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- "Ragnarök. Are you familiar?"
"Yes. The destruction of Asgard and most of its people." - ―Loki and Mobius M. Mobius[src]
The Destruction of Asgard was the result of the Fire Demon Surtur being released by Loki in order to enact the doomsday prophecy known as Ragnarök, as it was the only way to kill Hela before she could lay waste across the Nine Realms and beyond. The destruction of the planet, along with a death toll of 9,719 Asgardians, caused the event to be deemed by the Time Variance Authority as a Class Seven apocalypse.
Background[]
Surtur battles Thor with his Twilight Sword
The God of Thunder Thor experienced several nightmares in which he saw the mighty Fire Demon Surtur lay waste on his homeland of Asgard, a doomsday event known as Ragnarök in Asgardian culture. In order to prevent such a cataclysm, Thor journeyed to Muspelheim. He was captured by Surtur but eventually managed to escape, killing Surtur in the process and bringing the demon's skull to Asgard so that it would be locked within Odin's Vault.
Thor soon had to deal with another threat as his sister, the Goddess of Death Hela, returned from her banishment thanks to Odin's death. She cast out both Thor and Loki to Sakaar and seized the throne of Asgard, slaughtering the Einherjar and replacing them with her Berserkers to tyrannically reign over Asgard.
However, Thor and Loki eventually managed to return to Asgard, accompanied by the rest of the Revengers and the Sakaaran Rebellion. An intense battle erupted on the Rainbow Bridge, during which the Berserkers army was destroyed. However, Hela remained alive and proved to be invincible to Thor and the Revengers. Thor ultimately figured out that he had been mistaken all along: they were not supposed to stop Ragnarök and the destruction of Asgard; instead, they had to cause it so that Hela would be killed and the Asgardians could escape with the Statesman, the spaceship used by the Sakaaran Rebellion.[1]
Destruction[]
While Thor and Valkyrie fought against Hela to buy some time, Loki fled the Commodore to the Royal Palace of Valaskjalf. He made his way to Odin's Vault and reclaimed the Crown of Black Fire which he put into the Eternal Flame. The process caused Surtur to be revived in his mightiest form, a Fire Demon towering over Asgard and its nearby mountains and wielding the powerful Twilight Sword.
Surtur destroys the Royal Palace of Valaskjalf
As Loki escaped, Surtur erupted from the Royal Palace, destroying it in the process, and began laying waste to the deserted city before him. Meanwhile, Thor and Valkyrie managed to make Hela fall from the Rainbow Bridge into the water and watched in sorrow as Surtur destroyed their homeland. Although Hulk leapt at Surtur to attack him, he was knocked back to the bridge, where Thor and Valkyrie convinced him to give up on fighting Surtur. Hulk reluctantly agreed and took them aboard the escaping Statesman.
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Surtur plunges his Twilight Sword into Hela
Still alive, Hela attempted to continue to fight Surtur by hurling massive spears at his chest. However, Surtur remained unaffected by her attacks. As foretold in the Ragnarök prophecy, Surtur thrust his blade straight through Asgard to its core, annihilating Hela and the threat she posed to the Asgardians in the process. The Asgardians watched helpless as their homeworld exploded, making them a wandering people.[1]
Aftermath[]
The destruction of Asgard claimed the lives of 9,719 Asgardians, causing the event, along with Ragnarök, to be classified as a Class Seven apocalypse by the Time Variance Authority.[3] A small number of Asgardians survived the apocalyptic event, having been saved by the Revengers and escaped aboard the Statesman prior to Asgard's destruction.
Led by Thor, who accepted his new role as king, he decided they should head to Earth.[1] However, months into their journey, they encountered the infamous Sanctuary II, Thanos' gigantic spacecraft.[4] Thanos and the Black Order executed half of the ship's population in search of the Tesseract, which Loki stole from Odin's Vault.[5]
Appearances[]
In chronological order:
- Thor: Ragnarok
- Avengers: Infinity War: The Heroes' Journey (concurrent events)
- Thor: Love and Thunder (flashback)
- Avengers: Infinity War (mentioned)
- Avengers: Endgame Prelude (mentioned)
- Avengers: Endgame (mentioned)
- Thor: Love and Thunder (mentioned)
In an indefinite temporality:
- Loki
- Season One
- The Variant (file and mentioned)
- Season One
- What If...?
- Season Two
- What If... Kahhori Reshaped the World? (mentioned)
- Season Two
Behind the Scenes[]
- A few initial versions of the story of Thor: Ragnarok had Thor actually preventing the Destruction of Asgard. However, Taika Waititi ultimately resolved to go with Asgard's destruction as he realized that it was what most fans expected to see.[6]