Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-3123266-20140303175822/@comment-25124692-20140915162309

@VolteMetalic  Yeah to me that's the thing. They weren't different "realities" they were different planets of the Nine Realms. If they were different versions of Earth then you can probably say an alternate reality or alternate realities of Earth. They weren't alternate realities of the Nine Realms either. The Aether wasn't responsible for the open travel through these worlds it was the Convergence and the machines Selvig and Jane Foster used.

As far as the powers the Aether never really converted,turned,or transformed matter into dark matter. It was suggested "in so many words" depending on how you interpret the dialogue but it was never clearly exercised. What it did was protect Jane Foster while at the same time being seemingly unhealthy for her and it empowered Malekith physically but I never saw him use it to manipulate matter on his own.