When Asgard Dies!

In New York City, Eric Masterson and his son Kevin look up in the sky along with other bystanders as a storm drifts over the city. In the clouds they can see images of the gods fighting to the death. Nearby, Loki appears on Earth to find refuge from the war between the forces of Seth and Asgard. However, unless his people win, there won’t be anywhere he can hide from the forces of death.

In Asgard, its people have just gotten some much needed aid from their old rivals, the Celtic gods.[1] However, there is tension between the two pantheons because of centuries old grudges. When Tyr suggests they pull back from battle, this angers Lier who sees this as an act of cowardice. However, Balder orders everyone to stand down as they need to stop Seth and can’t accomplish this if they fight among themselves.

Meanwhile, in Nornheim, the scene is being observed by Karnilla and her minion, Haag. While Haag looks at the fall of Asgard with glee, Karnilla finds herself divided between her loyalty to her people and her love for Balder. While her magic has allowed Nornheim to remain invisible to Seth and his invading forces, she wonders if this is a battle she can afford to stay out of.

While in Seth’s Black Pyramid, Thor and his allies — Bes, Hogun, the Black Knight, and Earth Force — have discovered that Thor’s father Odin has been a prisoner of Seth for almost as long as the All-Father has been missing.[2] However this happy reunion is interrupted when Seth finally catches up to them with some of Seth’s Demons of Despair.

Back in Asgard, Seth has taken the Enchantress prisoner after a failed attack on him. When he visits her in the prisoner’s tent, she attempts to seduce him in order to get close enough to stab him in the back as revenge for injuring Heimdall in battle. However, Seth is easily able to overpower her and once again gloats that his victory will be as eventual as death itself. He then takes Enchantress with him to the gates of Asgard where he challenges Balder to a one-on-one battle to determine the fate of Asgard. Since the people of Asgard are his responsibility, Balder agrees to the terms, unaware that Seth intends to betray the rules of engagement.

The moment Balder enters the field of battle, Seth’s men shoot him in the back with drugged darts. Despite this, Balder defends himself against Seth’s attacks. As the people of Asgard watch the battle out front, they are unaware that Seth’s forces are using portals to breach the palace and attack from the rear.

While back in Seth’s domain, Thor and his allies are joined battle by Wind Warrior who has brought along the de-powered Egyptian gods to assist them. Earth Lord and Skyhawk are happy to see that Wind Warrior is safe as she disappeared before they were captured.[3]

Back in Asgard, Lorelei witnesses that Seth is cheating and leaps to his aid and is injured for her trouble. Sif witnesses this treachery but before she can lead the warriors of Asgard into battle they are ambushed from behind by Seth’s forces. As they fight for their lives, Balder falls in battle but before Seth can end his life he is teleported away. The death god dismisses this as a minor inconvenience because Asgard is finally his.

At that moment, Thor feels his powers returning to him and believes that Balder has died.[4] Summoning a powerful whirlwind he unleashes his full fury against Grog and Seth’s minions, blowing them all away. In the aftermath of the battle, Odin has a portal back to Asgard opened, however insists that Thor will not be accompanying them. He tells his son that Surtur has been pursuing him this entire time and now that he is free from Seth’s shackles the fire demon will be coming to this dimension in search of the All-Father. He orders Thor to stay behind and battle Surtur, passing the Odinpower to his son so he has a chance against Surtur. Sure enough, moments after Odin and his allies have left, Surtur arrives looking for him. Thor stands his ground, telling the fire demon that in order to get to his father they will have to fight to the death.

Recurring Characters

Thor, Surtur, Seth, Grog the God-Slayer, Balder, Loki, Tyr, Sif Lorelei, Karnilla, Haag, Odin, Hogun, Enchantress, Leir, Dagda, Caber, Earth Force (Earth Lord, Skyhawk, Wind Warrior), Black Knight, Bres, Horus, Eric Masterson, Kevin Masterson

Continuity Notes

1. The Celts have come to aid Asgard after Thor helped Lier slay a griffin that was loosed in Avalon in Thor #386.

2. Odin was believed to have died after he sacrificed himself to stop Surtur from destroying Asgard in Thor #353.

3. Here, the Black Knight complains about the blood curse that is slowly limiting his mobility. This happened after his Ebony Blade was used to slay Marrina in Avengers #293. This condition will endure until the events of Black Knight (vol. 2) #1-4.

4. Unable to return Thor to Asgard, Thor was forced to take away Thor’s powers in Thor #396 so he could use them to defend Asgard.

Topical References

• The original twin towers of the World Trade Center are depicted as part of the New York City skyline. This should be considered a topical reference as they were destroyed in a terrorist attack on September 11, 2001 and subsequently replaced with the Freedom Tower.