‘I wrote this little monologue which is really a kind of pastiche of other things I’d done in ‘Avengers’. And then I just sort of improvised it. I’ve got to be honest; I was waiting backstage and I just heard that every single X-Men who has ever walked the earth had been on stage before and I was a little nervous. And I thought Well, hopefully if I just commit to it, it’ll go well. And I thought, I could always get them to chant my name if it doesn’t work. And I walked out, and the very first thing they started doing was chant my name. And that was really surprising… I felt a kind of adrenaline rush like I’ve never felt.’
This is another one of beautiful shots of Thor 1 that conveys a genius symbolism. Here’s Odin who pitted his children against each other for the throne and his unfair treatment of them set the brothers apart. And he is standing on a broken bridge. The bridge that was broken as the result of the brother’s conflict over the throne, over gaining Odin’s approval, over being worthy. The broken bridge of the brother’s relationship. The conflict that he fueled drove his children, literally and also figuratively on the verge of falling down into an abyss. The brothers are holding to the Gungnir, the symbol of the throne. Their hands are close to each other but the Gungnir, the throne has kept them apart. A symbol of how the throne and their rivalry for it, came between them and set them apart. And Odin, the real reason for the destruction of his family, is standing safely on the broken bridge, and he is holding Thor, his favorite son, by the ankle, while Loki is the farthest to him in this chain. A symbol of how his lies and his treatment of Loki, drove away Loki more than Thor and how in the end, they pushed Loki away, just like Odin’s “No Loki”. And as Odin had favored Thor and alienated Loki in all the years, here he held on to Thor and pushed Loki away and left him to fall in the abyss.
Be honest, if your son, even if adopted, tried to commit mass genocide of an entire planet all in the name of approval, would you say “Yes Loki” to them? Yes I’m aware that Odin fucked up when it came to raising them and was so evident in his favor for Thor, but I feel like the “No Loki” has been made into some twisted lame “I don’t love you Loki”.
When Thor went to Jotunhiem and nearly started a war, Odin punished him to teach him a lesson, sending him to live among mortals so he would humble himself. This was to show that he did not approve of Thor’s actions to seek war and bloodshed. Just the same, when Loki attempt to not only seek war but murder an entire fucking planet, Odin told him no.
“I could have done it! For you! For all of us…”
Odin’s response of “No Loki” is far from “I don’t love you.” Or “Your such a fucking disappointment.” His response was of a parent trying to correct the mistake their child made.
Did Odin fuck up in the end? Yes. Was he not the best at parenting? Absolutely. But he was far from heartless towards his son. Just go back and watch that scene, look at Odin’s expression and tell me that he was not saddened when Loki let go. Because that was pure regret if I ever saw it.
I can with complete honesty assure you (as an actual parent) that if I saw my son (or any other person at all for that matter) hanging over an abyss I would use softest language and not- threatening body movements to approach them, hold them in an iron grip and pull them to safety. It’s not rocket science. It’s not a teaching of some first aid course. It’s what any human with empathy would do, spontaneously, instinctively, when faced with such a situation. You don’t “correct a mistake a child made” while the child is hanging over the abyss due to said mistake. That idea borders on sociopathy for me, to be honest.
Do you see people like “No, your life isn’t as bad as you think, get over it and get off that bridge/ledger/whatever other place the person is standing on to jump to their death? No. They bring in specialists to try and help them, they try to prevent them from taking their own life. You don’t talk that way to someone who is on the verge of ending it all. Odin could have said sooooooo much more in that moment, Loki was desperate for affection and love in that instant, I think he would have listened. Odin could have prevented him from letting go, he could have prevented him from falling into Thanos’s hands. You don’t try to reason with someone during a moment like that, you try to understand and comfort them, no matter what their reason for being there is.
See, I DID notice he was crying. Even when I watched it in the theater. And I took this as a demonstration of some measure of regret. But why did he not act on that regret?
As far as the possible reasons, here are a few from my headcanon, listed from most to least likely:
1. Loki mistook Thor’s apparent compassion for an attempt at manipulation.
2. Loki feared that allowing Thor to help him would expose him as weak and that it would just be another opportunity for Thor to demonstrate his superiority.
3. Loki feared what Thanos may do to him if he did not carry out his orders.
4. Loki thought that Thor was attempting to thwart his attempt to rule over Earth in order to rob him of that glory.
5. Loki wanted to tell Thor about Thanos. But he didn’t think Thor would believe him.
6. Loki wanted to tell Thor about Thanos. But he was worried that Thor would not care.
7. Loki was afraid that because of what happened with the Bifrost, going “home again” was not an option, regardless of what Thor might have to say about it.
8. Loki knew the Other was listening and didn’t feel safe acting on his urge to accept Thor’s offer.
are you loki, god of knives? 🗡🙄 
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