Warning: SPOILERS for Valkyrie: Jane Foster #10

Marvel's Thor comics have just fixed the MCU's worst Infinity Stone. Legendary comic book writer Jason Aaron may have finished his seminal Thor run, but he's still writing the spin-off series Jane Foster: Valkyrie. As the title suggests, the book has seen Jane Foster transformed into the first of a new wave of Valkyrie - and it's confronted her with some pretty terrifying threats.

The latest arc, "At The End Of All Things," has seen Thor's brother Tyr make a bid for the throne of Asgard. Tyr had been assigned to serve drinks at Valhalla, intended to serve as a punishment for betraying the crown. Instead, it provided him with the perfect opportunity to learn ancient secrets of forgotten magic, sacred places and powerful objects. Finally, Tyr learned enough to launch a ruthless plan to take over Asgard once again. And he did so with an object that bears a remarkable resemblance to the Aether, the Infinity Stone introduced in Thor: The Dark World.

Related: Avengers: Age of Ultron Foreshadowed Thor’s Infinity War Failure

The weapon in question is an ancient, anti-life force known as the Rokkva. As Odin explained it in one flashback scene, it was created as the opposite of life, the opposite of a soul. "As life flourished in the Nine Realms, so did the Rokkva," Odin told Thor. "It had no will, no want, but wherever it moved, death would follow." The Rokkva is presented as an all-consuming darkness, and it is able to possess the bodies of others, consuming their life - their very soul. Øde, one of the first kings of Asgard, sought to harness the Rokkva's power. For a time, he became the most powerful being in all creation, but he was ultimately consumed. What remained of his body was buried in a hidden vault, far beneath the mountains of Jotunheim. Visually, this vault looks almost identical to the mysterious hiding place of the Aether in Thor: The Dark World.

Tyr Approaching Rokvva

"At The End Of All Things" is clearly a riff on Thor: The Dark World, but the Rokkva is frankly far superior to the Aether. It possesses many of the same characteristics, and poses the same kind of threat; as its influence spreads, it consumes everything in darkness, and at one point is unleashed against Asgard itself. But, because it is portrayed as an entity rather than some mere force, it has a real and potent sense of menace. The Rokkva is the perfect opposite of life; it seeks to consume rather than reproduce, to absorb all of creation into itself. Tyr believes he has learned to control it, but he is fooling himself, as he comes to realize.

The Infinity Stones are the most powerful objects in the MCU. Contrary to popular belief, Marvel Studios didn't have the idea in the works from the beginning; they only came up with the idea around the release of The Avengers, and scripts were rewritten to turn various MacGuffins into Infinity Stones. In the case of Thor: The Dark World, Jason Aaron has significantly improved the Aether by removing that element and turning it into something completely different. It's a fascinating approach, and it's proven a tremendous success.

More: MCU Theory: Loki's Mother is Thor's Sister, Hela