Take a moment to look at The Dark World from Odin’s point of view
The last time Odin saw his son, he watched him trying to kill himself and dying, as he believed
So now imagine seeing your son after this incident, knowing only a part of what happened while you thought he’s dead but never bothering to ask, and imagine still having the stomach to tell your kid that he wasn’t supposed to live. To the same child you saved, raised and then watched committing suicide. Let that sink in.
Like goddamn I really made myself upset thinking about how the entire trajectory of Loki’s arc could have been altered if Odin and Frigga had been slightly more comfortable expressing verbal and physical affection? As in, expressing it at all?
NOT GOOD ENOUGH PLS TRY AGAIN
God look at his face, this is the face of someone who is confident that he is loved by his family. A+ parenting, no hugs required.
*kicks down door of my own post*
AND ANOTHER THING.
God just. Look at how blank his face is. How he’s hiding all the fear and turmoil and anger he unleashed on Odin. He doesn’t trust her anymore, after such a huge betrayal. How can he? But he’s also probably afraid of pushing her away by being angry at her, so he just shoves it all down. What the fuck kind of damage does it do to be betrayed by someone so close to you, but they’re still basically the entirety of your emotional support system? Ugh still crying about Thor 2k18.
This is such an interesting contrast in reactions between Loki and Thor with the context of Odin’s quote, because you can tell that while Loki is taken aback, shocked, and even saddened by these words, Thor is still reeling from the revelation of Hela and impending Ragnarok and it doesn’t seem like Odin’s words even really register to him.He knows and has always known that Odin loves him; he’s never been made to doubt it and he has no reason to react with anything other than the barest acknowledgement while his head is still spinning with this new truth he must face.
Loki, however, is much more preoccupied and consumed with the verbal acknowledgement of Odin’s love, and the issue of Hela is little more than a footnote to the conversation for him. He knows much better than Thor how deceptive Odin is, and while initially he’s somewhat surprised by the reveal of Hela, he’s not bowled over in astonished shock the way Thor is.
Loki expects Odin’s lies and is far more bewildered by Odin’s love, while Thor expects Odin’s love and is stunned by Odin’s lies. There’s something incredibly straightforward in that, expressed in each of their reactions, that really just drives home the dichotomy between Thor and Loki in general.
Ugh this kills me because it looks like up until this point Loki still considered himself Loki Odinson. I think in his mind it was much preferable to be Loki, son of Odin, revered leader of the Nine Realms than Loki, son of Laufey, frost giant and monster.
So basically Odin is not only denouncing him but calling (and confirming in his mind) him a monster as well.
AND ODIN TAKES AWAY HIS MOMMA TOO! Marvel you better not mess with Frigga or I swear I’m gonna flay someone one!
Oh shit… this is the prelude comic that got turned into the first scene of TDW. I don’t think I’d ever actually read it. This version of Odin is so much worse than what we saw in the movie, which was pretty fucking bad.
Thor: Killed people of Jotunheim because he was called a “princess” and nearly led Asgard into war because of his immaturity, arrogance and hotheadedness
Odin: Punished him by banishing to Midgard to learn his lesson and become better; he can come back to become king of Asgard once he proves himself worthy 😊
Loki: Killed people of Earth because he had turned mad and villainous after returning alive from an abyss that he fell into and was presumed dead, where he likely experienced unimaginable horrors that broke him and possibly had his mind manipulated by Thanos (A little background: He had let himself fall into the void out of despair, as Odin had denied him approval even after he tried so desperately to prove himself a worthy son. This was shortly after he had been hurt and devastated over learning that his whole life had been a lie, that he was actually adopted and was in fact the abanboned son of Asgard’s enemy, one of those horrible monsters that he had heard so much about in bedtime stories and Thor had been so excited about slaying since they were children. He only ever sought to be Thor’s equal–for years he was made to feel inferior, to feel like he was living in the shade of Thor’s greatness, because of Odin’s blatant favouritism towards Thor and also as a result of growing up in a society with a culture that honoured warriors and scorned magic users like him–but then he just found out that from the onset he was never meant to be Thor’s equal in the way he believed he had the right to be.)
Odin: Told him his birth right was to die as a child, punished him by condemning him to life imprisonment and would have sentenced him to death if not for Frigga
“Thor was beginning to think he might be happy in Midgard. Not yet, of course; not while the news of his father’s death and his mother’s rejection was still so fresh, not while he could still feel the ache in his muscles from straining to lift Mjölnir, in vain. But someday. He would court Jane slowly, as befit a lady of her standing and education. Selvig, who seemed to stand in place of a father for her, had given his implicit permission.
“So it came as a complete surprise when Lady Darcy called from the front room of the Midgardians’ strange abode, ‘Thor? There’s someone here for you… she says she’s your mother?’
“Thor’s hesitant spark of hope was instantly smothered. What could she be here for, but to let him feel the full measure of her fury and disappointment?
“He emerged from the room where he had been reading one of Jane’s texts of Midgardian physics (a wondrously bizarre way of viewing the world) with his head bowed, bracing himself against the onslaught. But when he dared to raise his eyes, Frigga’s expression seemed wrong; it was worry, not anger, that creased her brow and tightened her lips.”
@shine-of-asgard‘s giveaway fic is now completely posted on AO3, Parts I and II as Chapter 1 (Paradise Lost), Parts III and IV as Chapter 2 (Paradise Regained). It’s probably easier to read there than as 4 parts on Tumblr…
Loki is the Philosopher King 