Chapter Notes: What Manner of Thing
Jan. 17th, 2021 05:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lokiofsassgaard This chapter was actually going to be a bit longer, but there was too much going on so I cut some stuff out and rearranged others to go in the next chapter.
Those who have been around for a long time may be aware that I put a lot of my own personal experience into fic. From working at resort hotels, to hanging out with magicians and weirdos, to supertramping around on Greyhound buses and the back seats of cars.
Second Rite is another one of these stories. I think it’s safe to say anything of significant length I’ve posted in the last ten years is one of these stories, honestly. But it’s not the setting or the weirdos this time. Loki has been through a lot, mentally, physically, and emotionally. Odin called it battle weariness. In Midgard Legends, it was called shell shock. My therapist calls it PTSD.
My circumstances are not the same as Loki’s, and the story will not be either. And by the nature of who he is, what he is, and just how mind-buggeringly long-lived he is, it’s really not comparable at all. But I did want to acknowledge right from the beginning that this is a condition that is known, recognised, and respected on Asgard. They are a warrior culture, and supposedly an advanced society. Every decision Odin made at the beginning of Those Who Hunt Monsters was a result of coming home battle weary and unable to peace out, becase as king, he does not have that luxury.
Loki does. People were very surprised in the comments to see Odin not only respect that, but instruct Thor to leave him the fuck alone. The thing about Odin is that he is one of the only characters who I have not allowed comic canon to influence at all. Comic Odin is a terrible, horrible king, father, and all around person, especially in some of the more contemporary runs, though he’s got a bit better since Agent of Asgard. In a story which hinges on Odin actually loving his children and making compassionate, if ultimately selfish choices, comic Odin has no place here.
Odin definitely still has a temper, and it’s where Thor and Loki both get theirs. Odin sure does a lot of screaming and shouting in the movies, after all. He also makes a lot of bad choices for good reasons. Those choices irreperably fuck up two of his three children, and ultimately leave the third with crippling executive dysfunction, but at the time he believed they were the correct choices.
Honestly, I don’t know what the fuck I’m going to do with Hela. That actually fractured the mythological basis more than anything I’ve done in this series, and I am guilty of a lot of fuckery here. WELP. I’ll burn that bridge when/if I get to it, I guess.
But the choices Odin makes in this series are the same. He makes choices which, in the moment, appear to be the correct choice. Loki was raised surrounded in secrecy, but also being privy to them. Instead of being a respected prince of Asgard, he’s been all but outcast since he was 12 years old. Because of this, Loki replaced arrogance with false bravado and a spirit of fuck around and find out. The rules don’t apply to him, because they don’t protect him either. If a prince can be bullied by members of the court, then he’s not much of a prince at all. And if he’s not much of a prince, then there’s no point in pretending to be one. So Loki yolos off to other realms, breaks rules, practises forbidden magic, and just generally does not care.
Similarly, it is only 1945 at this point. Thor has not had his big, humbling experience yet, which I think is a bit easy to forget when he’s asshatting around and being unforgivably dense. His arrogance is alive and well. He’s the heir and he knows it.
In fact, two of the taglines in this series sum it up perfectly at this point. Everything changes while staying the same. It’s an AU in which Odin is mostly-honest, Thor is still a spoilt brat, and Loki still deserves a smack in the mouth.
The ultimate goal was to get to the point where Thor is exiled to earth, and still have all of the characters completely recognisable as their canon selves. Except, the circumstances are different, which means events will play out differently. Which is where we are now. The Loki who returned to Asgard is not the same Loki who left it at the end of Those Who Hunt Monsters. He’s quieter, he’s more reserved, more willing to take on responsibility without throwing a tantrum. This is the whole point of taking his rite. This is what it’s supposed to do. A boy leaves Asgard, and a man returns. Both when Thor took his, and when Loki returned, a problem with the rite was highlighted. This is not what happens in most cases. Boys leave Asgard seeking glory, and instead of returning humbled, they return thinking they’re hot shit. Loki staunchly refused to take his rite, and in doing so, refused to seek glory and fame. When he enlisted, it was out of a tangled knot of motivations. He was consumed with greed for the Tesseract at some moments, and acutely aware of what it meant for the humans to possess it at others. When he wasn’t seeking the Tesseract for greed, he was seeking it to return it to safety. By the end of his time on Midgard, he had learned to reject its temptations. Flinging himself out of the bomber after it was an act of selfless desperation. When he failed to retrieve it, the failure broke him. He had failed to retrieve it for greed multiple times, and it kept almost getting him killed. And he kept not caring. He only failed for selfless reasons once, and once was all he could handle.
Now on Asgard, he can barely stand to be around other people. It’s not a problem Thor understands, because Thor spent his rite seeking ogres to slay and villages to rescue — things he was already doing. When they were 16, they went to Alfheimr to get wasted, accidentally wound up on Niflheimr, and wound up killing a few polar bears. Because that’s what Asgardian boys do. When Loki took his rite, he spent his time being shot, blown up, run over, flung out of the sky, and everything else. And he did it for one task where he wasn’t needed, and another he failed at. He returned to Asgard humbled and demoralised, and the first thing he finds is that he’s also been disrespected in his absence.
In the previous chapter, people were also surprised that Odin called the incident with Týr a “property dispute.” Odin did not want Fenrir in the palace, and made this clear multiple times in Those Who Hunt Monsters. At any point, Odin could have forced it to happen, just as he had forced Loki to take his hunt. He didn’t, because he knows what happens when Loki is forced to do anything. When Loki was gone, Týr took advantage of his absence and removed Fenrir from the palace. Odin had no say in this call, but also remained neutral by not intervening. In this chapter, Loki champions the idea of petty squabbles being settled without bringing higher authority into it. By law, Týr stole property belonging to Loki, and Loki took back what is his. Loki may have pushed boundaries by allowing Fenrir to maul him, but maiming and death weren’t exactly uncommon punishments for theft where the Vikings were concerned, and even today in some areas, this is still the case. Was it extreme? Yes. Was it legal? Also yes.
The scene with Hogun was one of the first ones I conceptualised for the time on Asgard. Loki lost his closest companion in Those Who Hunt Monsters, and I wanted to show it abundantly clear that he has not yet lost Hogun. In the first film, the Warriors Three were as much Loki’s friends as they were Thor’s. And I think that was an important thing to keep. There’s reconciliation possible with Fandral, though they may never return to what they had before. With Sif, I don’t think they can ever be friends, but Loki may be able to finally agree to start over. Loki needs allies, and even though he’s gaining respect within the court, he’s also losing it all over again.
But I also wanted Loki to find interest in new things. I debated for a long time what that might be. Right now, Loki is listless, and a bit depressed. One thing that was a constant thread in Those Who Hunt Monsters was his pig-headed determination to skip every lesson he was supposed to take, and learn on his own as it suited him. He learned poetry not on Asgard, but on Midgard. He learned sport not on Asgard, but on Midgard. He practises forbidden magic from extinct races. He learned knives from Midgardian carnies, and archery from a pre-teen boy. He had to go to Midgard to learn how to be a soldier, and largely learned to fight as self-defense.
Loki knows very little from Asgard. I felt like if he should learn something from Asgard, it should be art. And since he brought so much from Midgard to Asgard, I thought it should be an art that he could take to Midgard and adapt there. At this point, music was the obvious choice. So the concept was introduced, and now he has something new that he can throw himself into completely.
The fight with Iri is another long-unresolved thread from Those Who Hunt Monsters. For a long time, I wasn’t really sure where precisely I was going with this one. By which I mean, I know where the princess is, what she is doing, and why she is there, but I could never pin down who I wanted her to be. Which is why in both TWHM and here, Iri never mentions her name. For a long time, there was a common trope within the fandom that Darcy was Sigyn. Which I almost went with. But then I realised I’d set up a thread with her already in TWHM, by mentioning that she’s betrothed to Theoric. Canon won out over fanon on this one, so the missing princess is not Sigyn. But as I was writing this fight with Iri, I figured out precisely who she is. And Iri still doesn’t mention her name, because I want you all to guess.
It’s not Sigyn, and it’s not Darcy. That much I’ll tell you.
This argument is also a callback to the earlier one. Then, Iri had Loki nervous. He caught Loki at a time when he was ill, making him quick to jab and make things worse. Now, years later, Iri is still here, still shouting. Loki has grown, he’s matured, and he is 100% out of fucks to give. He just got home from one war, and this clown trying to drag Asgard into another is not something Loki is willing to entertain. Odin knows Loki has nothing to do with the girl’s disappearance, and backs him up without hesitation. Odin knows this particular child of his is a complete fuckboy with no desire for marriage and a tendency for degeneracy. Loki all but disinherited himself as it is. What good would a marriage do either party now? Loki’s assessment that Iri is butthurt over the change in circumstance is, as far as Odin is concerned, a valid and reasonable argument. That Loki being Jötunn could be overlooked, as long as he had a chance at the throne. Now he’s permanently last in line, and allowed to just fuck his way across the Nine Realms like he’s any common scoundrel.
Of course, that’s without Surtur’s boy going missing as well. But I think we all know where he is. Loki has not yet connected those dots, only because he wasn’t in the correct place to have done so.
When Odin informs Loki of his impending trip to Muspelheimr, Loki again shows a stark change in behaviour. He does not want to do the task given to him, and makes that clear, but he also does not fight against it. His reasons are again entirely selfish, but his delivery and acceptance is handled with a maturity he completely lacked before the war. If he does not do this task, it could open the realm to war with Vanaheimr. Thor needs to be allowed to negotiate with Iri. If he instead has to spend his time taking care of petty local matters, there is no one higher up in the food chain to keep Iri pacified, and Iri sure as hell won’t talk to Loki. If he completely defers to Baldur, local matters could be exacerbated, taking attention away from Vanaheimr upon Odin’s return.
So, Loki hates it, but he’ll do it anyway.
The scene with Baldur was going to be much different. This is a rare one that does not look anything like it was outlined. There is an entire section which no longer exists, where Loki is specifically sought out over a matter of missing children. I may still include this later, or somewhere else, because I loved the idea. Instead, Baldur wound up having more questions than I’d outlined for. It’s not often a scene gets away from me like this, but in it happening, it bore unexpected fruit. There haven’t been any really good scenes with the two of them. Baldur is only a few years younger than Loki, but this is Thor’s job they’re doing. Loki was not groomed in delegation; he was, and is still being groomed to advise. Odin kept him because a powerful sorcerer could be useful to Asgard, and Loki’s magic allows him to gather all sorts of clandestine secrets. His role under Thor’s rule is intended to provide Thor with the insight and information he lacks. Thor is good at getting people to like him, but Loki is good at getting people to do what he wants. Baldur getting to see the difference between the compassionate and equitable approach Thor is implied to take, and Loki’s cut to the quick, pragmatic approach gives him insight he didn’t realise he was lacking. If this is to be his role under Thor’s rule, he’ll need to master both approaches. Loki gets away with being a bit of an asshole about it, because when the job falls to him, his job is to clear through everything as efficiently as possible.
The idea of Loki making two jarls fight to the death over something petty was one that made me giggle like a lunatic when I was outlining it. Opening with that, with Loki tired and bored, and immediately launching into demanding the most extreme measures felt like the perfect way to punctuate Odin’s statement about Loki’s methods.
There’s some serendipity here. I’ve been quite behind on the comics for a while, and after I wrote this chapter, I signed up for Marvel Unlimited again so I could get caught up and go mining for ideas. And imagine my absolute delight when there is a scene of Loki doing exactly this task, hating every moment of it, and demanding the idiots bringing their petty squabble before him do something absurd. I loved that.
Letting him take the time to explain his reasoning to Baldur on both turns also offered a good chance to give insight to a level of maturity Loki did not display in TWHM. He takes a very pragmatic approach to solving problems. Redrawing property lines will only encourage bickering jarls to continue to ask for the king’s assistance in matters they can and should work out themselves. Especially when the difference was less than 40 feet to begin with. Similarly, taking the time to explain in reasoning with what he sends in aid will give Baldur something to ponder the next time he sits with Thor. It will also drive Baldur absolutely nuts, because now he’s seen how efficiently Loki gets through this task, when he’ll be stuck for hours on end listening to Thor ask irrelevant questions and mediate problems he should be passing swift judgement on.
All of this culminates in the scene with Thor and Iri. Loki has changed, in personality, appearance, and demeanour. He’s quiet, more reserved, but also more confident and imposing. He’s learned how to make himself an intimidating presence without falling to magic. He’s learned how to command and lead. He doesn’t snipe and speak out of turn, or cause disruption and distraction for the hell of it. This is not the Loki Iri saw before. It’s not the Loki anyone saw before. With a princess and a crown prince from other realms missing, it is not unreasonable to suspect that Loki’s disappearing act was connected, and that his return is suspicious. If a coddled prince returns without warning, perhaps those who coddle him will be too overjoyed at his return to notice that he is not who he claims to be.
Or maybe Loki has Seen Some Shit, and just wants to be left alone for a while longer.
The scene with Frigga at the end was another unplanned addition. I’ve been re-reading a lot of older comics lately, to refresh some of my plotlines and ideas, and have been reminded of how ridiculous both of Loki’s parents are in them. Frigga, or Freyja, in the comics is a ridiculously cruel woman in some parts, especially following the Asgardian Senate’s formation. Her role in Agent of Asgard replaces Odin as the tyrant and bully, going from someone who is trying to rebuild a better Asgard/ia to one who is a slave to fate and will do anything to keep Asgard/ia’s destiny from changing.
In reading everything again, I found myself realising that I needed to cement this version of Frigga again, to remind the reader that while Loki and Thor are strange amalgams of their various franchise characters, Frigga is firmly rooted in the MCU. Like with Odin, this story only works if Loki is unconditionally loved. His parents do not have to necessarily support his life choices, but they cannot bully or belittle him for them either. Loki is in a vulnerable place right now, and taking the time to show that he is loved, wanted, and respected by those who matter takes him further from a path of jealousy and resentment.
Loki, as Odin, has a great line at the end of the Dark World, concerning one son who wanted the throne too much, and another who will not take it. Pre-Thor, these roles were almost reversed. Thor is banished to Midgard for being arrogant and cruel, while Loki’s actions (according to him) are out of a desire to keep Thor and his bullying from the thone. If one chooses to believe that, and had Thor never been banished, the MCU might have gone in a very different direction.
And right now, that’s where we are. Thor is close to coming to power, while Loki wants none of it. But with the threat of war looming, and Loki at the heart of it, some very hasty decisions will need to be made very soon. And Loki needs to feel like he has allies in his corner if he is to make the correct decisions when the time comes.
Those who have been around for a long time may be aware that I put a lot of my own personal experience into fic. From working at resort hotels, to hanging out with magicians and weirdos, to supertramping around on Greyhound buses and the back seats of cars.
Second Rite is another one of these stories. I think it’s safe to say anything of significant length I’ve posted in the last ten years is one of these stories, honestly. But it’s not the setting or the weirdos this time. Loki has been through a lot, mentally, physically, and emotionally. Odin called it battle weariness. In Midgard Legends, it was called shell shock. My therapist calls it PTSD.
My circumstances are not the same as Loki’s, and the story will not be either. And by the nature of who he is, what he is, and just how mind-buggeringly long-lived he is, it’s really not comparable at all. But I did want to acknowledge right from the beginning that this is a condition that is known, recognised, and respected on Asgard. They are a warrior culture, and supposedly an advanced society. Every decision Odin made at the beginning of Those Who Hunt Monsters was a result of coming home battle weary and unable to peace out, becase as king, he does not have that luxury.
Loki does. People were very surprised in the comments to see Odin not only respect that, but instruct Thor to leave him the fuck alone. The thing about Odin is that he is one of the only characters who I have not allowed comic canon to influence at all. Comic Odin is a terrible, horrible king, father, and all around person, especially in some of the more contemporary runs, though he’s got a bit better since Agent of Asgard. In a story which hinges on Odin actually loving his children and making compassionate, if ultimately selfish choices, comic Odin has no place here.
Odin definitely still has a temper, and it’s where Thor and Loki both get theirs. Odin sure does a lot of screaming and shouting in the movies, after all. He also makes a lot of bad choices for good reasons. Those choices irreperably fuck up two of his three children, and ultimately leave the third with crippling executive dysfunction, but at the time he believed they were the correct choices.
Honestly, I don’t know what the fuck I’m going to do with Hela. That actually fractured the mythological basis more than anything I’ve done in this series, and I am guilty of a lot of fuckery here. WELP. I’ll burn that bridge when/if I get to it, I guess.
But the choices Odin makes in this series are the same. He makes choices which, in the moment, appear to be the correct choice. Loki was raised surrounded in secrecy, but also being privy to them. Instead of being a respected prince of Asgard, he’s been all but outcast since he was 12 years old. Because of this, Loki replaced arrogance with false bravado and a spirit of fuck around and find out. The rules don’t apply to him, because they don’t protect him either. If a prince can be bullied by members of the court, then he’s not much of a prince at all. And if he’s not much of a prince, then there’s no point in pretending to be one. So Loki yolos off to other realms, breaks rules, practises forbidden magic, and just generally does not care.
Similarly, it is only 1945 at this point. Thor has not had his big, humbling experience yet, which I think is a bit easy to forget when he’s asshatting around and being unforgivably dense. His arrogance is alive and well. He’s the heir and he knows it.
In fact, two of the taglines in this series sum it up perfectly at this point. Everything changes while staying the same. It’s an AU in which Odin is mostly-honest, Thor is still a spoilt brat, and Loki still deserves a smack in the mouth.
The ultimate goal was to get to the point where Thor is exiled to earth, and still have all of the characters completely recognisable as their canon selves. Except, the circumstances are different, which means events will play out differently. Which is where we are now. The Loki who returned to Asgard is not the same Loki who left it at the end of Those Who Hunt Monsters. He’s quieter, he’s more reserved, more willing to take on responsibility without throwing a tantrum. This is the whole point of taking his rite. This is what it’s supposed to do. A boy leaves Asgard, and a man returns. Both when Thor took his, and when Loki returned, a problem with the rite was highlighted. This is not what happens in most cases. Boys leave Asgard seeking glory, and instead of returning humbled, they return thinking they’re hot shit. Loki staunchly refused to take his rite, and in doing so, refused to seek glory and fame. When he enlisted, it was out of a tangled knot of motivations. He was consumed with greed for the Tesseract at some moments, and acutely aware of what it meant for the humans to possess it at others. When he wasn’t seeking the Tesseract for greed, he was seeking it to return it to safety. By the end of his time on Midgard, he had learned to reject its temptations. Flinging himself out of the bomber after it was an act of selfless desperation. When he failed to retrieve it, the failure broke him. He had failed to retrieve it for greed multiple times, and it kept almost getting him killed. And he kept not caring. He only failed for selfless reasons once, and once was all he could handle.
Now on Asgard, he can barely stand to be around other people. It’s not a problem Thor understands, because Thor spent his rite seeking ogres to slay and villages to rescue — things he was already doing. When they were 16, they went to Alfheimr to get wasted, accidentally wound up on Niflheimr, and wound up killing a few polar bears. Because that’s what Asgardian boys do. When Loki took his rite, he spent his time being shot, blown up, run over, flung out of the sky, and everything else. And he did it for one task where he wasn’t needed, and another he failed at. He returned to Asgard humbled and demoralised, and the first thing he finds is that he’s also been disrespected in his absence.
In the previous chapter, people were also surprised that Odin called the incident with Týr a “property dispute.” Odin did not want Fenrir in the palace, and made this clear multiple times in Those Who Hunt Monsters. At any point, Odin could have forced it to happen, just as he had forced Loki to take his hunt. He didn’t, because he knows what happens when Loki is forced to do anything. When Loki was gone, Týr took advantage of his absence and removed Fenrir from the palace. Odin had no say in this call, but also remained neutral by not intervening. In this chapter, Loki champions the idea of petty squabbles being settled without bringing higher authority into it. By law, Týr stole property belonging to Loki, and Loki took back what is his. Loki may have pushed boundaries by allowing Fenrir to maul him, but maiming and death weren’t exactly uncommon punishments for theft where the Vikings were concerned, and even today in some areas, this is still the case. Was it extreme? Yes. Was it legal? Also yes.
The scene with Hogun was one of the first ones I conceptualised for the time on Asgard. Loki lost his closest companion in Those Who Hunt Monsters, and I wanted to show it abundantly clear that he has not yet lost Hogun. In the first film, the Warriors Three were as much Loki’s friends as they were Thor’s. And I think that was an important thing to keep. There’s reconciliation possible with Fandral, though they may never return to what they had before. With Sif, I don’t think they can ever be friends, but Loki may be able to finally agree to start over. Loki needs allies, and even though he’s gaining respect within the court, he’s also losing it all over again.
But I also wanted Loki to find interest in new things. I debated for a long time what that might be. Right now, Loki is listless, and a bit depressed. One thing that was a constant thread in Those Who Hunt Monsters was his pig-headed determination to skip every lesson he was supposed to take, and learn on his own as it suited him. He learned poetry not on Asgard, but on Midgard. He learned sport not on Asgard, but on Midgard. He practises forbidden magic from extinct races. He learned knives from Midgardian carnies, and archery from a pre-teen boy. He had to go to Midgard to learn how to be a soldier, and largely learned to fight as self-defense.
Loki knows very little from Asgard. I felt like if he should learn something from Asgard, it should be art. And since he brought so much from Midgard to Asgard, I thought it should be an art that he could take to Midgard and adapt there. At this point, music was the obvious choice. So the concept was introduced, and now he has something new that he can throw himself into completely.
The fight with Iri is another long-unresolved thread from Those Who Hunt Monsters. For a long time, I wasn’t really sure where precisely I was going with this one. By which I mean, I know where the princess is, what she is doing, and why she is there, but I could never pin down who I wanted her to be. Which is why in both TWHM and here, Iri never mentions her name. For a long time, there was a common trope within the fandom that Darcy was Sigyn. Which I almost went with. But then I realised I’d set up a thread with her already in TWHM, by mentioning that she’s betrothed to Theoric. Canon won out over fanon on this one, so the missing princess is not Sigyn. But as I was writing this fight with Iri, I figured out precisely who she is. And Iri still doesn’t mention her name, because I want you all to guess.
It’s not Sigyn, and it’s not Darcy. That much I’ll tell you.
This argument is also a callback to the earlier one. Then, Iri had Loki nervous. He caught Loki at a time when he was ill, making him quick to jab and make things worse. Now, years later, Iri is still here, still shouting. Loki has grown, he’s matured, and he is 100% out of fucks to give. He just got home from one war, and this clown trying to drag Asgard into another is not something Loki is willing to entertain. Odin knows Loki has nothing to do with the girl’s disappearance, and backs him up without hesitation. Odin knows this particular child of his is a complete fuckboy with no desire for marriage and a tendency for degeneracy. Loki all but disinherited himself as it is. What good would a marriage do either party now? Loki’s assessment that Iri is butthurt over the change in circumstance is, as far as Odin is concerned, a valid and reasonable argument. That Loki being Jötunn could be overlooked, as long as he had a chance at the throne. Now he’s permanently last in line, and allowed to just fuck his way across the Nine Realms like he’s any common scoundrel.
Of course, that’s without Surtur’s boy going missing as well. But I think we all know where he is. Loki has not yet connected those dots, only because he wasn’t in the correct place to have done so.
When Odin informs Loki of his impending trip to Muspelheimr, Loki again shows a stark change in behaviour. He does not want to do the task given to him, and makes that clear, but he also does not fight against it. His reasons are again entirely selfish, but his delivery and acceptance is handled with a maturity he completely lacked before the war. If he does not do this task, it could open the realm to war with Vanaheimr. Thor needs to be allowed to negotiate with Iri. If he instead has to spend his time taking care of petty local matters, there is no one higher up in the food chain to keep Iri pacified, and Iri sure as hell won’t talk to Loki. If he completely defers to Baldur, local matters could be exacerbated, taking attention away from Vanaheimr upon Odin’s return.
So, Loki hates it, but he’ll do it anyway.
The scene with Baldur was going to be much different. This is a rare one that does not look anything like it was outlined. There is an entire section which no longer exists, where Loki is specifically sought out over a matter of missing children. I may still include this later, or somewhere else, because I loved the idea. Instead, Baldur wound up having more questions than I’d outlined for. It’s not often a scene gets away from me like this, but in it happening, it bore unexpected fruit. There haven’t been any really good scenes with the two of them. Baldur is only a few years younger than Loki, but this is Thor’s job they’re doing. Loki was not groomed in delegation; he was, and is still being groomed to advise. Odin kept him because a powerful sorcerer could be useful to Asgard, and Loki’s magic allows him to gather all sorts of clandestine secrets. His role under Thor’s rule is intended to provide Thor with the insight and information he lacks. Thor is good at getting people to like him, but Loki is good at getting people to do what he wants. Baldur getting to see the difference between the compassionate and equitable approach Thor is implied to take, and Loki’s cut to the quick, pragmatic approach gives him insight he didn’t realise he was lacking. If this is to be his role under Thor’s rule, he’ll need to master both approaches. Loki gets away with being a bit of an asshole about it, because when the job falls to him, his job is to clear through everything as efficiently as possible.
The idea of Loki making two jarls fight to the death over something petty was one that made me giggle like a lunatic when I was outlining it. Opening with that, with Loki tired and bored, and immediately launching into demanding the most extreme measures felt like the perfect way to punctuate Odin’s statement about Loki’s methods.
There’s some serendipity here. I’ve been quite behind on the comics for a while, and after I wrote this chapter, I signed up for Marvel Unlimited again so I could get caught up and go mining for ideas. And imagine my absolute delight when there is a scene of Loki doing exactly this task, hating every moment of it, and demanding the idiots bringing their petty squabble before him do something absurd. I loved that.
Letting him take the time to explain his reasoning to Baldur on both turns also offered a good chance to give insight to a level of maturity Loki did not display in TWHM. He takes a very pragmatic approach to solving problems. Redrawing property lines will only encourage bickering jarls to continue to ask for the king’s assistance in matters they can and should work out themselves. Especially when the difference was less than 40 feet to begin with. Similarly, taking the time to explain in reasoning with what he sends in aid will give Baldur something to ponder the next time he sits with Thor. It will also drive Baldur absolutely nuts, because now he’s seen how efficiently Loki gets through this task, when he’ll be stuck for hours on end listening to Thor ask irrelevant questions and mediate problems he should be passing swift judgement on.
All of this culminates in the scene with Thor and Iri. Loki has changed, in personality, appearance, and demeanour. He’s quiet, more reserved, but also more confident and imposing. He’s learned how to make himself an intimidating presence without falling to magic. He’s learned how to command and lead. He doesn’t snipe and speak out of turn, or cause disruption and distraction for the hell of it. This is not the Loki Iri saw before. It’s not the Loki anyone saw before. With a princess and a crown prince from other realms missing, it is not unreasonable to suspect that Loki’s disappearing act was connected, and that his return is suspicious. If a coddled prince returns without warning, perhaps those who coddle him will be too overjoyed at his return to notice that he is not who he claims to be.
Or maybe Loki has Seen Some Shit, and just wants to be left alone for a while longer.
The scene with Frigga at the end was another unplanned addition. I’ve been re-reading a lot of older comics lately, to refresh some of my plotlines and ideas, and have been reminded of how ridiculous both of Loki’s parents are in them. Frigga, or Freyja, in the comics is a ridiculously cruel woman in some parts, especially following the Asgardian Senate’s formation. Her role in Agent of Asgard replaces Odin as the tyrant and bully, going from someone who is trying to rebuild a better Asgard/ia to one who is a slave to fate and will do anything to keep Asgard/ia’s destiny from changing.
In reading everything again, I found myself realising that I needed to cement this version of Frigga again, to remind the reader that while Loki and Thor are strange amalgams of their various franchise characters, Frigga is firmly rooted in the MCU. Like with Odin, this story only works if Loki is unconditionally loved. His parents do not have to necessarily support his life choices, but they cannot bully or belittle him for them either. Loki is in a vulnerable place right now, and taking the time to show that he is loved, wanted, and respected by those who matter takes him further from a path of jealousy and resentment.
Loki, as Odin, has a great line at the end of the Dark World, concerning one son who wanted the throne too much, and another who will not take it. Pre-Thor, these roles were almost reversed. Thor is banished to Midgard for being arrogant and cruel, while Loki’s actions (according to him) are out of a desire to keep Thor and his bullying from the thone. If one chooses to believe that, and had Thor never been banished, the MCU might have gone in a very different direction.
And right now, that’s where we are. Thor is close to coming to power, while Loki wants none of it. But with the threat of war looming, and Loki at the heart of it, some very hasty decisions will need to be made very soon. And Loki needs to feel like he has allies in his corner if he is to make the correct decisions when the time comes.
