Thor (vol. 2) #48
By Fire Born, Part III of V
Seeking immortality, the Grey Gargoyle turned Thor Girl (aka Tarene, aka the Designate) into stone and shattered her body after stealing her enchanted hammer. Separated from Thor, Jake Olson was forced to walk through the Enchantresses magic mirror to become the thunder god himself. Confronting the Grey Gargoyle, the two combatants are interrupted by the arrival of Desak, the God Slayer who has come to kill both the thunder god and the Designate.[1]
When the Grey Gargoyle hears this, he assures the newcomer that he already destroyed Thor Girl. Desak is impressed until the Grey Gargoyle — believing he has attained immortality from Tarene’s hammer — begins referring to himself as a god. Since Desak’s entire thing is slaying gods, he begins attacking his potential ally instead. He then begins attacking “Thor”, as he has learned of the thunder god’s future and has come to stop it from coming to pass.[2]
However, before he can attack “Thor” anew, the Grey Gargoyle ambushed him from behind. Desak shrugs this off and manages to wrest Thor Girl’s hammer away from him. By this point he has determined that the Gargoyle does not have the spark of immortality. He also senses a faint sign int he shattered stone remains of Thor Girl. He begins laying into “Thor”, telling him that he has seen the horrible future that the thunder god will bring to the world as he was shown it by Zarrko the Tomorrow Man. Since Jake has all of Thor’s old memories, he tries to convince Desak that Zarrko is not to be trusted.[3] This falls on deaf ears as Desak intends to kill “Thor” sooner or later.
Meanwhile, the truth Thor, is in Niffelheim trying to prevent a group of Frost Giants from invading Asgard. Unfortunately, when Jake Olson used the magic mirror to become Thor, it has halved the true Thor’s power. Because of this, Thor has been forced onto the sidelines while Balder, the Warriors Three (Fandral, Hogun, and Volstagg) and other warriors are forced to fight a losing battle on their own. By Thor’s side is the Enchantress who tries to convince Thor leave the battle and rest.[4] However, the thunder god refuses to stand by and let others fight for him. Marshalling what strength he has left, the thunderer strikes one of the Frost Giants with Mjolnir with enough force to pulp its head, killing the monster in the process. When his two brothers try to avenge him, Thor then uses his enchanted hammer to open a vortex that banishes the Frost Giants to another dimension, ending the battle. With the danger passed, Thor then heads to Midgard alone to get his power back.
Back on Earth, Jake Olson realizes that he doesn’t have the strength to defeat Desak and decides that it is time to flee the battle instead. Unfortunately for him, Desak is not willing to give up and follows after him. Strinking “Thor” from behind, the two crash into an old warehouse. There, the spirit with in the jewel — a beatufiul woman wrapped in cloth — appears before him and reminds Desak that his cause is just and that he must remove the threat posed by Thor.[5] After paying his respects to the Spirit, Desak then unleashes a devastating blast of energy upon Jake, and pronounces the thunder god dead.
Recurring Characters
Thor, Jake Olson, Thor Girl, Warriors Three (Fandral, Hogun, Volstagg), Balder, Enchantress, Grey Gargoyle, Desak, Spirit in the Jewel
Continuity Notes
There is a lot going on off the top here, she let’s get all the finer details out of the way:
Jake is actually Thor’s mortal form, separated from his body in Thor (vol. 2) #39 and will remain the status quo until issue #79.
The Grey Gargoyle seeking immortality from an enchanted hammer is a deep cut reference that dates back to his first appearance in Journey into Mystery #107. Back then, he got it in his head that Mjolnir was the source of Thor’s immortality and many of their early clashes were attempts to steal the legendary weapon. In reality, the Asgardians aren’t truly immortal. However, they live long lives thanks to the Golden Apples of Idunn, as per Journey into Mystery #100. He shattered Tarene/Thor Girl’s body in Thor (vol. 2) #47.
Jake was paired off with Christine Collins in Thor (vol. 2) #26, In Thor (vol. 2) #36 we discovered that she was actually the Enchantress in disguise. She completely abandoned this disguise in issue #43. She used an enchanted mirror to change forms. Jake used it last issue to make himself turn into Thor.
Desak was given power by a mysterious gem after his daughter was sacrificed to the gods of his world. His mission in life is to kill all gods. See Thor Annual 2001 for more details.
Tarene/Thor Girl’s is also known as the Designate. She is fated to bring the universe to its next phase of evolution, see Thor (vol. 2) #21-25.
Desak is referring to the Reigning, a future where Thor rules over Earth and Asgard with an iron fist as we’ll see in Thor (vol. 2) #67-79. Per Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #2, this future takes place in Reality-3515. He learned of this possible future from Zarrko the Tomorrow Man, who has been trying to stop this future from coming to pass since issue #33. He approached Desak for assistance in Thor (vol. 2) #43.
Jake mentions how Zarrko previously tricked Gladiator into fighting Thor. That happened in Thor (vol. 2) #34-35.
There are multiple references to Odin being deceased during this battle. Odin died battling Surtur in Thor (vol. 2) #40, leading Thor to taking the throne in issue #42. Odin will remain among the deceased until Thor #618.
The “Spirit in the Jewel” is Tarene’s future self from the Reigning reality, as will be revealed in Thor (vol. 2) #79.
