Asgard isn’t coming back, but it at least received some form of redemption via Loki in Phase 4. The ancient homeland of the MCU’s Norse gods was destroyed at the end of Thor: Ragnarok. To save his people from Hela (Cate Blanchett), Thor willfully caused the Ragnarok event from the prophecies by summoning Surtur and letting him kill Hela and demolish the city at the same time.

The battle with Hela in Thor: Ragnarok brought an end to an era and totally changed the status quo for Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Loki (Tom Hiddleston). The events of the movie took away a significant portion of the Thor franchise’s Asgardians characters by killing off Odin (Anthony Hopkins), Fandral (Zachary Levi), Hogun (Tadanobu Asano), and Valstagg (Ray Stevenson). In the opening of the following film, Avengers: Infinity War, both Heimdall (Idris Elba) and Loki became the first MCU casualties of Thanos’ crusade for the Infinity Stones. In the aftermath, Avengers: Endgame established Earth’s New Asgard with Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) as its ruler, but it’s far from the glorious city introduced in Thor’s first movie.

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The original version of the city made a memorable yet brief re-emergence in Loki episode 5 as a weapon of Richard E. Grant’s Classic Loki. When the team of Loki variants were pitted against Alioth, Classic Loki mustered a massive illusion of the entire city, and deployed it against the creature. The character died in the process, but his sacrifice and the symbolic use of Thor and Loki’s home is what made it possible for Loki and Sylvie (Sophie Di Martino) to bypass him and secure a highly anticipated meeting with the show’s mystery villain, which is sure to come in the Loki season finale.

Loki Episode 5 Classic Loki Magic

The Asgard illusion being responsible for temporarily subduing the Void’s unbeatable time monster felt like a fitting tribute to the fallen city. It was also well-deserved, especially since it helped make up for how Asgard went out in Thor: Ragnarok. Despite being home to some of the most powerful and well-trained warriors in the MCU, Asgard didn’t exactly have what could be called an epic last stand against Hela or Surtur in the movie. Admittedly, they did fight back vigorously against their enemies in true Asgardian fashion, but were unfortunately no match for Thor’s evil sister, who was able to wipe out the best of them with ease.

The true Asgard is gone forever, but Loki went a long way toward redeeming it properly. Plus, it gave justice to one of its most important characters in Jamie Alexander’s Lady Sif. Sif, who has been missing from the MCU for several years, returned for a fun cameo in Loki episode 4 ahead of her upcoming role in Thor: Love and Thunder. And through time travel, Loki could have opportunities to show more of the city and its characters if future seasons are offered.

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