Loki has just revealed to Balder that he is secretly the son of Odin. Balder finds this difficult to believe given Loki’s past history of telling lies. However, Loki insists that she is telling the truth and that Thor can confirm this because he knows the truth as well.[1] While Loki claims she doesn’t know the reason why this has been kept a secret stil, she knows how it happened.

It happened one night at the height of Odin’s rule, during a celebration over some victory when the goddess known as Frigga caught his eye. The two bedded with one another that night. When it was discovered that Frigga was pregnant with child, Odin kept the birth a secret. This is because Odin saw visions of the newborn child as a man being killed in some epic battle. Wondering what these visions were, Odin had ridden out some thirteen days. Fighting his way through wolves and other threats, he eventually reached a circle of stones. A voice called out and promised to reveal the truth to Odin if he provide only a small sampling of blood. When Odin did so, a vampiric creature emerged from the soil and told him the prophecy of Ragnarok.[2]

The creature told Odin that Balder played a key role in Ragnarok, that if he died before it began it would spell the end of the gods. However, if Balder survived the start and died afterwards, he would be reborn and create a new race of gods to continue Odin’s legacy.[3] Odin decided to keep Balder’s true lineage a secret so as not to make him a constant target of his enemies and trigger Ragnarok ahead of time. However, now that Thor has freed them from the endless cycle of death and rebirth, there is no reason why Balder shouldn’t know the truth. Loki does not understand why Thor continues to choose not to tell Balder that hey are brothers. As proof that she is telling the truth, Loki tells Balder to confront Thor about the truth. Balder decides to do just that and finds Thor in the royal throne room.

In nearby Broxton, Oklahoma, Bill Cobbs is working at the grill of the local diner but his thoughts are miles away. One of the customers sees the spaced out look on Bill’s face and knows that it has to do with his trip up to Asgard to spend time with the goddess known as Kelda. He asks Bill how it was and the young man says that it was the most beautiful place he had ever seen. Troubled by this, the customer decides to give Bill some advice as he has. Bill’s reaction to Asgard reminds him of the time he had gone up to Las Vegas. The found the place beautiful too, but soon learned that everyone and everything in Vegas was a hussle. He warns Bill to be careful of that up in Asgard. When Bill tells him that Asgard isn’t Las Vegas, the customer agrees with him, because at least in Vegas they let guys like them win every once and a while.

This is overheard by another customer who tells Bill not to listen to that advice. Instead, he tells Bill that the only things in life he regrets are the things that he didn’t do. Life is about risks, and mistakes can usually be corrected. Regrets, however, are forever and they will follow you for the rest of your life. As he leaves, he tells Bill to follow his heart and see where it takes him. Bill then looks out the window to Asgard floating in the sky and says one word: beautiful.

Back in Asgard, Thor admits to Balder that Loki had told him was true, that they are brothers. Thor has known for years and despite his desire to tell him the truth, Odin forbade it. The reason was to protect the royal line on top of the threat posed by Ragnarok. Should Thor have died in battle, Balder would be placed as the next in line. That’s when Loki comes out and says that she was part of the reason why Balder’s true lineage was kept a secret. However, Loki figured it out years ago, and points out that she kept it a secret, not that anyone would have believed her back in those days. Balder then asks Thor why he didn’t say anything now that they are free from Ragnarok’s control now. Thor shamefully admits that he had no reason to continue keeping the secret, except for that the long her put it off, the harder it was to explain for this very reason. Loki then takes advantage of this admission to suggest that Thor tell the entire kingdom and throw a celebration. Talked into a corner, Thor has no choice but to agree with his step-sister.

Soon a coronation is organized to reveal the truth about Balder. Before he goes out and addresses the Asgardian people, Balder has a moment along with Loki. He admits that this turn of events have allowed him to have second thoughts about Loki, and that perhaps change can happen. He tells her that he can now give her the benefit of the doubt, but warns her not to abuse this privilege. As Thor presents his brother to their people, Loki heads back to her chamber. As she looks out he window she notices tourists looking into the window from a telescope miles away. Loki gives a fiendish smile that frightens a little girl.

Recurring Characters

Thor, Loki, Balder, Volstagg, Kelda, Bill Cobb, (in flashback) Odin, Frigga

Continuity Notes

1. Loki is appearing here as a woman because he has stolen Sif’s body to take on the female form, as explained in Thor (vol. 3) #12. As we saw in issue #8, Sif’s soul is trapped in the body of an elderly woman named Ellen Chambers. This will remain the status quo until Sif is saved in Thor #602.

2. Loki implies that this creater created vampires on Earth. However, this is an apparent contradiction Bizarre Adventures #33 and other sources that state that the first vampire was a human named Varnae, who was transformed into the first bloodsucker via a spell in the Darkhold. Any connection with this unnamed creature and Varnae, or the spell that created vampires remains to be explained or verified as of this writing (July, 2023).

3. Ragnarok was known as the Twilght of the Gods, was a prophecy that the gods would perish. There are many different versions, the first which was told in the fiction was in Thor #128. In Thor #293 and Thor (vol. 2) #84, it was revealed that Ragnarok is actually a cycle of death and rebirth, that was manipulated by the beings known as They Who Sit Above in Shadow. One of the pillars of this prophecy was that Balder was the first to die. During the last Ragnarok cycle, Balder was indeed killed as seen in Thor (vol. 2) #81. In Thor (vol. 2) #85, Thor stopped the Ragnarok cycle from repeating once and for all. Thor later resurrected the Asgardians between Thor (vol. 3) #1-5.