Thor #190
And So, to Die!
In order to save the lives of a team of firefighters, Thor has agreed to surrender his life to Hela, the goddess of death. In Asgard, Balder wakes up from a dream and is visited by Karnilla the Norn Queen. She warns Balder that Hela is about to take Thor’s soul. Balder races into the throne room to warn Odin, but unfortunately, there is nothing the All-Father can do. However, when he witnesses Hela about to take Thor’s life, he changes his mind.
Odin then uses his magic to teleport all the bystanders to safety so Hela can no longer use them to threaten Thor to surrender. The thunder god then tries to fight back against the death goddess, but his attacks have no effect. Thor then resigns to his fate but this time Hela is stopped by Odin who orders her to stand down or he will smite her. Hela refuses to surrender and Odin fatally blasts her with his sceptre.
Although Thor is grateful for his father saving his life, he fears that killing Hela will have great repercussions on the mortal plane. He then flies about the Earth and sees exactly what he has feared. In a world without death, insect swarms grow unchecked, while plant life grows unheeded. Lastly, populations begin to boom, threatening to chaos as every living being fights for space and resources. Thor then returns to Odin and pleads with the All-Father to restore Hela so that the natural order can be restored. He insists on this, even though it means that he will have to allow Hela to take his soul. Realizing that he has no choice, Odin tearfully restores Hela.
The death goddess then resumes where she left off, using her power to rapidly age Thor until he dies of old age. As Odin kneels by his dying son, he knows that nothing he can do will stop Hela from claiming his son. In a last ditch effort to save Thor, Odin teleports Sif to be by his side. Not wanting to see Thor die, Sif pleads with Hela — woman to woman — to spare her love, even offering up her own soul in exchange. Hela, who has never known true love, is moved by Sif’s emotional plea and decides to spare Thor’s life — just this once. Restoring the thunder god’s vitality, Hela tells the couple to enjoy the time they have left as when she next comes for Thor’s soul nothing will be able to stop her.
When the trio return to Asgard, they are shocked to find a Storm Giant standing guard at the Bifrost Bridge. Thor easily knocks the giant out with Mjolnir and when they enter the kingdom they find the armies of Asgard defeated and the city in ruins. Entering the throne room, they are shocked to discover that Loki has seized the realm while Odin was away on Earth. Worse, Loki has managed to find the Odin-Ring which ensures him absolute rule over the realm. When Thor pleads with Odin to do something, the All-Father regretfully tells his son that as long as Loki wears the Odin-Ring, there is nothing he can do. Gloating over his victory, Loki vows that his reign will last forever and his first order of business will be to conquer the planet Earth.
Recurring Characters
Thor, Balder, Odin, Sif, Hela, Loki, Karnilla
Topical References
Thor states that DDT is useless against plants. At the time this story was written DDT was a commonly used pesticide. However, in more recent years the use has been banned due to the fact that it causes cancer in humans.
