Thor (vol. 3) #12
Diversions and Misdirections
Two men are out on the prowl in Las Vegas, looking for ladies. One woman, wearing a veil, catches the eye of one of the men. However, when he places his hand on her shoulder he pulls back in agony as his hand somehow begins to change into glass.
That’s because this is no ordinary woman, in reality she is Hela the Asgardian goddess of death. When she returns to her apartment, she finds Loki waiting for her. Seeing Loki’s new female form, Hela scoffs at the feat as nothing more than parlor tricks.[1] When Loki lays on the flattery, Hela asks her to skip it and explain why she has come.
Loki explains that she needs Hela’s help to travel back in time to carry out events that she has yet to do. However, she will need to go back in the form she had before — that of a man — but doing so on her own would free her host body, and Loki cannot allow that to happen yet. She needs Hela to use her own power to arrest the host body so that its true spirit remains trapped. When Hela asks why she should help, Loki explains that she is very close to defeating her brother once and for all. After this mission into the past, she has just two more steps to complete before she has defeated the thunder god. Hela agrees that this is good enough for her and uses her magics so separate Loki from his current host body. Loki’s male form is restored, while his female one is held in mystical stasis. With his true form finally free, Loki and Hela join hands and combine their magic to send him back into the distant past.
When Loki opens his eyes he is in the mountains of Jotunheim many thousands of years ago. Upon his arrival he is attacked by a trio of Frost Giants. However, Loki easily subdues them and they realize that the trickster is one of them, as they can smell it in his blood. Loki tells them that there is a nearby battle between the Frost Giants and the forces of Bor, the father of Odin. Loki wants one of the Frost Giants to specifically to draw Bor away from the fight. When this order is complied with, Loki confronts his step-grandfather and casts a spell to turn him into snow. Loki then withdraws and watches as Odin arrives on the scene and does nothing to save his father.[2]
Loki then moves forward in time, on the day in which Thor was born. Posing as the spirit of Bor, Loki appears before Odin and promises to stop haunting the All-Father if he agrees to adopt the orphaned child of a falen king. Loki then ventures back to Jotunheim where he finds his younger self playing in the snow. The young boy can tell that he is speaking to his future self by scent alone and is impressed to see that he has ascended and become a god in the future. Future Loki then appeals to the boy, offering him a chance leave his life of squaller behind and get revenge on his abusive father, things that will lead young Loki on the path to greatness. Young Loki is more than eager to betray his people for his own benefit and agrees to do as his future self orders him.
When young Loki returns home, he casually mentions how Odin is leading an expedition into the region. His father, the Frost Giant known as Laufey, seems disinterested until Loki goads his father by suggesting that he’d be a coward for not facing Odin. Although young Loki is swatted across the room for speaking out of turn, his words have convinced his father to go looking for a fight. Sure enough, this ends up being the battle where Odin slew Loki’s father and adopted the young boy as his own. Loki’s devastation at having his father killed and his vow to slay them all are all part of the act. Seeing the boy willing to avenge his father convinces Odin to adopt the boy.[3] Once the Asgardians are gone, the future Loki stops by the battle field. He discovers that his father is still alive and uses a sword to chop him into pieces, finally getting the revenge for all the abuse he suffered as a child.[4]
Loki then returns to the present day mere moments after he went into the past. By this time, Hela has figured out whose body Loki is wearing when he is in female form. Loki is amused and as he merges back with his host body asks Hela to tell him who she thinks it is. Hela correctly guesses that Loki has co-opted Sif’s body for his schemes and warns him/her that Thor will kill them when he learns the truth. Loki welcomes it, saying that if Thor destroys him while wearing Sif’s body, she will die to. Loki then thanks Hela for her assistance and leaves the death goddess to her distractions.
Recurring Characters
Loki, Hela, Sif, Odin, Laufey
Continuity Notes
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.
We saw this moment from Odin’s perspective in Thor (vol. 3) #7. Odin hesitated to help his father as this was the only way in which he could succeed Bor as ruler of Asgard. However, Odin is apparently unaware that Loki was responsible for this incident.
As explained in Thor (vol. 3) #7, this version of events are the truth. All prior versions of the story about Odin slaying Laufey (such as Journey into Mystery #112) are based on these events. Odin allowed these incorrect accounts to flourish as they supported the narrative of Odin’s charitable nature.
Laufey would remain among the deceased until is later resurrected in the present day, as seen in Thor (vol. 4) #8.