick to anger. He’s a bit what Thor would be if he were to make himself mortal, which is exactly what he did and didn’t do.
Sigurd is not Thor, but he’s also not not Thor. He’s Thor without anything of the god Thor. Loki systematically stripped elements of Thor away over the course of The Immortal Thor until, at the end, Thor himself sacrifices everything else except for his idea of what a mortal man should be. The false identity that Thor once put upon becomes real... just as Odin patterned Donald Blake after Keith Kincaid, Sigurd is patterned after Sigurd, and he’s been battling against the enemies of Earth, Roxxon and the Serpent Blake.
Thor’s decision to take the two halves of the human soul to create Sigurd leaves Blake solely as a god and in his role as the Serpent. The Mortal Thor thus plays out as a modern shade of the earliest Thor stories where Loki was his main recurring adversary. Even some of his earliest supervillains have begun to pop up.
And the choice of
artist for that series (who pops up at the end of The Immortal Thor #25) Pasqual Ferry is a surprising choice for a
story that takes place on Earth. He’s previously had a run on Thor, illustrating the first arc of the
Matt Fraction run (which included the debut of Kid Loki... recalled here by
Lukki) and the post-Fear Itself story
featuring Tanarus and the god-eater. He was also the initial artist of Seven Soldiers: Mister Miracle written
by Grant Morrison where the New Gods were trapped on Earth as mortals... An
artist whose history alludes to so much brought to bear. Also a very stylistic
artist whose work would rarely be called realistic. I still wonder how much
this is actually the real Earth...
Jumping back to The Mortal Thor #6 briefly, I want to
touch on something else. The epigraph for that issue reads “Midgârd’s veor in
his rage will slay the worm,” which comes from The Poetic Edda, specifically, “The Seeress’s Prophecy,” which, in
my edition, translated by Carolyne Larrington, is from the following stanza:
Then comes Hlodyn’s glorious boy:
Odin’s son advances to fight the serpent,
he strikes in wrath Midgard’s-protector,
all men must abandon their homesteads;
nine steps Fiorgyn’s child takes,
exhausted, from the serpent which fears no shame.
What’s interesting is that there is an annotation at the end of the third line: “Midgard’s-protector: one might expect this to be Thor: véorr, ‘protector’, is used to denote him in Hymir’s Poem. Logically however, ‘he’ must refer to Thor, and the serpent who encircles the earth—thus paradoxically its protector—is the object of the verb ‘to strike’.” That doesn’t like up with the way the epigraph is presented where it’s clear that Earth’s protector will kill the Serpent. But, in this translation, the role of protector is one that’s shared by both Thor and the Serpent depending on your perspective – and the fourth lines of the stanza would suggest that the consequence of Thor striking the Serpent is damage done to the world. It also demonstrates the link between Thor and the Serpent – between Thor and Sigurd and Blake. Separating them is tough, almost impossible. They’re all connected and hoping for outright victory by one could have unintended consequences.
You’ll notice the recurring number three running through this issue and the larger story. Utgard/Asgard/Midgard. Thor/Blake/Sigurd. Valhalla/Hel/Vidbláinn. The three forms of Odin and their three prophecies each. Odin/Thor/Magni. The three trials of both Thor and Sigurd. The three visits to Vidbláinn. The issue is divided into three sections with three artists. This is the final chapter of the first of, presumably, three acts. (You could even place this into the continuum of Immortal Hulk/Immortal X-Men/The Immortal Thor if you’re so inclined.) I also notice it and... yeah, have nothing. But, adding that here just to get it out there.
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That brings this series of posts to an end. I’ll most likely return eventual for a Mortal Thorsday Thoughts when that series concludes and leads into... I don’t know what the third act would be called. It’s still so early in The Mortal Thor that were it will actually go is hard to say. It’s at the point in its run where The Immortal Thor had just done the first half of the retelling of Thor #272, recontextualising it into Loki’s narrative. It has been a pleasure to work my way through the 25 issues (and then some) of The Immortal Thor and I do hope that you enjoyed my ramblings.
