While all hell is breaking loose on earth, Odin and the Asgardian are preparing for war, but something is not right. Odin is not in any rush to come clean about back story of The Serpent, but makes it clear that there is only one option to defeat him – The complete obliteration of earth.
Quite frankly were not in a good place on earth. As the heroes fight on, some of the big names take a kicking. The most notable is Bucky Barnes version of Captain America being killed by Sin/Skadi, because it is just brutal.
Eventually though as things start to look there darkest, some hope appears as Steve Rogers re-assumes the mantle of Captain America & Thor manages to escape his bondage in Asgard and rejoins the battle. It is then that you learn of the prophecy that binds Thor and The Serpent.
It turns out that Thor is destined to kill the serpent, but to do so it will come at the cost of his own life. Knowing that it was the magic he used to bind The Serpent in the first place that brought about that prophecy, that is what is driving Odin to war. He is trying to save his son.
As Thor fights The Thing and Hulk, Iron Man petitions Odin. Strangely Odin answers and Starks gambit is made plain, it is not the Asgardian strength he wants but their workshop.
He wants to do what he does best, make weapons and feels that as the powers of gods are being used it is only fair to even the playing field a little.
However while he is up to that Thor’s fight ends with both good and bad outcomes. The Thing is restored and purged of the influence of his Hammer, but the Battle takes its toll and Thor is mortally wounded. The only option for the heroes is to return him to Asgard to heal before it is too late.
After healing there is a very touching Father/Son moment between Thor and Odin, where Odin admits that he will do anything to prove prophecy wrong. However when it becomes clear Thor will not be swayed to stay out of the fight, Odin provides him armour and the Odin-Sword Ragnarök!
Tooled up with a mix of Stark Tech and Uru mystical weapons, Iron Man & Thor return to Earth for the last battle. While the various heroes take on The Serpents remaining forces using their new toys, or in the case of Captain America Mjolnir, Thor takes the fight to The Serpent himself.
What happens next is exactly as prophesied, The Serpent defeated but only at the cost of Thor. With his defeat the Hammers that granted Sin and the rest powers returned to space, Odin returns all the Asgardians to Earth except for himself and his brother who he locks away in Asgardian Space & the heroes hold the funerals for Thor and Bucky Barnes.
Opinion?
Overall then I rather liked this Graphic Novel, I found its writing and pacing brilliant for the most part. Its art at times seemed a little off but many of the modern styles take me awhile to get into, and I think it may grow on me eventually.
There were only a couple of problems I had with this arc.
First, the pacing at the end seemed a little off, considering how well it was done for the rest of the story. All bloody hell was breaking loose and it all just seemed to be a bit too much of a ‘Poof, its over’ kind of ending.
Second is the fact that, while the story in these core comics was very solid and told you everything you needed to know, a little bit more detail on certain elements would not have gone amiss. Now I know these were available as part of the storylines of the individual character arcs, but they could have included some of the key issues of those if they had wanted to.
Well worth picking up as a Graphic Novel, but be aware you may find yourself wanting to pick up some of the other books around it to fill out some details.
