Resurrection!

Earlier*

A viking sailing ship pulls up to the port in New York City carrying Heimdall and Kamorr, his diminutive companion. Their arrival comes as a shock to the dock workers. In order to stop drawing attention, Heimdall casts a spell to make the ship resemble a modern day yacht and their clothes that of mortals. This convinces the dock workers that they were seeing things. Heimdall tells Kamorr that the must hurry on the mission that Odin has sent them on as time is of the essence.

Now

This scene is watched by the Norns as Klothos deems it important even though the have been watching the battle for Odin’s soul on Asgard. They soon return their gaze to that land where Pluto has noticed his ax was destroyed by their hand. Still, Thor is at his mercy and he seeks to slay the thunder god so he can claim Odin. Thor, however, continues to struggle and manages to summon back Mjolnir and break free from the death god’s grasp. Changing tactics, Pluto spots the Warriors Three fighting his demon hordes nearby. He casts a spell that traps the trio in a field of dark energy. He then orders Thor to surrender or else his allies will die.

Meanwhile, Karnilla races to Odin’s vizier and pleads for his help save her beloved Balder. Instead, the vizier shows her the cause of the battle: Odin’s lifeless body which still rests in a protective field erected by Thor. He explains that the All-Father’s soul has not left his body as Asgard is still outside time and space. However, the realm will soon return to its proper place and the laws of life and death will come back into place. That’s when Hela appears before them. She has decided that the fight against Pluto for Odin’s soul is a lost cause. With no other choice, the goddess of death uses her power to restore Odin to life.

Outside, Thor refuses to surrender and continues to fight against Pluto. To his horror, the Warriors Three are seemingly slain in the black energies that imprison them. As Pluto moves to attack Thor anew, Odin appears and reveals that he is alive and well. Realizing that his battle is lost, Pluto orders a full retreat, vowing to come back and claim Odin’s soul some other day.

In the aftermath of the battle, the warriors of Asgard celebrate the return of the All-Father. Still, Thor is filled with grief as he believes that the Warriors Three perished in battle. In reality, Odin saved their lives at the last minute by teleporting them to Earth. Thor is then granted permission to return to his adopted home. Balder insists on accompanying him, despite the fact that Karnilla wishes him to stay. With Thor and Balder gone, Odin hopes that Heimdall’s mission is a success as his mission ties into Sif and Hidlegard’s mission to Black World.

On that distant world, the two Asgardians continue to flee from Ego-Prime along with their allies Tana Niles and Silas Grant. The crystalline creature continues to pursue them in the rapidly evolving city. When the creature is distracted by a subway train, Sif and her allies are given a moment of respite. They then decide to find out how Blackworld came to be as it is. Tana Nile explains that since her people, the Colonizers of Rigel, were seeking an Earth-like planet after they promised Thor not to conquer the Earth.[2] To this end, she was sent to collect a portion of Ego the Living Planet and take it to Blackworld. There she used the portion of Ego to try and evolve Blackworld into a habitable world. What she didn’t anticipate was that that the chunk of Ego came to life and as it evolved, it began hyper evolving the planet as well. In mere moments primitive humanoids were quickly racing toward modern age men.

As Tana Nile finishes her story, Hildegard comes upon a newspaper with a headline warning how the governments of Blackworld were preparing for nuclear war. Realizing that things are speeding out of control they are too slow to do anything as moments later the planet is wiped out in nuclear fire.

At that moment, on Earth, Thor and Balder find the Warriors Three who are holding up traffic in the street. The trio are happy to learn that this isn’t Hades, but Midgard. Suddenly, Sif and her allies are teleported onto the street with Ego-Prime right behind them.

Recurring Characters

Thor, Ego Prime, Odin, Heimdall, Kamorr, the Norns (Urd, Skuld, Verandi), Warriors Three (Fandral, Hogun, Volstagg), Karnilla, Balder, Sif, Hildegarde, Hela, Tana Nile, Silas Grant, Pluto, Grand Commissioner, (in flashback) Recorder, Ego the Living Planet

Continuity Notes

1. Tana Nile’s attempt to colonize the Earth in Thor #131-133.

The Passage of Time

This story states that Heimdall’s mission takes place one week prior to the main events of this story. However, Thor #203 explains that Heimdall was sent to Earth at the same time he sent Thor to the World’s End and Sif to Blackworld back in Thor #195. If this is an accurate measurement of time, or is it subject to the sliding timescale? I suppose you could go either way. Based on the 4:1 ratio of the Sliding Timescale, Heimdall’s quest would have been about 1.75 days instead of a whole week. I suppose if you want to split hairs, you could since in the grand scheme a few days to a week doesn’t really change overly much.