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.
I just want to take a moment to appreciate that while Thor was fucking around like a bloodthirsty maniac, it was Loki who protected Thor’s friends and made sure everyone got out of there alive.
So, this is Loki looking upset that his mother is running to his brother while also looking scared because Thor’s going to to kill him.
Congratulations Tom! You ripped out my heart.
I think it’s more disappointment and longing than fear. He had the briefest interval of legitimate reign to make his mother, and (psychologically abusive to both sons) father, proud, and he has just embraced his mother promising her to make good on that vow, when she (in Loki’s distressed and distorted perception) discards him for the “better” son. He looks first at her, then at Thor, which I believe betrays that line of thinking.
This confirms not only that Loki was abandoned for being “weak” but also that he was a bastard, which may be especially interesting to those who think Loki might be a hybrid between frost giant and something else.
“I thought Odin had killed you.” – Maybe a proof that Laufey didn’t abandon Loki? If he did, he would have no way to know Loki was once in Odin’s hand (and also Odin would have no way to know the baby was Laufey’s son).
“Perhaps you should not have so carelessly abandoned me.” This gives Laufey pause. – Why did Laufey pause if Loki was telling the truth?
“That’s what I would have done.” – It seems more like angry and rash words, after Laufey realized his own son was raised up by the sworn enemy and brainwashed to turn against him, and was berated “know your place” by the enemy’s crown prince right in the place he originally belonged to. (How ironic!)
Laufey was a king and when a king decides to give up his offspring, he would finish it with his own hands or at least ask an executioner to do so. Just casting the baby out is imprudent and unwise.
And another probable hint the film gives:
At first, I thought the, “He’s as weak as you are” thing was an admission of having abandoned Loki.
But then it occurred to me that perhaps what he’s implying is that, had Laufey kidnapped Odin’s son, he certainly would have killed him—rather than being an admission that he would have killed Loki for being weak, had he not been stolen. Because if he would have killed Loki, he could have just… killed Loki.
And I agree with @whitedaydream on this point: If Laufey had abandoned Loki prior to/during Asgard’s invasion, how would he even have known that Odin took possession of him? I suppose it’s possible that he just assumed, based on Loki going missing. But that his absence was even noticed, I feel, would be another indicator that he wasn’t actually abandoned. I’ve also often wondered how Odin knew Loki was Laufey’s son, specifically, if he just “found” him cast aside, unwanted. Do other jötnar not have children?
The “and a thief” part in the film, though, I’ve always assumed Laufey was referring to the Casket.
I owe Kenneth Branagh an enormous debt of gratitude. I owe him so much. Because… the people with the dollars, they’re so scared of investing in something that’s not gonna work and Ken was able to say to producers, on a film that cost a lot of money, “Tom – he’s got it, don’t worry”. And it’s just an amazing thing to do for a young actor. Everyone needs a break and like I’ve said there were many, many, many people – there’s a long list of people who didn’t give it to me. I was starting to think it was never gonna happen. (The moderator says that Kenneth has been a guiding light for Tom’s career)… He’s been very, very inspiring. The thing is he’s never given me advice, he’s never taught me how to do anything but he’s always – by virtue of how he works – very inspiring. His extraordinary diligence, and care, and industriousness, and professionalism. I’ve never seen him literally not run at the day. He’s got such energy, and he never takes anything for granted. It’s never over. He just reads everything and he’s a very, very searching, serious intellect.
They did because these make Loki lesser devil and enjoyable than the plain villan Marvel wanted.
It’s like censoring a person’s life. These events actually occurred, they were lived (by Loki— Tom), ALL OF THE ABOVE still coincide perfectly within the canon, but were deleted to decrease sympathy. ARGHH!
I’m still dreaming of director’s cuts some day…
la la la this all happened la la la you can’t change my mind la la la
Please all the gods in every universe, let them give us directors cuts of every thor/avengers movie so we can enjoy the full Loki experience.
I legitimately can’t watch these movies without watching the deleted scenes first, because they provide so fucking much necessary context for Loki’s character and his actions and it’s absolutely insane that they were cut out of the movie. Especially the deleted scenes from Thor (2011).
Bruh.
This is what I want.
All deleted Loki content, such as unused scenes and voice recordings
Tom Hiddleston commentary on all films Loki appears and was supposed to appear in (and by commentary, I mean if this precious man rambles and you have to pause the movie itself to let him finish his thoughts and anecdotes, you damn well do so. The longe rthis ends up being, the better.)
B roll of Tom on set. I know he’s brilliant and a gentleman and I know he’s hilarious. I want to see it all.
Sir Branagh to come back and fix this mess Marvel made
For this, I am willing to give up what is left of my broken little soul and my undying loyalty to Loki (that’s a given) and Marvel.
DEAL?
Hey, listen. At SDCC 2013, Loki said if we’d pledge loyalty to him, he would give us what we need.
They did because these make Loki lesser devil and enjoyable than the plain villan Marvel wanted.
It’s like censoring a person’s life. These events actually occurred, they were lived (by Loki— Tom), ALL OF THE ABOVE still coincide perfectly within the canon, but were deleted to decrease sympathy. ARGHH!
I’m still dreaming of director’s cuts some day…
la la la this all happened la la la you can’t change my mind la la la
Please all the gods in every universe, let them give us directors cuts of every thor/avengers movie so we can enjoy the full Loki experience.
I legitimately can’t watch these movies without watching the deleted scenes first, because they provide so fucking much necessary context for Loki’s character and his actions and it’s absolutely insane that they were cut out of the movie. Especially the deleted scenes from Thor (2011).
are you loki, god of knives? 🗡🙄 
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