Thor (vol. 2) #85 — Nick Peron

May 12

May 12 Thor (vol. 2) #85

Ragnarok, Part the Last

Thor has learned the secret behind Ragnarok and its cyclical nature: The death and rebirth of his people have been used to feed the power of They Who Sit Above in Darkness. Seeking to free his people from bondage, Thor intends to end the cycle once and for all.[1] With the personification of the Odinforce and Loki’s severed head, Thor takes a ship to a volcanic island where the Frost Giants battle to the death against Surtur’s fire demons.[2] When the fire demons start attacking his ship, Thor uses the Odinpower to incinerate them. He is then allowed to pass unmolested.

At the volcano’s peak, Thor finds Surtur working away at a forge creating weapons as powerful as Mjolnir. Surtur looks forward to the coming battle with Thor, as he will kill the thunder god just as he did his father, Odin.[3] However, Thor has no intention of fighting, only seeking restitution. This shocks Loki can’t understand why Thor doesn’t want avenge Odin’s death. Thor orders Loki to be silent and then asks that Surtur use his forge to repair Mjolnir. This request gets high praise from the Odinpower for using his wisdom wisely.

Surtur questions why he should do so, if Thor will only use it to fight him. Thor gives his pledge that he will do nothing to stop Surtur from using Mjolnir to cut a destructive swath of destruction all the way across the land. Loki calls this insanity, but Thor explains that they are all entitled to one final glorious battle before the end. Surtur takes Thor at his word and repairs Mjolnir, Thor then takes the weapon and uses it to blast a clear path for Surtur and his legions to march all the way to the city of Asgard unimpeded. Soon, they begin their attack and the warriors of Asgard respond in kind. However, Thor teleports Beta Ray Bill into deep space, telling the alien to live on and keep the Asgardian memory alive.

As the world below is consumed by fire, the Fenris returns and consumes what is left. Everyone in the realm of Asgard is now dead save for Thor and Loki.[4] Thor has one last task to complete and heads to Yggdrasil, the World Ash Tree. There he finds the three fates, Rossveissa, Sygnet, and Krista who loom a tapestry of all history from their loom.[5] Thor has learned that the loom is responsible for rebooting Asgard after every Ragnarok cycle and gives its power to They Who Sit Above in Shadow. Both the fates and They protest what Thr is going to do next, but are unable to stop him from destroying the loom. With the machine destroyed, They Who Sit Above vanish. Yggdrasil then splits open, sucking the fates inside,[6] before imploding upon itself. All that is left is darkness, and Thor can finally stop.

From the darkness, the voice of the Odinpower congratulates Thor from freeing his people from slavery. While it can no longer see what the future has in store, this is the way of things, life consumes life to live and death of the guarentee for all. For now, Thor is told to slumber.

Recurring Characters

Thor, Beta Ray Bill, Sif, Volstagg, Tyr, Norns (Urd, Skuld, Verdandi), Loki, Surtur, Fenris, Those Who Sit Above in Shadow, Valkyrior (Valtrauta, Hildegarde, Grimgerta, Hecara, Leita, Ortlinda, Rossveissa, Sygnet, Krista), Nidhogg

Continuity Notes

Man, if you don’t know what’s been going on, you really need to read the last five issues.
Thor mentions how Loki resurrected Surtur. The fire demon was killed by Odin in Thor (vol. 2) #40. He was resurrected in issue #80.
Odin perished in Thor (vol. 2) #40 as well. He will remain among the deceased until Thor #418.
From their deaths here, the Asgardians are cast to Earth in mortal guises for a time until Thor returns and revives them all. See Thor (vol. 3) #1-5. Surtur will remain deceased until he is resurrected by Loki in Journey into Mystery #629.
Here we see that the dragon Nidhogg is deceased as well. This creature will be resurrected at some point and will be seen alive again in Journey into Mystery #646.
The Norns will not be dead for very long. They’ll return as with everyone else, resurfacing again in Dark Wolverine #82.