Thor (vol. 2) #81
Ragnarok, Part the Second
Asgard has been devastated by Loki and his cohorts using weapons made from the same forge that created Mjolnir. With his hammer shattered and his fellow Asgardians scattered, Thor retreated to Earth to recruit his allies Captain America and Iron Man to assist in the coming battle.[1]
With Mjolnir shattered, the best Thor can do is teleport them to the decimated Fields of Frigga. As they make their way to the city, Iron Man notices strange rainbow colored shards being blown in the wind. Thor tells them that it is the remains of the Bifrost Bridge. Once they are over the ridge, they see that the famed bridge has been shattered and the city of Asgard is in ruins.
All three Avengers are shocked at the level of destruction and sheer number of dead bodies. Among the deceased are Trolls, who have joined forces with Loki to storm the gates of Asgard. As they search the area for survivors, Captain America finds a young boy hiding in the ruins of a building. The child tells them that while the Trolls attacked first, the city was later attacked by Loki and his allies, Hymer the Giant, the Fenris, and Ulik. At the mention of his name, Hymir rips open the ceiling revealing that he, Loki, and the others are here. Loki is pleased to see his brother is still alive, as he gets to kill him a second time. He is also amused to see that Cap and Iron Man are there as well, as it is fitting that he crush the Avengers, since it was his mischief that first formed the group.[2]
As the battle begins, Captain America takes the young boy to safety. As Iron Man and Thor battle Ulik and Fenris. Loki boasts that the two are unbeatable as they are in a berserker state while wearing the unbreakable chain of Fenris. Cap notices that Ulik has some strange scars and asks how he got them. The boy says that like all Trolls, Ulik is vulnerable to iron. When asked where he can find some, the young boy shows Cap that he is wearing a iron pendant in the shape of Mjolnir. Cap takes it and runs back into the battle. After wedging his indestructable shield in Fenris’ mouth, Cap then jumps on Ulik’s back and shoves the iron pendant down the Troll’s throat. When Ulik tries to take off Cap’s arm in the process, Thor saves his friend. After Iron Man manages to knock down Hymir, Loki has had enough of watching from the sidelines and begins attacking them himself, combining his magics with his own enchanted hammer.
The three Avengers give their all, working together to fight off attacks from both Loki and the Fenris. As Ulik explodes, both Cap and Iron Man are put through the paces, until only Thor is left standing. The thunder god manages to fight both Loki and Fenris to a stand still. Injured in the brawl, Loki becomes frustrated and he flees, leaving his son Fenris to fend for himself. When Captain America barks at the lupine, it turns tail and runs off as well.[3]
With the battle now over, Thor has Iron Man and Cap take Ulik’s uru pounders and they combine their strength with the shattered Mjolnir to break Hymir’s massive hammer. The heroes then continue their search for more survivors. Eventually, they hear the sound of people singing. Thor recognizes it as a Asgardian a funeral lament. On the other side of a toppled statue, Thor finds that a number of his people have gathered around Balder, who had died in battle. While people are relieved that Thor is still alive, the situation is still tragic. Thor approaches his old friend and closes the deceased warrior’s eyes. When he asks how Balder fell in battle, Harokin steps forward and explains that when Loki and his cohorts attacked one of them used an arrow made of mistle toe dipped in gold, Balder’s one weakness.[4][5]
After spending some time to mourn his friend, Thor asks the others where his mother, Frigga is. When nobody can answer, Thor realizes that his mother has been killed as well.[6] Thor finally realizes what is going on and decides that he cannot having Captain America or Iron Man involved anymore. Telling them that he is living on borrowed time, they need to return to Earth to be its avengers. Cap and Iron Man protest, but Thor uses Mjolnir to teleport them back to Midgard. Thor then turns to his fellow survivors and tells them that they must fight back against Loki and his forces as this is the final battle, this is Ragnarok! While this will claim all of their lives, Thor says that they will go down fighting. With that, the crowd cheers in unison.
Recurring Characters
Thor, Captain America, Iron Man, Einherjar, Balder, Valkyrie, Harokin, Loki, Hymr, Ulik, Fenris
Continuity Notes
Loki’s assault on Asgard happened last issue.
As you probably already know, the Avengers were inadvertedly formed when Loki tried to goad the Hulk into fighting Thor. See Avengers #1.
Regarding Loki’s minions:
Ulik’s death proves to be permanent. He’ll be seen again in World War Hulks #1. Presumably, he was resurrected when Thor restored the people of Asgard (see below for more on that).
Hymr is killed here, as will be confirmed next issue. As of this writing (June, 2023) it is unclear if he was restored with everyone else, as he has not been seen since.
Thor refers to Harokin as both a former ally and enemy. Harokin was a warlord that Thor defeated centuries earlier, as seen in Thor #129-133. Following that battle, Harokin has been deceased since that battle and his spirit resided in Valhalla since. The presumption here is that those who lived in Valhalla returned to help in the final battle during Ragnarok.
Balder’s weakness to mistle toe is part of Norse mythology. It was first addressed in the fiction in Journey into Mystery #107. Balder will remain among the deceased until this Ragnarok cycle is completed. After which he will be cast down to Earth into a mortal identity until he is restored to normal in Thor (vol. 3) #5.
Frigga will be restored to life in the same way as Balder, we’ll see her again in Thor (vol. 3) #7.
Avengers Disassembled Reading Order
Iron Man (vol. 3) #84-85, Thor (vol. 2) #80-81, Captain America and the Falcon #5, 6, 7, Captain America (vol. 3) #29, Avengers #500, 501, 502, 503, Iron Man (vol. 3) #86, 87, 88, 89, Captain America (vol. 3) #30, 31, 32, Fantastic Four #517, 518, 519, Spectacular Spider-Man (vol. 2) #15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, Thor (vol. 2) #82, 83, 84, 85, Avengers Finale #1, New Thunderbolts #1