When Came The Betrayal

The year is 2020, as Thor, the Lord of Asgard and Midgard, continues to solidify the Asgardian presence on Earth while suppressing resistance by force and the use of "reconditioning centers." But a group of heroes have managed to survive and remain free as part of a struggle for Earth's independence--and with the help of one Asgardian, who is close to the throne and closer still to Thor as a brother-in-arms, they hope to end the reign of Asgard on Earth by stopping the one who brought it about. By whatever means necessary.

By now we've been witness to the beginning and end of the saga which saw the implementation and consequences of Thor's decision to bring Asgard and the guidance of the gods to Earth's mortals, where Thor's good intentions fell victim to his own misjudgment and the situation took a steady path from questionable to bad to worse. We also learned that there have been a number of attempts to remove Thor--among them an initial strike made by the Avengers and Tony Stark in particular, a fierce contest which was eventually quashed. And in time we discovered what became of the hammer Mjolnir, as well as the banished Lady Sif who vehemently opposed Thor's decision for the Asgardians to remain a presence on Earth following the destruction of Asgard and New York City. But the fate of Balder the Brave would be settled in a separate story, where Thor, 150 years after the fact, is having a recurring dream of the events in question--a dream which will replay for us, in graphic detail, how the story of Thor's former mortal comrades, as well as the traitor, Balder, came to an end.

As we've just seen, Captain America's plan to infiltrate the royal castle has been uncovered--as Loki, the head of "world security," moves to crush this group with extreme prejudice.

We can pick up a few character tidbits from this skirmish; for instance, either Captain America's group represents a resistance "cell," or the number of super-powered characters still able to band together and fight has been whittled down by Loki and his forces substantially, no doubt with a great deal of pleasure on his part--so what we're seeing here may well be a last stand, and possibly a suicide mission. Also, given his apparent dependence on others to get around, Dr. Strange appears to be blind--and judging by the accessories that Loki now sports, the god of evil is the likely cause. On a related note, Loki's Asgardian power combined with his knowledge of sorcery makes him a formidable enough foe against mortals--but having stolen and mastered the Eye of Agamotto, he arguably outclasses any mortal or group of mortals he comes up against.

As for Thor, Balder raises a good point in how these mortals expect to pose a challenge to the Odin-power--though frankly, this group would need Iron Man and another heavy hitter with them for good measure if they were just going up against Thor alone. But at least part of their gambit succeeds--though given the outcome, it's a moot point.

Quite honestly, I have never been more shocked by a comics scene as I was by the image of Balder holding the life of a toddler hostage at sword point, and a prince of Asgard at that--especially in light of his reticence in agreeing to help these men ambush Thor in the first place, to say nothing of his refusal to fatally injure any of the attacking warriors. Would he have actually carried out his threat if Thor refused to stand down? I'm actually not confident in answering "no."

Soon after Thor began insinuating himself in world affairs, both Cap and Iron Man stepped in when he decided to overthrow the government of Slokovia*. That situation was somewhat defused at its conclusion; but here, Cap has come full circle with Thor's overreach, and feels he has run out of options in dealing with him. Since this is Captain America we're watching, the final scene does a good job of conveying the impression that, despite the odds, he may actually prevail against Thor; but with Loki arriving to tip the scales and provide a jolting distraction, he falls in perhaps the worst way possible--at the hand of a former ally and friend, who once embodied the spirit of honor and righteousness.

*If you think that sounds slightly like "Sokovia," help yourself to a no-prize.

It's at this point that we return to Thor in 2170, bolting awake and visibly disturbed by his memories of that night--the Odin-power turning his "dream" into a second-by-second remembrance of the event. Whether it's his conscience at work, or something he regards as an omen of further dissent yet to come, is something the story leaves to the reader to decide; but if Captain America were in a position to give an opinion, chances are he would still be holding out hope for the former.