The Spiral, Part 1: Discovery

Jake Olson arrives on the scene of an accident where a cargo truck jack knifed and toppled its load of steel girders onto a van. The officers on the scene tell him that a little boy pinned down in the wreckage. The boy has suffered severe lacerations and his pinned leg has been crushed. If they don’t cut him loose now, the boy will bleed out and die. Jack checks on the boy — Jarrod — and confirms the severity of the wounds. He tells the other officials that they need to get the boy out of there right away or he’ll die. However, the lead fireman explains that there is no chance to cut through the beams without their weight collapsing the rest of the van and crushing the boy. Jake tells them that they only have one option to save the boy.

That’s when Jarrod’s mother comes rushing out of the crowd and asks Olson what this one option is. Jake tells her that they’ll need to amputate the boy’s leg in order to pull him out. Jarrod’s mother refuses, believing that the power of prayer can help them now. Jake tells here that, with all due respect to her religious beliefs, that’s not a viable option right now. That’s when the woman reveals she is wearing a Mjolnir pendant, a sign that she is a worshiper of the Church of Asgard. She believes that Thor will come and save her son, something that Jake finds unbelievable. Jake’s partner then tells him that Jarrod has lapsed into unconsciousness and they need to amputate right away or else he won’t last much longer. Jake tells him to get the trauma bag, and is reminded that they need to get a surgeon. Olson says there isn’t any time to wait. When he makes a move toward the the boy, his mother grabs him and tells him to stop, as she is confident Thor will appear.

At that moment, Thor is far, far away. A voice has drawn him to a special waterfall. It knows that he has been feeling doubts about the direction he has been going and is seeking guidance.[1] When he arrives at the falls he calls out to whoever has been summoning him. When the owner of the voice refuses to come out, Thor walks through the falls. Once he does so, the waters melt away his protective armor, but doesn’t harm his flesh. Suddenly, the cave around him changes and he appears to be out somewhere in the universe. The voice tells him that the time of defining has come. When Thor turns to see who he is speaking with, he is shocked to see the image of his father![2]

Back at the scene of the accident, Jake Olson calls his friend Jane Foster for advise. Jane understands the severity of the situation as well as the fact that Jake is qualified to perform the surgery due to his once being the mortal half of Thor.[3] She tells Jake that she will back him up if the mother agrees to allowing him to amputate so he doesn’t put his job in jeopardy. Jake turns to Jarrod’s mother and tells her that Thor is not going to come to save her child and unless he acts now, the boy will die, and pleads with her to give him permission to amputate. When she still refuses, tells her that the thunder god is as flawed as anyone else and is not to be worshiped. He then decides to amputate Jarrod’s leg anyway. As he bends down to work, one of the officers tells him that Jarrod’s mother has demanded he be arrested. Jake tells the office he doesn’t care as long as he waits until after he saves the boy to do so. He then begins cutting.

Back in the void, Thor bows down to the figure he believes is his father. Odin tells him that he lacks perspective because he still only sees things in black and white while still holding tomorrow. As they rise up further into the universe, Odin tells him to harness his full power Thor needs to look toward the future. He has used the Odinpower impressively so far, but it can do so much more.[4] To demonstrate this, Thor is asked to reach out and hold a dead world in his hands. When Thor goes to grab it, the planet shatters in his hand. Odin tells him that this happened because he limits himself and that he cannot accept who and what he can be. He says that Thor’s path is not his father’s path and he should stop trying to follow and make his own. When Thor is asked what he wants, Thor isn’t sure he knows the answer that question. When the man who appears to be Odin tells Thor to grab hold of a nearby sun, he is reluctant to do so. He is told not to doubt himself, just close his eyes and think of what would make him the happies. Thor does as he is commanded and when he grasps the sun, there is a blinding flash of light.

Meanwhile, Jake Olson has finished amputating Jarrod’s leg and the boy can now safely be extracted from the wreck and taken to the hospital. His mother is deeply upset and vows that she will never forgive him for disfiguring her son. Olson tries to explain that he only did what was necessary. Moments later, Sif — who was drawn by the flashing lights of emergency vehicles — lands at the accident scene on her flying horse and asks how she can be of assistance. Jarrod’s mother explains what has happened, and Sif believes that if she takes the boy to Neffelthesk he might be able to restore the boy’s leg. After cutting through the girders with her sword, Sif recovers the severed leg and orders the emergency crew to load both Jarrod and his mother onto her horse to be taken back from Asgard. Despite this, Jake Olson is still not impressed with what’s been going on. Someone in the crowd of observes then approaches Jake and says she understands how he feels and hands him a recording and tells him to check it out.[5]

At that same moment, the blinding light disappears and Thor finds himself out at sea on a traditional Viking sailing ship. The man that views him as his father finds it interesting, but Thor admits that he isn’t sure if this is what he truly wants, at least not on a conscious level. When Thor starts asking Odin how he feels about his moving Asgard to Earth, or what he will do upon his return. The man grows impatient telling Thor that Asgard is his now and forever and what Odin wants doesn’t matter. The speaker doesn’t understand how Thor hasn’t figured out who he is really talking too. This angers the thunder god who grabs “Odin” by the arm and demands he explain himself. Suddenly, there is another flash of light and Thor wakes up under the waterfall he entered earlier. Everything that happened, happened in his mind. He now realizes the scope of his power. He also knows that it wasn’t his father speaking to him, but the Odinforce itself.

He returns to Asgard to think about what he was asked and envisions what he wants for the future. In his minds eye he sees Midgard — not as it is, but as it will be. It is a beautiful utopia where mortal and Asgardian cultures have been intertwined. New York and Asgard have become one massive gleaming city.

While back at his apartment, Jake Olson plays the recording on his laptop. It is the final video recorded by Davis, the mutant who previously rallied against Thor. The video he recorded before — as he claims — he will be murdered by Thor. Seeing it for himself, Jake Olson realizes that Thor needs to be stopped before it is too late.

Recurring Characters

Thor, Jake Olson, Jane Foster, Sif, Davis

Continuity Notes

1. Thor has been trying to change the Earth for the better since Thor (vol. 2) #50. However, he has been questioning his mission after his battle with Iron Man and Captain America, as seen last issue, Iron Man (vol. 3) #64 and Avengers (vol. 3) #63.

2. Odin had died in battle against Surtur as seen in Thor (vol. 2) #40, he will remain among the deceased in Thor #618. As we’ll learn later this issue, this is not really Odin, but a form chosen by the Odinpower to commune with its host.

3. Jake Olson has been the mortal form of Thor from Thor (vol. 2) #2 until they were separated into two distinct beings in issue #39, they will remain separated until Thor (vol. 2) #79. The reason why Jane knows Jake can perform the surgery because he has all of Thor’s memories. Many years ago Thor lived in the mortal identity of Donald Blake who was a trained surgeon. He used this identity from Journey into Mystery #83 until Thor #339.

4. The Odinforce mentions how Thor used its power to reform the moon after it was shattered by the alien known as the Gardener. See Thor (vol. 2) #57.

5. This is the recording that Davis, a mutant who tried to show the world that Thor was a threat, had recorded before he died in Thor (vol. 2) #56. What Jake doesn’t know is that Davis actually turned his powers on himself to make himself a martyr in his crusade against Thor.

Topical References

• There is a poster hanging in Memorial Hostpial advertising Truth, an anti-smoking campaign that was in full swing at the time of this story. It was an awareness campaign that sought to steer kids away from cigarettes run by the Truth Initiative. Its depiction here should be considered topical as this is a real world non-profit organization.

• The Davis recording handed the Jake Olson is depicted as being on a CD, which was a common type of media storage at the time this story was published. Since then, better formats have since come out and the use of CDs for data storage has fallen out of popular use and will eventually become obsolete, as such its depiction here should be considered topical.