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Getting banished to Earth taught Thor many things.

He lands there, raw and angry, the Mjolnir ripped from him, his power gone (its loss tearing at him, leaving his skin crawling), only to immediately be accosted by Midgardians. 

He rages at them, not because he necessarily needs to fight them, because he should be able to. Instead he is defeated almost instantly, first by the woman, and later by the Midgardians doctors.  

The world goes black.

He wakes up and he's strapped to a bed. The flimsy restrains should be nothing to him, he should be able to tear the bonds easily, but he can't and he feels powerless all over again.

Panic that he would never admit to fills his chest, and he's reminded of the nerves he'd been feeling in the hours leading up to his coronation. 
Of course back then he'd refused to acknowledge them, and Loki had been there to distract him. 
Now though, he is alone. 

Loki. What would his younger brother think of this situation? What would he do, powerless and trapped in a foreign realm?


"Just once, do you think we could go in without drawing the attention of everything in the vicinity?" Loki is next to him, their backs pressed against a stone outcropping, the sound of pounding feet announcing the eminent arrival of their foes.

Thor laughs and twirls his hammer, readying himself for the upcoming fight. "Where's the fun in that, brother?" he asks, sending Loki a confident smile. 

Loki looks rueful and pulls out his daggers. "We can't always go in fist swinging you know," he says as if in jest but his eyes are looking intently at Thor. "There's no shame in pausing to think." 

Thor smiles and clasps his brother's shoulder before turning and preparing to meet the quickly advancing horde behind them. "That's what I have you for, isn't it?" 


Thor pauses in his struggling and takes a breath. He can't break the bonds, but maybe... Carefully he begins to twist his wrists and little by little he is able to squeeze he hand out of the Midgardian restrains.

Once free Thor is left with a confusing sense of satisfaction. Normally an escape like this would only be the first step towards a mighty victory. But now Thor can't fight the way he wants to. He's not sure if he should be proud of being able to escape in his weakened state or ashamed that he'd been brought so low. 


It's only later, on the roof with Jane that he first begins to question what he thinks strength to be. 
He had been so close, so close to taking his hammer and flying home, but no matter how hard he fought, his power still wouldn't return. 
All his life he'd been told to honor the strength of the soldier, but now his strength was gone, his father dead, and his banishment seemingly permanent. 

Now Loki is king, because despite all of Thor's strength, his own arrogance had been his downfall. 

You've forgotten everything I've taught you. 

His father's words, spoken moments before his banishment, come back to him. Staring into the fire on the roof, Thor wonders what exactly his father had wanted him to learn.

On Asgard, being a warrior was considered the most honorable and desirable thing someone could be. People who weren't warriors weren't exactly looked down upon, but they weren't respected the same way either. 

That was why Sif had fought so hard to be viewed as a warrior. 

Loki had fought for the very same thing, despite fighting mainly with his seidr. It wasn't that Loki couldn't fight like a proper warrior, he had been training with weapons for nearly as long as Thor had, but he'd chosen to use his magic instead. 

Why can't I be both? Loki had once asked sharply, when Thor had questioned Loki's choices. Both of them knew that being a warrior was important, yet Loki continued to practice seidr despite the subtle (and not so subtle) scorn he faced from the other warriors. 

Seidr can be a fearsome weapon. Loki had argued. Why can't I be both a warrior and a Seidrmage? 

Thor had scoffed at the time, if Loki wanted to use trickery and seidr like a woman that was his choice, but that didn't qualify Loki as a warrior in Thor's books. 

Now though, Thor was beginning to question his bias. 

As he had explained to Jane, Earth's science and Asgard's magic were one and the same, and in a sense, Jane and her companions could be considered Seidrmages.

It wasn't unusual for women like Jane or Darcy to be interested in such areas of study, and Thor respected them in their work, but he was brought up short by their other companion, Erik Selvig. 

Here was a man with seemingly no desire to pursue a more honorable career, instead he chooses to focus on the study of science like Jane. 

And yet... he was respected. The warriors of SHIELD has stood aside while he used trickery to free Thor from their custody, and nobody around Thor seemed to find any shame in the man's line of work. 

And then there was Darcy. She studied science like Jane, yet she also carried a weapon with her. She'd looked proud when she'd explained to Thor that she'd taken him down with what she called a taser. If anything, Darcy was the definition of both a warrior and a Seidrmage and nobody seemed to have problem with that. 

Sure, Jane had rolled her eyes when Darcy recounted the event, but neither she nor Selvig seemed overly concerned with Darcy's duel-identity.

What was more, Jane didn't seem to know even the basics of self-defense. On Asgard, everyone was taught how to wield a weapon from a young age, even if most of the women never became warriors. Yet Jane carried no weapons, Selvig carried no weapons, only Darcy. 

Despite that, Thor got the impression that none of his new companions were weak in any way. While they weren't strong in the traditional sense, they were able to manipulate SHIELD into releasing Thor, much like Loki would have. 

Everything on Midgard was so different and confusing, yet Thor was now beginning to question the values he'd been taught his whole life. 

Because Thor does remember what his father had taught him. Odin had always emphasized the importance of being strong, of being a warrior. And while he never said anything, his disapproval of Loki's chosen weapons, his tongue, dagger and seidr, had been palpable. 

Thor thinks back to how hard Loki had had to fight in order to finally be sent to Vanaheim and taught seidr by a true Seidrmage. 

Now, far from his home realm, Thor begins to wonder why exactly Asgard - and the Allfather - had hated seidr so much. After all, Odin wielded seidr, what exactly was the difference between him and Loki?

When he was younger Thor had thought it was simply a matter of power, the Allfather's seidr was respected because he had the power and ability to fight like a true warrior as well as magic. But now Thor wasn't so sure. 

Was he ever given a true reason against Loki's magic? Or had he simply learned from example?
What exactly had his father taught him?

Heimdall looks sorrowful and Thor knows the words before Heimdall says them. "I am sorry my prince. He is beyond my sight."

Something deflates in him and the Mjolnir hangs loosely in his hand. He looks at Heimdall in painful confusion. "Why?" he questions softly. "Why did Loki... what happened while I was away?"

Heimdall has an undecipherable look on his face and his pushes himself up a little higher on the bed. "That, is something you should discuss with your father, my prince." 

Thor's brow furls and he opens his mouth to question Heimdall further when his mother rushes into the room.

"Thor!" She looks frantic as she runs to him. "Are you hurt? What happened?"

Thor's breath catches and his throat works as he swallows, dread pooling in his stomach. "The Bifrost is broken," he manages. "Father is on his way back." 

His mother's eyes search his and he looks away. "Loki..." His throat closes and he stutters. His eyes close in exhaustion and a sudden wave of anger at his brother, for letting go, for placing him in this situation, washes over him. 

Breathing deeply he tries to rein in his emotions. "Loki... fell into the Void," he says softly, looking into the middle-distance beyond his mother's shoulder. "He let go and he fell from the Bifrost."

"He let go?" Frigga repeats in shock, not quite understanding what he is telling her.

Thor's lips press into a thin line. "I caught him but he..." He shakes his head and pulls away from his mother. "Father is on his way back," he says again, heading towards the doors of the infirmary. 

Frigga follows him to the front gate and they wait in silence as Odin returns, carrying Gungnir, his face clouded. 

"Odin..." Frigga begins, taking a step towards him.

"I would speak with both of you in my study," Odin says briskly, brushing past her. "We have much to discuss."


Odin marches purposefully through the palace, his right hand clutching Gungnir while Thor and Frigga follow behind. Advisers rush up to Odin, probably seeking answers and guidance now that the Bifrost is literally exploded, but Odin waves them away. 

Upon reaching the study, Odin sinks heavily into a chair next to the fireplace in the wall, his head bowed. 

Thor suddenly becomes very aware of how old his father is. 

Frigga takes the other chair across from Odin and Thor chooses to remain standing, the Mjolnir safely stored on his belt. 

They sit there like that for a moment, the firelight flickering across the shadows of Odin's face, before Thor finally breaks the silence.

"Father..." His voice seems to hang in the air. "What happened while I was banished? Why did Loki..." He cuts himself off because he's not sure how to end the question.

Why did Loki attack me, why did he attack Jotunheim, why did. he. let. go.

Odin sighs deeply before answering. "It is impossible to understand your brother's motives without asking him," he states. "However, I have my suspicions." 

Odin looks like he'd much rather be doing anything else, but he continues in the same hushed tone as before, never once looking up from the fire. "While you were on Midgard... Loki... discovered his true parentage." 

Thor's brow furl in confusion. "His what?" He glances at his mother but she is staring hard at Odin's face, her hands clasped tightly in her lap.

Odin lets out a breath and sits back in his chair before finally bringing his eye up to look at him.
 
"Loki is not your brother by blood Thor, indeed, he is not even Asgardian by blood." 

Thor is beginning to wish he'd grabbed a chair because it feels like the floor has just been ripped out from under him.

"Not Asgardian...?" he echoes weakly. His father nods.

"Loki is Jotun by blood, and while you were gone... I found him in the Vault holding the Casket of Winters." Odin shifts, and if he were anyone else Thor would have thought him uncomfortable. "I believe the cold from the Casket revealed his Jotun form and thus his parentage to him." 

Thor feels faint, but he can't collapse into a chair, so instead he paces. "Loki is... Loki is Jotun?"

Something bitter and strange settles in his stomach but he pushes past it, spinning to face Odin. "He didn't know?" 

Odin looks pained but determined. "I thought it best he didn't know."

Frigga gets a sharp look in her eye and her fingers clench. "Did you think he would never find out?" she questions. "And what did you think would happen when he did?" Her tone is soft but biting, and Thor stops his pacing to look at her.

"I told you to tell him," she continues, her voice hard. "At the very least you could have taught him to be proud of his heritage." 

"If he wanted a heritage to be proud of, he could have been proud of the one he was given," Odin replies tightly, his hand clenching his staff.

Frigga looks angrier than Thor has ever seen her. "Oh and you don't think the Jotun legacy on Asgard has anything to do with what has just transpired?" she snaps, glaring at Odin. 

Odin opens his mouth to reply but Thor doesn't hear it. His mother's words echo in his mind and the part of him that learned to question while on Earth reawakens. He stares numbly at his father, but his thoughts are elsewhere. 

He thinks of the countless tutors he's had throughout his life, how each one felt no shame in expressing their hate and distrust towards Jotuns. How even the most mild of his tutors - the ones who conceded that the Jotnar might have begun as an intelligent, industrious race - even they were quick to write off the race as nothing more than savages now that they had fallen into ruin. 

(And wasn't it a good thing, they would ask, that the Allfather took the Casket of Winters from such devious creatures? Surely they were not worthy of it, if they ever were.)

He thinks of the childhood games that he and Loki had played in these very halls. Catch and Freeze had been a particular favorite among the palace children. In it, one child, the designated Frost Giant, would chase the rest of the fleeing children in an attempt to 'freeze' them where they stood. The palace halls had been filled with pounding feet and shrieks of terrified delight whenever a game had been going on.

Now though, Thor thinks of how the very simple concept, Jotun = danger, had been instilled in him from a young age. 

He thinks of how he and Loki would sit and listen to old veterans as they wove stories about the cannibalistic monsters they had fought back on Jotunheim. How even his own father had recounted his defeat of Laufey with an air of triumph, never once claiming that it was wrong to kill a Jotun, only that it was wrong to risk the lives of others while doing so. 

When I'm King, I'll hunt the monsters down and slay them all! Just as you did father. 

Thor's hands clench and anger bubbles up in his chest.

"You taught us they were monsters."

Both Frigga and Odin turn to stare at him but Thor only has eyes for his father. 

"You taught us to hate them," he snarls. "Loki is Jotun and you taught me to hate them." His voice breaks and he looks away, clenching his jaw.        

"You think I could have kept all of Asgard from teaching you this?" The Allfather's voice is tight with anger and there is a dangerous growl behind his words.

"You could have done something!" Thor bust out, heedless of his father's growing ire. "You could have instructed the tutors to teach us differently, you could have taught us differently yourself, but you didn't!" 

The Allfather rises from his chair in smooth, controlled fury, and maybe it is the orange glow from the firelight, but Thor is suddenly reminded of the final moments before his banishment. 

His stomach clenches, and the spike of fearful adrenaline only makes him angrier as he listens to his father speak. "I will not have you questioning my decisions in regards to Loki," he stresses lowly, the firelight glinting off of his eyepatch. 

Thor grinds his teeth. "Then explain them to me," he snaps, jerking his head angrily. "Why did you never tell us? Was it because if Loki knew his heritage then you would have some slight obligation in defending it to him?" 

A choking silence descends on them and Thor can feel himself shaking in anger. 

"I never told Loki," the Allfather grinds out, his gaze hard, "because I didn't wish him to feel different. I wanted to protect him."   

"But Loki was different," Thor argues swinging his arm wide in frustration. "You tried to treat him the same but instead you suffocated him." 

He thinks back to his final conversation with his brother.

Why have you done this?

To prove to father that I am a worthy son.

I never wanted the throne! I only ever wanted to be your equal.

Odin's eye narrows but Thor isn't finished. "Both of us," he continues, his hands clenching, "all our lives spent trying to impress you, and now Loki is dead!" 

"Enough!" 

Odin pounds his staff into the floor and his shout echoes around the room, effectively silencing his rant.

The sound holds ominous echoes from his banishment, and Thor stands there panting for a moment, before he presses his lips together and whirls around, marching to the door of the room. He shoves the heavy door open and stomps out, his thoughts spinning as his blood boils.

Without really meaning to, he finds himself standing outside the door to his brother's rooms, the anger that had propelled him there vanishing, leaving him feeling drained.

After a moment of hesitation, he reaches up and pushes the door open, stepping onto the threshold. 
The door swings shut behind him with a heavy thud that he barely hears. 

Chaos. The rooms are in chaos. 

It looks as if a fierce storm has ripped its way through Loki's rooms, destroying everything in its wake. 

The tapestries that lined the walls lie in heaps on the floor, Loki's drapes are in tatters and look as if a beast had gotten their claws in them. Not a single book remains on Loki's shelves and papers lie scattered about the room. Nearly every piece of furniture lies askew, and the remains of a chair sit on Thor's left, presumably having been smashed agaisnt the wall. 

Trinkets from across the realms that Loki had painstakingly collected and then displayed lie in ruins on the ground, a personal testament to the younger prince's mental state. 

Thor slumps against the door behind him and sinks to the floor. He doesn't move for the rest of the night.