Thor #278
At Long Last — Ragnarok!?
The threat of Ragnarok has come to pass with the armies of Hela at the gates of the kingdom. Even though he has been stripped of his hammer, Mjolnir, Thor leads the warriors of Asgard into battle against the invaders. From the sidelines watches Sigyn and Hoder, who fear that the twilight of the gods is neigh. Not far away, Sigyn’s husband — Loki — is shackled to the ground where he is tortured with serpent venom. While in the throne room, Odin focuses his power to maintain a shield around Balder the Brave, keeping him from crossing over into death. While TV reporter Harris Hobbs mourns the death of his colleage, Joey Burnett, and blames himself for Red Norvell becoming a power mad version of Thor.
Meanwhile, Red and Sif watch the situation from a seeing pool in the realm of Alfheim. Although Red hoped that gaining the power of Thor would make Sif love him, he realizes that this is not the case and finally begins listening to her requests that he return to Asgard and help in the battle ahead.
Back in Asgard, Thor continues to lead his army against the hordes of Hela. Suddenly, he spies Loki on the battle field and assumes that he has escaped.[1] Thor easily bests Loki in battle when suddenly, the Midgard Serpent appears. Even though he is without Mjolnir, Thor tries to slaw the massive beast, but it easily deflects his attacks. That’s when Red and Sif arrive on the scene. Deciding to be a hero, Norvell begins attacking the serpent after tossing Mjolnir back to the true Thor. Suddenly, the Midgard Serpent dives into the ground, taking Red along with it. Suddenly, the realm of Asgard disappears around them, leaving everyone to believe they had been teleported away. With the battle becoming a lost cause, Hela’s forces then retreat. When the Midgard Serpent returns, Thor is then able to fight off the massive reptile with Mjolnir, sending the beast fleeing as well.
With the battle over, Thor and his warriors return to Asgard with the body of Red Norvell, who died in combat. When they arrive, Red transforms back to his mortal form and the Odinshield around Balder gains new intensity. Odin then emerges from his throne room, now back at his full strength. The All-Father then shocks everyone by revealing that he orchestrated events to create a false Ragnarok in order to prevent the real thing from ever happening. Everything from the sacrifice of Red Norvell to the Midgard Serpent to fooling Hela’s forces into thinking they breached the gates of Asgard. Hearing all this angers Thor who is unhappy to learn that he and his friends have been manipulated, especially since it came at the cost of two mortal lives. Hearing his son speak out of turn also angers Odin, who decides to exile his son when he refuses to remain in Asgard. Having to return to Midgard alone, Thor bids farewell to Sif before teleporting himself, Harris Hobbs, and his two deceased colleagues back to Earth.[2][3] Once there, Thor leaves Hobbs to deal with his dead friends as he must investigate the potential threat of the Celestials.[4]
Recurring Characters
Thor, Red Norvell, Warriors Three (Fandral, Hogun, Volstagg), Sif, Odin, Hela, Fenris, Loki, Jormungand, Sigyn, Hoder, Balder, Harris Hobbs, Joey Burnett (corpse), Geri, Freki, Hugin, Munin
Continuity Notes
Mention is made of Volla’s prophecy of Ragnarok. A footnote here refers readers to Thor #200, a more recent telling of events first depicted in Thor #127.
Thor mentions how the essence of Jane Foster lives inside Sif. The pair were merged together in order to save Jane Foster’s life in Thor #236. They will remain like this until they are separated in Thor 334-335.
Although Red is physically dead, his spirit lives on in Valhalla and will return in Thor #478.
Thor learned about the Celestials and their judgement of life on Earth in Thor Annual #7. For more on the Celestial’s plans for Earth see Eternals #1-14.
