Thor #274
The Eye — And the Arrow!
Loki has returned to Asgard after his exile in the hopes of bringing about the twilight of the gods known as Ragnarok. Having sneaked back into the golden realm with reporter Harris Hobbs and his TV crew consisting of Red Norvell and Joe Burnett. As Loki gloats over Thor’s impending doom, Harris explains the Ragnarok myth to his crew.
As Red Norvell begins filming the scene unfolding, Thor attacks his step-brother. Loki decides to flee by changing into a mouse and scurrying under an effigy of Odin. As Thor lifts the statue to try and get at the trickster, Odin returns home with the blind Asgardian named Hoder. The All-Father is furious to see Thor lifting the statue as this is considered blasphemy and demands to know what is going on. Thor quickly explains the situation to his father, who is not happy to see mortals in his presence. Thor and Loki are both shocked to see that Odin is now wearing an eye patch and ask what happened in their absence.
Odin explains he was delivered bad news from his pet ravens, Hugin and Munin. Disturbed by what they had to say, the All-Father then sought advice from Mimir, the living flame that knows all. However, the omnipotent entity refused to divulge any information unless Odin plucked out one of his eyes and fed it into the flame. Odin complied and was then instructed to ride out to Hel and seek out the spirit of Volla, a prophet who once foretold the coming of Ragnarok.[1] Odin then traveled to Hel on his eight-legged horse Sleipnir and summoned Volla’s spirit. She offered a warning to Odin, telling him that Ragnarok would begin with the death of Balder the Brave. Hela, the goddess of death, then appeared before Odin and to gloat over Balder’s impending death. As Odin ride back into Asgard, he crossed paths with Hoder who asked his liege to ride him back into the kingdom after years of wandering.
Hearing all of this, Thor begs his father to punish Loki, since he will be the one responsible for bringing about the end times. However, before anything can be done, Sif returns to Asgard from a mission to bring the female Asgardians home after some time away from the kingdom.[2] Odin is happily reunited with his wife, Frigga. While observing these proceedings, Harris Hobbs tries to explain what’s going on to his crew.[3] Red, the cameraman, notices Sif among the goddesses and becomes instantly smitten. However, his attempts to get Sif’s interest is rebuffed.
Meanwhile, Balder does not fear the threats on his life, reminding everyone that — while in Asgard — Balder is protected by all life and nothing in the realm can harm him. Hobbs recalls the legend about how Frigga petitioned all things in Asgard to not harm Balder.[4] When the warriors of Asgard decide to test this theory out by throwing spears at Balder, Harris tries to get them to stop but nobody will listen. Theorizing that the Asgardians cannot do anything but follow the prophecy of Ragnarok, he hopes that he can get through to Thor due to the fact that the thunder god has a mortal identity.[5] Harris interrupts a meeting between Thor, Odin and Sif, which angers the All-Father. However, when Hobbs explains what the others are doing, Thor races outside to stop them before Balder is harmed.
Unfortunately, they are too slow to stop Loki from tricking Hoder into firing an arrow made out of mistletoe, Balder’s one weakness. The shot is true and pierces Balder in the heart. Rushing to his friend’s side and cradling his body, Thor pronounces Balder dead and that Ragnarok is about to begin!
Recurring Characters
Thor, Balder, Warriors Three (Frandral, Hogun, Volstagg), Odin, Hoder, Sif, Frigga, Heimdell, Loki, Harris Hobbs, Red Norvell, Joe Burnett, Sleipnir, (in flashback) Hela, Mimir, Volla, Njord, Hugin, Munin
Continuity Notes
This story references Volla’s prophecy as it was told in Thor #200, however that story was also adapted from an earlier tale in Thor #127.
The “secret mission” the female Asgardians have been on was the stewardship of the New Gods, as explained in Thor #301
When explaining Frigga’s relationship to Odin, Harris states here that she might not be the mother of Thor. He recalls a Norse myth which stated that Thor was the son of a giantess named Jord. As explained in Thor #293, the Asgardians actually go through a cycle of death and rebirth and end up reliving their lives albeit slightly different from the last cycle. That said, this most recent incarnation of Thor is the son of Gaea, the Earth Mother, as explained in Thor #300. At the time, Gaea went by the name Jord.
Balder’s recollection of the events leading to his invulnerability contradicts the events of Journey into Mystery #106, which states that Odin made this so. The contradictions can probably be chalked up to a previous rebirth cycle of the Asgardians. Alternatively, the events might be misremembered by the people of Asgard, as Thor: God of Thunder #3 explains that the long lived Asgardians have a limited capacity for memory and ancient recollections are either overwritten with new memories or dimmed with age.
Hobbs learned of Thor’s mortal identity of Donald Blake back in Journey into Mystery #122
Topical References
Dated pop-culture references:
Roots: Hobbs compares his TV special to this miniseries that first aired in 1977. It was adapted from Alex Haley’s 1976 book “Roots: The Saga of an American Family”. This was a historical drama that took place during the days of slavery in America. As of this writing (May 2021) it still maintains the highest viewership of any television show if it’s time in American broadcast history.
Barbara Walters: Was already well known broadcast journalist at the time this story was published. This is topical since Walters retired in 2015. As I write this, she is currently 91 years old and probably won’t be long for the world.
Dino De Laurentis: Red’s comment that Slepnir is a “reject” from a De Laurentis film is a reference to the fact that Laurentis was best known at the time of publication for his westerns. This wasn’t the only genre the filmmaker dabbled in and would go onto make other well known films outside of westerns. That said, this is a topical reference since Dino went the way of dinosaurs back in 2010.
The Osmonds: Hobbs make a crack about the public having a hard time remembering the names of 5 brothers (Alan, Wayne, Merrill, Jay, and Donny) who were popular during the 1970s. They released their last album as a group in 1979. They still performed together until 2018 which was billed as their last show. Since many of the members are in poor health, I don’t think we’re looking at any comebacks.
