Thor #465
Holy Sacrifice
The Infinity Crusade continues from Doctor Strange Sorcerer Supreme #55…
The the influence of the Goddess spreads across the universe, it fills those who have evil in their heart with utter bliss.[1] Aboard a Skrull vessel everyone has been affected except for the Super-Skrull. The disgraced soldier cannot believe what he is seeing. With the captain of the ship babbling about the Goddess and her message of peace, the Super-Skrull has heart enough and has decided to track down this Goddess and put an end to her and her mind control tricks.
Meanwhile, on Paradise Omega, Goddess’ right-hand-woman Moondragon has found Thor out on the balcony. She tells him that their mistress that his strength is needed to deal with enemies of their mission. She explains that not everyone in the universe has accepted her message of peace and are actively trying to stop them from achieving their goals. Such an enemy is making his way to Paradise Omega now and she wants Thor to deal with him by any means necessary. The thunder god is afraid he might miss the final battle, but Moondragon assures him that there are still many more preparations that need to be made before that conflict. Thor agrees to take on the mission and is told that the enemy he seeks is the Super-Skrull. Thor is familiar with the alien being and flies off into space to intercept him.[2]
In far off Olympus, Pluto meets up with his brother Zeus once again to follow up on what is being done about Thor’s allegedly unwarranted attack on Ares.[3] Zeus tells him that he is just about to send Hermes to deliver the message to Odin on his behalf. However, Pluto impresses upon him the fact that such an important message must be delivered by Zeus himself. Zeus buys this and tells Hermes to stand down as he intends to travel to Asgard himself.
While in deep space, the Super-Skrull is making his way to Paradise Omega when Thor clocks the alien in the face with Mjolnir. The thunder god orders the Skrull to stand down. However, Super-Skrull isn’t interested in listening to him. He explains that he intends to destroy the Goddess and free his people from her mental control, as this will likely put him back in the good graces of his empress.[4] The Super-Skrull has all the powers of the Fantastic Four and uses these powers to keep Thor on the defensive until the alien warrior can wrap his pliable arms around his foe. He almost succeeds in crushing the life out of Thor, but the thunder god jolts him into unconsciousness with lightning drawn from Mjolnir.
With his opponent out for the count, Thor prepares to slay the Super-Skrull as a sacrifice to his mistress. However he is contacted by Moondragon who orders him to spare the Skrull’s life as the Goddess has another task ready for him at Paradise Omega. Once contact is ended, Thor is about to leave when Valkyrie suddenly appears and tries to convince him to give up on this foolish quest and be with her. He is surprised to see her as he saw the Goddess slay her. Valkyrie explains that it’s not that easy to get rid of her and confirms that he truly saw her in the Goddess’ catacombs of illusion earlier.[5] Unfortunately, Thor is still under the full influence of the Goddess and refuses to abandon her. As Thor flies back to Paradise Omega, Valkyrie refuses to give up, believing that soon she’ll have Thor all to herself.
… The Infinity Crusade continues in Alpha Flight #123.
Recurring Characters
Thor, Super-Skrull, Goddess, Moondragon, Valkyrie, Zeus, Pluto, Hermes
Continuity Notes
The Goddess has been attempting to create universal peace. The primary track of this story is chronicled in Infinity Crusade #1-6. What nobody knows is that she is cowing everyone into obedience (circa issue #3 of that series) before destroying all life in the universe.
Thor fought the Super-Skrull pretty early on in his present day career, as seen in Thor #162.
Pluto and Ares attacked Thor in issue #462 out of revenge for the thunder god’s past interference in their schemes. Thor kicked the living shit out of them and sent them packing. In the following issue, Pluto tricked Zeus into thinking the attack was unprovoked so the Olympian leader would go to Asgard demanding retribution.
Kl’rt was met with disgrace when he refused to allow the empire promote propaganda that suggested he had died a hero in the latest Kree/Skrull conflict, which almost happened when Cap’n Reptyl ripped out his throat in Silver Surfer (vol. 3) #28. The Super-Skrull refused to be dishonored so he went into space and killed Reptyl. This prompted Empress S’Byll to demote him for going against her wishes as seen in Fantastic Four Annual #24.
Valkyrie has been Thor’s mysterious companion since Thor #460. She was seemingly slain by the Goddess in issue #463, but Thor saw her again last issue. The reason why she couldn’t be killed is because she’s all in Thor’s head. As explained in Thor #469, she is the personification of his growing mental instability.
Infinity Crusade Reading Order
Infinity Crusade #1, Iron Man #294-295, Warlock and the Infinity Watch #18, Doctor Strange Sorcerer Supreme #54, Alpha Flight #122, Marc Spector: Moon Knight #56, Terror Inc. #13, Thor #463, Avengers West Coast #96, Thor #464, Warlock Chronicles #1, Infinity Crusade #2, Web of Spider-Man #104, Doctor Strange Sorcerer Supreme #55, Thor #465, Alpha Flight #123-124, Darkhawk #30, Warlock Chronicles #2, Warlock and the Infinity Watch #19, Cage #17, Web of Spider-Man #105, Marc Spector: Moon Knight #57, Infinity Crusade #3, Doctor Strange Sorcerer Supreme #56, Avengers West Coast #97, Darkhawk #31, Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #16-17, Warlock Chronicles #3, Warlock and the Infinity Watch #20, Silver Surfer (vol. 3) #83, Infinity Crusade #4, Warlock Chronicles #4, Silver Surfer (vol. 3) #84-85, Infinity Crusade #5, Deathlok (vol. 2) #28, Web of Spider-Man #106, Warlock Chronicles #5, Thor #466, Warlock and the Infinity Watch #21-22, Infinity Crusade #6, Deathlok (vol. 2) #29, Thor #467