Journey into Mystery #511
Betrayed!
After being freed from his mortal form by Seth, the Egyptian god of death, Loki has seemingly agreed to assist him in learning how to prevent the other Lost Gods from regaining their godly powers by probing Odin’s mind.[1] Odin, trapped in the guise of a homeless drunk named Wad, is confused by all of this. It doesn’t help that Pietro Vazzir — captured along with Wad/Odin — doesn’t believe the story that they are Asgardians and continues to try and convince their captors that they have the wrong people.[2] Loki smacks Vazzier across the face and tells him to keep his mouth shut. The trickster god then begins using his magics to probe Wad’s mind and learn Odin’s secret plan for reviving the Lost Gods.
Elsewhere in the castle, those self-same Lost Gods — along with their allies the Enchantress and Ulik — have gotten free and are fighting their way through the guards in order to rescue Wad from captivity.[3] While elsewhere in the castle, the recently resurrected Red Norvell and Lorelei discover that their new lives are empty and hollow as the only emotion they have been allowed to feel is hatred.[4] When Red shatters the stone balcony in a fit of rage, Lorelei figures that he is making a huge career decision and suggest he turn that aggression toward a living victim instead of inanimate objects.
By this time, Loki has finished probing Odin’s memories and has learned all his secrets. However, he insists that he needs a soft couch and glass of wine to help process everything so he can share it with Seth. The death god is more than happy to oblige, little knowing that Ericka Velez is hiding around the corner. Once the pair are gone, she attacks the lone guard. Joined by the Enchantress, Barry Landers, and Howie Barker, they prepare to free the last of Seth’s captives. Pietro Vizarri tells the others that he feels strange and realizes to his horror that Loki must have cast a spell upon him when he was slapped across the face.
Meanwhile, in Seth’s private chambers, Loki is relaxed enough to tell Seth everything he has learned. Loki explains that Odin has been playing a long game in events, that began when Seth enlisted a mortal scientist to create the WorldEngine so it might attack Yggdrasil, the World Ash, and extinguish all life in the universe.[5] Odin became aware of this, but rather than stop it outright, he instead began working on a plan to prevent Ragnarok from ever happening. To this end, he manipulated the WorldEngine into convincing Yggdrasil that the twilight of the gods had already happened. In doing so, all of the Asgardians were banished to Earth in mortal guise until the threat had passed. Odin had originally intended for Thor to be the one to reunite and revive his lost people, but Odin never expected that not only would Thor perish, but all of his stand-ins would be taken down before they could help bring the Asgardians back either.[6] Once Loki is finished his explanation, Seth decides to renege on his promise to spare Loki. However, the trickster was ready for this and fights back.
At that same moment, the spell Loki cast on Pietro Vizarri completes the process of restoring him to his true form: That of Odin’s closest advisor, the Grand Vizier. While the others are busy freeing their Ice Giant allies, they also rescue Wad/Odin while Seth is occupied fighting Loki. With the All-Father free, the Grand Vizier uses his magic to teleport himself Odin, Ericka, Howie, Barry and the Enchantress back to Earth. They appear in Ericka’s apartment where Freda Barker and Freddie Moyer have been waiting for them to return from their mission. However, upon their arrival, Ericka notices that Amora didn’t make it back with them. This is because the Enchantress’ exit was blocked by her sister Lorelei, who still seeks to get revenge against her sister for allowing her to die. Amora wishes there was something she could do to make it up to her sister and refuses to fight back when Lorelei begins beating her. However, this is merely a distraction as the Enchantress builds up the magical power necessary to free Lorelei from Seth’s bondage and send her back to the land of the dead.[7]
She then returns to Earth, where Ericka is demanding that she and the others be brought back into Seth’s realm to help the others who are still stranded there. Unfortunately, both the Vizier and Amora are tapped out from the journey and need time to recover.
At that same moment, Seth wins the mystical battle with Loki. Overpowering the trickster, Seth turns him into a statue made out of wood so he can helplessly watch as Seth destroys Yggdrasil and all life.
Recurring Characters
Ericka Velez, Wad, Grand Vizier, Donald Velez, Barry Landers, Howie Barker, Tyrone Hammer, Donald Velez, Freda Barker, Freddie Moyer, Loki, Ulik, the Enchantress, Mroht, Pyllar, Seth, Red Norvell, Lorelei,
Continuity Notes
Seth had commissioned the creation of the WorldEngine to try and destroy the World Ash, Yggdrasil. Learning of this, Odin manipulated events to trick the tree to think Ragnarok already passed. This allowed Odin to banish the Asgardians to Earth in mortal guises until it was safe to return them to normal, as per Thor #491-494 and this issue. Loki was trapped in the form of Tso Zhung a corporate raider until he was revived by Seth in issue #509.
When Odin was banished from Asgard he was sent back in space and time, ended up on Earth decades in the past where he became a homeless drunk before Thor found him in Thor #497-498. Pietro Vazzir is secretly Odin’s Grand Vizier as we’ll learn later this issue.
Ericka, Donald, Barry, Howie, Don, Tyrone, Freda, and Freddie are secretly Sif, Heimdall, Balder, Hermod, Heimdall, Hogun, Frigga, and Fandral respectively. We’ll learn their true identities next issue.
Lorelei had died due to injuries sustained in an earlier war between Asgard and Seth, as seen in Thor #398-400 and 402. Red was murdered by Seth’s minions while trying to gather the Lost Gods back in Journey into Mystery #504. Both were resurrected by Seth to do his bidding in issue #508.
The madman Price created the WorldEngine in the hopes of seeing what the post-Ragnarok humanity would look like. Although he succeeded, these future humans died due to their inability to live in a pre-Ragnarok environment. Price was later killed and the WorldEngine shut down. See Thor #491-494.
Everyone who had the power to restore the Asgardians are either dead or missing in action. The details:
Thor: The real god of thunder is believed to have died when he sacrificed his life alongside the Avengers and Fantastic Four in Onslaught: Marvel Universe #1. In reality, they were sent to a pocket dimension where they have been living reimagined lives. They will eventually by found and returned home in Heroes Reborn: The Return #1-4.
Red Norvell: Red was given the power of Thor back in Thor #276-278, as part of a sacrifice to prevent another Ragnarok level threat. He was resurrected by Odin in issue #478. More recently, Red was killed again in Journey into Mystery #504. Although he has been resurrected in issue #508, he’s now loyal to Seth.
Beta Ray Bill: Able to lift Thor’s hammer, he proved himself worthy of being a god and was given his own hammer, Stormbreaker in Thor #337-339. More recently, he was incapacitated by the WorldEngine in Thor #492, forcing Odin to separate his connection to Thor’s essence in Cosmic Powers Unlimited #5.
Thunderstrike: Briefly replaced Thor from Thor #432 to 459. He was given his own weapon and rebranded as Thunderstrike in Thunderstrike #1. He recently died in Thunderstrike #24.
This is not the end of Lorelei, as she gets resurrected sometime after Asgard is restored in Thor (vol. 2) #12. She’ll pop up alive again in Defenders (vol. 2) #1-4, allying herself with Pluto against the Defenders.
