Looking at LokiPart 69: Love and Marriage ... Don't Always Go Together Like a Horse and Carriage
Welcome back to my article series exploring the characterisation of the Norse god Loki within the pages of various Marvel-published comics. A couple of things to note before we begin. Firstly, as Sequential Tart is edited largely on a monthly basis, Tarticles can be written as much as two months before they actually go live, and a lot can happen in the comics world in two months. Secondly, while I've generally read issues after the one I'm talking about, I try my best to relate what was going through my head when I was reading, and not take my knowledge of future issues into account (or, when I do, I'll make note of it). Therefore, theories postulated here may very well be disproven by what's currently on the stands. (In the interest of full disclosure, it should be noted that my parents work for Disney's parent company, though neither of them are directly involved with Marvel.) Now, let's get to it!
Jane-Thor reappears, and Loki says, "Oh well. My moment can wait." I don't know whether I should be relieved he's patient or concerned he's still hoping for a chance to be the star. So much for my theory that he's taking on a Watcher-type role (unless, again, this is an act to convince someone that his ego has returned). Thor warns him to stand aside; he assures her that he's just there to watch (the fact that he states it makes it all the less likely that he's content to be a watcher), adding that he hasn't seen a good war in ages. So was the war between Asgard and Hel not a good war, or was it ages ago? Aelsa, queen of the Light Elves, ignoring counsel from Jane-Thor (Loki is oddly silent), decides to try to have a talk with Malekith, figuring to buy time to evacuate her people. As the queen walks off, Jane-Thor remarks to a now-enchained Loki that she doesn't like this. Oh, you were going to kill him, and now he's your confidant? Rather than taking the chance to sweet-talk her, he points out that at least she's not in chains, musing that this is a part of villainy he doesn't miss. And Jane-Thor keeps talking to him! She reckons the queen is in danger. "Of course she is. We all are. Or does that helmet make you blind?" Interesting -- the old Loki would be soothing her and trying to convince her he could help if only she'd unchain him, but Story, who actually might help her if he was freed, insults her (frankly, I don't blame him for what he says). As they talk, we see a big blue leg come up behind them. Loki offers to make introductions, then cheerfully greets Laufey with a wave of both hands and a "Hi, Daddy!" Even though I know he doesn't mean it, it's kind of adorable. He even refers to his sire as "bigger and more lovable than ever". Laufey remarks that he'd thought Thor would be there, but only sees a little girl with a horn. In that wonderful way that leaves one wondering what side he's on (or pretending to be on), Loki chides his father, telling him not to be a Troll, saying this is the "All-New Mighty Thor", and assuring Laufey that she's just as capable as any son of Odin. Question is, does he mean that? If he does, how does he mean it? Praise or insult? Either way, is he counting himself as a son of Odin? Laufey is much amused by the statement. Elsewhere, Enchantress helps Malekith, making Aelsa agree to marry him. I guess whatever reason she had for fighting alongside Odin against Hel is gone. Jane-Thor arrives to protest the wedding, and Aelsa tells her maybe she should go, since this is Elf business. Malekith tauntingly adds that he would think Thor wouldn't want to miss the big trial; this is the first Jane's heard of it. In Asgardia, Freyja is on trial for, among other things, helping to stop the Destroyer from taking Mjolnir back from she whom Odin considers to be a False Thor (aka Jane). Outside the throne room, Sif, Fandral, Hogun, Hildegarde (Volstagg's wife) accuse Cul the Serpent of bewitching his brother. If it's true, it might explain Odin's shift from wiser and more accepting than all when dealing with Loki (specifically, when Loki freed him from the prison he shared with Cul, and during Loki's transformation into the God of Story), to a fool when dealing with Hel. Or maybe it's just his nature to go from kind and generous to cruel and close-minded at the drop of a hat? Why would he think Mjolnir could be held by anyone unworthy (as I would assume a thief would be)? (Does he, like me, actually question whether the hammer is really that good a judge of character?) At any rate, the four warriors and other Asgardians then fight the guards around Cul and the Destroyer. Volstagg, watching (from the senate, maybe?) wonders where Jane Foster, whom his calls his fiercest ally and "the only one who can save us", is; does this mean he knows she's Thor, or does he think Jane the Senator can help somehow? Jane-Thor arrives in the throne room, Loki (still in chains) in tow, waving hello to "Other-Daddy", whom both he and Jane-Thor would "have words with". Still, only Jane-Thor actually exchanges words with Odin, Loki instead chatting on the side with his mother, cheerfully (and adorably) pointing out their matching chains. She asks what he's doing there, saying this is part of the plan. So, despite her betrayal (trying to make him evil against his wishes, sacrificing him for Asgard), he's working for her again? Well, seemingly. Man, I would have liked to have been a fly on the wall for that reunion! He tells his mother that this Thor doesn't seem keen on plans, musing, "Then again, she is a Thor." And again I wonder just how far Mjolnir affects a person, as leaping before looking doesn't seem a trait of Jane Foster's. I don't have the impression Thor himself was altered in personality by the hammer, but it would be interesting if it turned out he was. Odin, apparently having overheard the exchange, complains that everyone, even his own kin, schemes against him. I'd call him paranoid, but Loki and Freyja just confirmed it. Still, they seem to have good reason to do so; which came first, his paranoia or the scheming? He blames Jane-Thor for this situation, and the issue ends with them fighting.
Freyja laments that civil war in Asgardia was not the war she wanted. (So what war did she want? For Asgard to join the war against the Dark Elves and that group's allies, I assume.) Loki points out that this is the war she's got, so she'd best win it. She replies that she will, and when she's on the throne again, he will tell her all she knows so they can deal with the real threat. I suppose it's too much to hope we'll get to see Loki as a real secret agent for Asgard, as that never really panned out in the first place? The Warriors Three, Sif, Hildegarde, Heimdall, and some bald dude arrives just then, freeing Freyja, urging her to safety away from Cul and the Destroyer. Sif also insists Loki be put in a cell before he can stab them in the back, to which he replies he'd rather face a cell than the Destroyer. Curious. Freyja says no, Loki's with her, and she trusts the boy she raised. I am very confused. She hated the one I called Young Loki as much as anyone when they learned he killed Kid. They should all know, thanks to the war with Hel, that this is yet another Loki, but don't seem to -- so why does she trust him, especially given how much he hated her, and the fact that she didn't trust him then? Or do they not trust him now because he sat on the sidelines while they fought Hel? Maybe I should give up trying to figure out how current events (and characterisations) relate to previous ones .... At any rate, as she frees Loki, she tells them that Loki is her spy on Malekith's council, and that they don't need to trust Loki, but she needs them to trust her. She then insists that they must stay and hold the throne room at all costs. (But why? Surely if others follow her, she could establish a new throne elsewhere?) Cul's force arrives, and as we see Frejya battle him, we also see Loki, in the midst of battle, watching her, looking grim. Malekith marries Aelsa, then asks his Dark Council which realm they should go after next. Jane-Thor and Odin's fight takes them all the way to Jupiter, Odin outraged along the way about her calling him a relic, blathering on about how nothing, even time, would exist without him (never mind that it existed before him, I guess). She swears she can hear Mjolnir laughing as it gathers lighting from Jupiter's storms, then unleashes it at Odin; she thinks it has a sick sense of humour. Again, I question its judgement. Why is everyone so sure it's a creation for good? If it ever was, couldn't it go evil? Despite her misgivings, though, her fear that if gods can't get their house in order, maybe no one can, she muses that, sickly as she normally us, it feels good to punch a god in the face, again and again. Is it really because it lets her feel a little less powerless, or is it Mjolnir's apparent bloodlust affecting her? Sif points out to Freyja that they can't fight the Destroyer. Freyja reckons they can if they find out who's controlling it. (I instantly, worried, wonder if it's Loki, hence his remark about not wanting to face it: maybe he hoped Sif would decide making him face it was better since he didn't want to do it, and he could then free himself and more easily join the enemies, for whatever reason -- hopefully a good one). Freyja asks Loki if he can trace the magic to the controller. He tells her probably, then tells her she was right about Malekith's plans and the coming war; she tells him now's not the time to deal with it. Looking morose, he repeats that she was right about everything -- "Well, almost everything." And he does what Sif predicted, literally stabbing her in the back. Looking truly regretful, he apologises, saying, as lines spread across her features, that she never should have sent him to them. Oddly, despite my worries until this point, I don't for one instant fear that Loki has gone bad again. I could see him betraying her for her own betrayal, getting vengeance, but I really don't think that's what's happened; I think whatever ill will he once had towards her is gone. We could think Enchantress bespelled him, but more likely, I think he's seen a bigger picture and feels it vital Asgard hate him, to solidify Malekith's belief in him, so he can betray him later. Further, I think he did it because he knew what would happen: that Odin would feel her dying and end his battle with Jane-Thor, remembering his love for his wife and rushing to her side, thus ending the civil war and turning his attention to the war with Malekith, on whose behalf everyone probably believes Frejya was hurt. Cul catches Loki, intent on bringing his nephew's head to Odin -- suggesting that Odin was not under Cul's control. He asks for a reason he shouldn't, and Loki replies that while Loki lives, Loki will be more hated than Odin or Cul, a point which gets Cul's attention, but the Serpent points out that there's still the matter of the murdered queen. Loki asks if she's dead, and we learn that she's been poisoned but still lives, on the brink of death. Cul remarks that Loki's either very good or very bad at poisoning, but either way, Loki's new master should be pleased. He tells Loki to tell Makekith that he can kill all the elves he likes, but while the Borson Brothers yet live, Asgard is off-limits. He also asks "What kind of god stabs his own mother in the back?" adding that Loki's "cold, even for an Odinson." Walking away, cold blue eyes glowing in the dark in a way that reflects his biological eyes a few pages later, Loki replies that that's not his name -- and never was. I'm hoping he's just getting into character / putting on a show for Cul and anyone else who might be listening, and isn't either forgetting or in denial of what Odin said about everyone, especially Loki, being his children, and denying his bond to Thor Odinson! Perhaps he's feeling, after nearly killing Freyja, that he doesn't deserve the name, or that denying his bond to Odin means Freyja isn't his mother, and so it makes the act less horrific. But really, I'd argue he was saving her life -- bringing her near-death made it so she's now under heavy guard in the Odinsleep, so she won't be killed as a traitor, won't partake in the war to come, and because of this act, Loki might even stop it before many lives are lost! So here we have evidence that Loki's sentiment near the end of Agent of Asgard, about no longer caring what others think of him, still holds: he has willingly sacrificed any goodwill anyone had for him, any chance to be seen as a hero rather than always the villain, even embraced the role (in appearance, anyway), in order to save the ten realms. In Jotunheim, where it's storming, Loki muses that he'd almost forgotten what the weather was like. Laufey beseeches him to tell him again about how Freyja screamed. Loki is looking wistfully away, his biological father's good graces clearly the last thing he cares about as he says, "Yes, Father." Elsewhere -- a floating island (it looks like Asgard) inside a space ship, a pair of non-human guards laugh about the distress of a captive Odinson, who seems to have felt Freyja's near-death. If he could feel that, despite her not being his birth-mother, did Loki feel it while stabbing her, I wonder? Next month, you can find this column in our Culture Vultures section, where I examine Thor: Dueling with Giants, the first in a trilogy of short story collections for Intermediate readers! But fret not -- this column will return to Features in July for The Mighty Thor issues #6 and #7, in which Loki tells a story about Thor (Odinson, while he still had Mjolnir) and an old version of Loki! Also, Loki stars in a new comic in June, Vote Loki, which is about him running for President of the United States! I'll start covering that in August. Previous installments: Part One: Across the Universes Part Two: Rebirth on Earth-616 Part Three: Introducing the Mighty Kid Loki! Part Four: Journeying Into Mystery With Magpies Part Five: Going To Hel Part Six: The End of Fear, and a New Beginning Part Seven: More Than a Memory, a Bond Beyond Blood Part Eight: Wake Up, Little Loki, Wake Up! Part Nine: No Rest for the Wicked Part Ten: It's All Fun and Games Until Someone Loses an Identity Part Eleven: Loki the Wedding Planner Part Twelve: Loki the Diplomat, or Loki the Spy? Part Thirteen: The Road to Manchester is Paved with Good Intentions Part Fourteen: A+ Parenting Part Fifteen: The Trust Issue Part Sixteen: The Best-Laid Schemes of Gods and Demons Part Seventeen: Whose Side Are You On, Anyway? Part Eighteen: Heel, Hel-Wolf, Heel! Part Nineteen: Putting Out the Fire Part Twenty: The Burden of the Crown Part Twenty-One: Good Versus Evil Part Twenty-Two: Case In Point Part Twenty-Three: The Waiting Game Part Twenty-Four: The Parent Trap Part Twenty-Five: Saved by the Belle Part Twenty-Six: Something Sinister Part Twenty-Seven: Psyche! Part Twenty-Eight: You Can't Always Get What You Want Part Twenty-Nine: Breakfast Meat! Er, Meet! Part Thirty: A Wild Patri-Not Chase Part Thirty-One: The Exes and the Oh!s Part Thirty-Two: Mother's Day Ill-Wishing Part Thirty-Three: Thor: The Dark World Prelude #2 Special Edition: Review of the film Thor: The Dark World (Part One) Special Edition: Review of the film Thor: The Dark World (Part Two) Part Thirty-Four: Time for a Change Part Thirty-Five: His Own Worst Enemy Part Thirty-Six: The Gang's All Here Part Thirty-Seven: Brother to Brother Part Thirty-Eight: Spiders are Pretty Fly Part Thirty-Nine: Like Father, Like Daughter Part Forty: Locks and Keys Looking at Loki, Part Forty-One: Dating in the Fast Lane Part Forty-Two: An Otter Catastrophe Part Forty-Three: A Gram of Truth Part Forty-Four: Loki Laufeyson and the Prisoner of Asgardia Part Forty-Five: Say What, Now?? Part Forty-Six: If You Need Me, I'll Be Elsewhere Part Forty-Seven: Changing Sides, Changing Genders Part Forty-Eight: Jail-Breaks Part Forty-Nine: Family Reunions Part Fifty: Old Frienemies Part Fifty-One: Truth be Told Part Fifty-Two: A Villainous League of Their Own Part Fifty-Three: Introducing the God of Heroism Part Fifty-Four: Nature Versus Nurt--Err, Magic Part Fifty-Five: Broken Spells, Broken Hearts Special Edition: The Super Hero Squad Show Part Fifty-Six: Truth and Consequences Special Edition: LEGO Marvel Super Heroes: Maximum Overload Part Fifty-Seven: The Trial Begins Part Fifty-Eight: The Never-Was and Future King Part Fifty-Nine: The Devil and the Drink Special Edition: Ultimate Spider-Man, Season 1 Part Sixty: Reinventing the Wheel of Fate Part Sixty-One: Cupid of Mischief Special Edition: Ultimate Spider-Man, Season 2 Part Sixty-Two: The New Guy Special Edition: Ultimate Spider-Man, Season 3, Part One Part Sixty-Three: Best Buds ... with Bucky?? Part Sixty-Four: It's the End of the Universe as We Know it (and Loki Seems Fine) Part Sixty-Five: Is This the Never-Ending Story? Part Sixty-Six: When One Door Closes .... Part Sixty-Seven: We Haven't Been Properly Introduced .... Part Sixty-Eight: I am an Army Other Loki-related writings of mine ... For the Love of Loki - My review of the first Thor live-action film (at Pink Raygun), with heavy Loki-centric commentary. Thor: Tales of Asgard - My review of the animated film, with some commentary on Loki. The Avengers - My review of the film, with some commentary on Loki. |
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