The Reigning, Part 6: Forever Branded

New Asgard, 2170, an illegal arms deal is going on in a darkened all. The seller has gotten his hands on some Starktech before Thor took down Iron Man over a century earlier.[1] When the buyer asks where he managed to hide this stuff, the seller tells him not to ask. Likewise is the case when the seller asks what the buyer intends to use the gun for.

At the royal palace, Loki — the head of planet security — observes things through the many magic crystals that spin around his throne. He is visited by his brother, Lord Thor, who informs his step-brother that he must enter the Odinsleep in order to replenish his power. He doesn’t want to do so with recent unrest, but has no choice. He needs Loki to step up and make sure things stay secure while he slumbers. Loki promises his brother he will follow the rule of law in his absence. Once Thor is gone, Loki reports in to one of his spies, the man who sold the weapons. The spy reports that the deal went off without a hitch, Loki is pleased as the timing couldn’t be any better. As it turned out, Loki has been secretly instigating unreset and conflict among the mortals in order to force Thor to reassert Asgardian dominance.

Meanwhile, at an Asgardian reconditioning facility in Arizona, a cloaked man arrives at the front gates. The guards tells him to leave immediately, but he refuses to comply. When the soldiers attack the stranger, he easily fights them off and knocks the front gate off its hinges with a single blow. The strange strips off his cloak and rips up a brick wall to use as a shield himself from a volley of arrows. It’s only then that the soldiers realize that the intruders is Magni, Thor’s son and the prince of Midgard. On the otherside of the hole in the wall he spots Jordhal in one of the reconditioning chairs.[2] As he removes her from the machine, one of the technicians warns that they haven’t reprogrammed her to make her obedient. Magni responds by stomping his foot hard on the ground and bowling them all off their feet.

Back at the royal palace, an unseasonable storm forms outside, something that rarely happens unless Thor summons it. Loki fears that this might have to do with the weapons purchase he helped facilitate. Using the Eye of Agamotto, he casts a spell to let him see who bought them in one of his viewing crystals. He is shocked to discovered that a group of mortals are storming the castle. More incredible is that they are being led by a mutant sorceress who has managed to live to adulthood.[3] Their leader is Kya, daughter of the Scarlet Witch, and she uses her powers to help her and her comrades get into the castle. When Loki tries to leave his chambers to confront the invaders, he discovers that Kya has cast a spell to bar the door.

By this time, Magni has ridden his chariot to an abode in the mountains to stash Jordhal. With her mind wiped, Magni needs to stash her away somewhere he knows she will be safe. The owner of the abode tells Magni that he should have stayed away, but he can’t go on letting things carry on the way they have.[4]

At the palace, Thor is getting ready to enter the Odinsleep. The Enchantress gives him a potion that will help him fall asleep and leaves him to rest. When the thunder god is alone, something causes the candles in his bedchamber to go out. Thor knows it is Thialfi moving at super speed and hopes his friend isn’t about to commit an act of betrayal. Drawing a sword, Thialfi says that Thor’s rule needs to end and that he is going to kill his friend to honor the person he used to be. Getting up from his bed, Thor goes for a sword hanging on the wall and the two begin to duel. However, things take a turn when the Enchantress calls out to Thor to kill the betrayer. When Thialfi turns to smack her in the face, it allows Thor to stab Thialfi through his sword swinging arm, rendering it useless. Unable to escape the bedroom thanks to Kya’s spell, Amora instead opens the door to the room where Geri the wolf resides. The ferocious beast then leaps out and rips Thialfi to shreds.[5] At the same time, Loki has gotten free and uses a spell to capture Kya and her resistants.

As the elixir finally puts Thor back to sleep, Amora cradles him in her arms. She tells her husband to rest easy as there is no threat that is greater than all mighty Thor, and that such a foe does not exist.

Recurring Characters

Thor, Magni, Jordhal, Enchantress, Thialfi, Fandral, Hogun, Loki, Porjyst, Kya, Sif (unidentified)

Continuity Notes

1. From the “Shit You Need to Know Off the Top Dept.”:

   • The events of this story take place in a possible future that now exists in another reality. Per Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #2, it has been desigated as Reality-3515. It was to be the future of Reality-616 until a divergence in Thor (vol. 2) #79 changed the course of history.

   • Thor took over the world in the present day after Asgard was destroyed, as seen in Thor (vol. 2) #67. In that same story, Thialfi got sucked into a time portal and arrived in the year 2170 in issue #69. Since then, he has been shown by the human resistance that eveything isn’t all rainbows and sunshine on Earth.

2. Jordhal’s only crime was finding Thialfi after he arrived in this era from the 21st century, as seen in Thor (vol. 2) #69.

3. Kya Maximoff is quite possibly the last mutant on Earth in this reality. Around the time of her birth, the Asgardians had begun a process of screening for mutants to make sure a mortal could never gain enough power to threaten their rule. See Thor (vol. 2) #68.

4. The mystery woman who lives in this mountain hideaway turns out to be Sif, as we’ll learn next issue.

5. This is the last we ever see of Thialfi in this or any other reality. Official Index to the Marvel Universe: Thor states that when The Reigning future was diverged from Reality-616, Thialfi would not have died. However, as of this writing (June, 2023) Thialfi hasn’t been seen again, nor has his fate on Earth-616 been explained.

Topical References

• This story is stated as taking place in the year 2170. As this date is over a century in the future from now, it could be considered a factual date.