The Death and Life of Skurge the Executioner

Years Ago[1]

Skurge the Executioner was once considered a villain of Asgard, due to his love of Amora the Enchantress. However, when she gave her life to another, Skurge became devastated. He later volunteered to join an expedition into Hela’s domain along with Thor and the other warriors of Asgard. While there, Hela tempted Skurge with carnal desires from both herself and the goddess Mordanna. He was also offered the captain’s seat aboard the Naglfar, a ship made out of the finger nails of the damned. The Executioner refused these offers and destroyed the ship, earning Hela’s wraith.

Skurge then followed his compatriots as they fled Hel. They made it all the way to Gjallerbru, the threshhold between Asgard and Hel. With Hela’s forces gaining on them, Skurge ran back with guns blazing so the others could escape. Armed with automatic weapons obtained by the mortals, Skurge battled until he was completely out of bullets. He then used the guns as a club until he was swarmed and killed in battle. Skurge the Executioner died a hero.

Now

Balder finds himself thinking about Skurge and seems to remember him as a chubby poet with a taste for mead and maidens. His thoughts are interrupted by Thor, who has come to see what troubles his old friend. When Balder recounts his memory of Skurge, he says it doesn’t feel right. Thor agrees, as he remembers Skurge to be friend of his father and a cobbler who died long before they were old enough to lift a sword. Hearing this recollection, Balder is inclined to agree, but both men are very troubled because something seems off about this.

Thor realizes that someone has tampered with their memories, and the thunder god instantly believes that this the work of his step-sister Loki.[2] Thor and Balder then confront the trickster in her bed chamber and demand to know what she has done to their memories. When Loki hear’s Skurge’s name she remembers them as an old crone that lived on the edge of Well of Urd for reasons lost to time. Hearing Loki recall her memories convinces Thor that Loki is telling the truth and is not responsible for their altered memories. Loki decides to use a spell to divine how their conflicting memories of Skurge tie together. The spell conjures up the image of both Hela, the goddess of death, and her domain of Hel. However, the three Asgardians have no idea why.

Thor decides that they should venture to Hel to investigate, and uses the power of Mjolnir to teleport themselves to this realm. There, they find an axe laying on the ground and they instantly know that it once belonged to Skurge.[3] When they approach the weapon they are confronted by Hela who demands to know what they are doing. Thor explains that they are trying to figure out who Skurge really was. Hela remembers that he stood his ground in Gjallerbru, but realizes that her memories have been tampered with as well! Hela believes that the answers lay where Skurge died in battle. When Thor asks for safe passage through her domain to get her, Hela agrees. Picking up he Bloodaxe, Thor and his companions head for Gjalerrbru.

As Thor, Loki, and Balder make their way to Gjalerbru, reality around them begins to shift. Not only do they appear in older outfits, but Loki’s reverted back to his male form. Suspecting that something is bending all of reality around them, Thor beings whirling Mjolnir so its magics can uncover the truth. It begins showing that a convergence of realities are being drawn together by some powerful source of magic.[4] They are suddenly attacked by Dark Elves and as Thor and his allies fight off these creatures, they are struck by another shift in reality. Their outfits change again, and they appear to have been transported to Jotunheim where they are ambushed by a Storm Giant.

The three warriors fell the Storm Giant and up ahead they see that something is tormenting Yggdrasil, the World Ash Tree. There they find the Enchantress, who is trying to use her magics to resurrect Skurge through Yggdrasil. However, in doing so, she is threatening to rip all reality asunder. As it turns out, the Enchantress always loved the Executioner, and now that she is back, she mourns his loss and wishes to be with him once more. Thor and Balder try to stop her but are halted in their tracks when Amora uses her magics to turn their legs into tree roots. For a brief moment, Loki ponders letting the Enchantress threaten all existence for her love, but Thor convinces his sister to help stop Amora before it is too late.

Thor tries to reason with the Enchantress and learns the depths of her loss. When he tries to convince her to stop, that trying to resurrect Skurge will destroy all existence, Amora tells him that it is too late to stop her spell now. With the Executioner’s Blood Axe, Thor then begins chopping madly at the Skurge shaped growing coming out of Yggdrasl. He eventually stops the rebirth, and pronounces Skurge the Executioner dead once more.

With the Enchantress’ spell stopped, reality reverts back to normal and they are all able to remember Skruge for who he was. Thor and his comrades then return home where they celebrate the memory of the Executioner. Meanwhile, Amora remains by Yggdrasil, keeping Skurge’s memory alive.

Recurring Characters

Thor, Executioner, Balder, Loki, Enchantress, Hela

Continuity Notes

1. There is a lot going on in this flashback that deals with events that were going on in Thor in the 1980s that are not clearly explained here. Lucky for you, I’m here to spell it all out for you, ain’t I swell?

   • For the most part, this flashback is recapping the events of Thor #360-362. Where Thor and his compatriots go on a mission to Hel. Per the Sliding Timescale, these events (published October-December, 1985) would have taken place about six years prior to the main story (published February, 2009).

   • Skurg had a boner for the Enchantress since his first appearance in Journey into Mystery #103. At the time of this flashback, she began romancing Heimdall, as seen in Thor #360. This relationship wouldn’t be meant to last as Amora went back to her villainous ways following the events of Thor #400.

   • The reason for their mission to Hel was two fold: One was to rescue souls of mortals that were taken by Hela in Thor #345-348. The other was to confirm if Odin was indeed alive, after he disappeared battling Surtur in Thor #350-353. Odin proved to still be alive, as seen in Thor #398-400.

   • Some of the Asgardians have automatic weapons here. Harokin traded with some soldiers for the guns in Thor #360.

   • Here, Thor’s face his covered because it was horribly scarred during a one-on-one fight with Hela in Thor #361. For a time, Thor grew a beard to cover up these scars, but they would ultimately be healed in Thor #382.

   • Since his death in Thor #362, Skurge has remained in the afterlife and will remain among the deceased until Asgardians of the Galaxy #1.

2. Loki is appearing here as a woman because he has stolen Sif’s body to take on the female form, as explained in Thor (vol. 3) #12. As we saw in issue #8, Sif’s soul is trapped in the body of an elderly woman named Rose Chambers. This will remain the status quo until Sif is saved in Thor #602.

3. The Bloodaxe was Skurge’s weapon of choice, it was last seen in Thor (vol. 2) #53 when Thor used it to defend himself from an attack by Perikus. Rather than surrender to its bloodlust, Thor destroyed the axe. How it ended up in Hel is not clearly explained, but — come on guys — its a magic axe, does it need an explanation?

4. The images conjured by Mjolnir are images from Walt Simonson’s run on Thor. They include Balder wearing the helmet that was popularized by this run starting in Balder the Brave #1. We also see Beta Ray Bill, who first appeared in Thor #337. Lastly we see Thor in the form of a frog, which was totally something that happened, check out Thor #364-366.

5. We saw this moment from Odin’s perspective in Thor (vol. 3) #7. Odin hesitated to help his father as this was the only way in which he could succeed Bor as ruler of Asgard. However, Odin is apparently unaware that Loki was responsible for this incident.

6. As explained in Thor (vol. 3) #7, this version of events are the truth. All prior versions of the story about Odin slaying Laufey (such as Journey into Mystery #112) are based on these events. Odin allowed these incorrect accounts to flourish as they supported the narrative of Odin’s charitable nature.

7. Laufey would remain among the deceased until is later resurrected in the present day, as seen in Thor (vol. 4) #8

8. Last issue, Balder learned that he is a son of Odin and a prince of realm. This was kept secret from him for centuries by Odin to prevent Ragnarok from happening prematurely and to maintain the royal line in the event Thor died.

9. Sif died along with all the other Asgardians in the final Ragnarok cycle in Thor (vol. 2) #85. When Thor returned in Thor (vol. 3) #1, he learned that his people were cast down to Earth and bonded with mortals. He had revived everyone he could by issue #5. Sif remains trapped in her host body due to the fact that Loki has stolen her physical form.

10. Don is referring to the events of Thor (vol. 3) #8 when he first came to visit Jane Foster since his return. He was searching for Sif, which deeply upset Jane.

11. Captain America was seemingly assassinated in Captain America (vol. 5) #25. In reality, he was unmoored from time and space with a time bullet and has spent this entire time reliving his life over and over again. See Captain America: Reborn #1-6.