#I think that's true for all usurpations and coups to an extent

[wonder-worker]

"In reality Richard III invented a Woodville scare as a screen for his own conspiracy"

-A.J Pollard, "Richard III and the Princes in the Tower"

#lmao #r*chard iii #my post #I think that's true for all usurpations and coups to an extent #but its 10x more applicable and accurate for Richard III #Not only because of the compressed length of time (a mere 3 months as opposed to years of back-and-forth tensions) #but also because ultimately one of the key reasons Richard could do what he did was because he did it from the heart of the political #institution (ie he was an internal threat rather than an external one) #and he was someone who was trusted and loved rather than mistrusted and hated. His betrayal was political but it also had far more personal #ramifications for everyone involved - most people simply did not expect it from him and cooperated with him precisely because of that #which enabled him to seize power before most people even realized what he was doing #And there's the fact that he actually did stage a conspiracy by accusing the Woodvilles of plotting to attack and ambush him #and produced weapons from his own war in Scotland as fake 'proof' - when in fact we know that HE deceived and ambushed THEM #there's also the (propagandic) lie that they usurped him from the position as Lord Protector when they certainly didn't #either Edward IV didn't appoint Richard Lord Protector meaning the Woodvilles denied him nothing #OR the council collectively chose to have a council rule during Edward V's minority rather than a Protector (something they were entirely #within their rights to do both socially and legally) #so claims that they wrongly defied Edward IV's last wishes or broke the law (which Mancini repeats in his account) must be seen as exactly #that - propagandic lies to vilify EW and her family #when in fact Richard was the one plotting a seizure of power - whether it was as Lord Protector or as King #(of course these are just two things - there's a whole laundry list of others) #so this is definitely applicable to him

[thegingerlikes]

Literal brOTP

My new favorite thing, especially in Marvel films, is family relationships. My favorite part of GotG2 is the Nebula-Gamora dynamic, my fave part of Spiderman: Homecoming is Dad!Tony and his Spiderson, and my favorite part of ANY Thor movie is the Thor-Loki sibling rivalry. I’m going to focus on the latter in this squeal-essay.

I have really enjoyed Loki and Thor’s development over the films, both separately and together.

Thor is my favorite Avenger now because he has gradually shed his brawn-heavy approach and become more of a strategist. That, coupled with his loyalty and his newfound selflessness, make him a great role model and a perfect foil for Loki.

In the first Thor film, Loki progresses from a restless little brother to a man obsessed with simultaneously proving himself to and defeating his adoptive father and brother. At the core, this validation is all he really wants, even more than dominion over others (though he might settle for widespread fame and adoration). In Thor: The Dark World Loki experiences the ACTUAL loss of one of his “false” family, and is actually affected by it. This surprises even him. This causes, I believe, for Loki to stop trying to kill Thor and Odin. In Thor: Ragnarok, Loki realizes he not only doesn’t want Thor dead, but he wants to be a family with him. I’ll delve into why later on.

As Thor and Loki evolve over the span of the films, so too does their relationship with each other. To me, this is the most interesting part of either of their characters: Thor isn’t as compelling without Loki, Loki is just another trickster without Thor. 

Even in his initial jerk form, Thor is loving toward his little brother. Even when he finds out they aren’t related, he’s still loyal and believes the best of Loki. Pre-first film, I like to think this was a point of pride for Loki. He’s able to do whatever he wants and still retains the love of Thor. But since Loki is a trickster, he may think Thor only loves the mask of the dutiful brother he puts on. For a while this is partially true, and prevents Loki from truly connecting with his brother.

Loki’s family history is truly tragic. He was thrown away as a nuisance, picked up as a boon, and deceived his whole life. He has such low self-esteem that his first reaction to his Jotenheim heritage is to completely eradicate it. When a reformed Thor denounces the genocide, Loki is confused: didn’t Thor want war with Jotunheim before being banished? Then he realizes his brother has changed. What’s worse, he’s changed for the better, and Loki had no hand in it (this is why Loki is so bitter about Jane in Thor. Not because his brother was in love, but because Jane had accomplished in days what Loki couldn’t in years. Though, in reality, Jane didn’t do much to humble Thor). In his eyes, he’s not only lost his adoptive father to the Odin sleep, but he no longer knows his brother.

Thor, conversely, doesn’t ever consider Loki not his sibling, even after learning that Loki is a frost giant. But he also holds onto the brother he knew like a totem, not considering that Loki might have changed or, even worse, had always been different than the way Thor saw him. This blind love produces blind loyalty in Thor. Thor’s loyalty infuriates Loki. He wants to be the victim, wants to be completely justified in the horrible acts he commits. Thor’s love for him prevents that, in the eyes of others and even himself. So he denies Thor’s feelings as illegitimate, while simultaneously striving to make Thor hate him to kill off the last scrap of connection he has to his adoptive family.

Over the movies, he succeeds, to an extent. Thor holds out hope for Loki all through the murders he commits during the Chitari invasion, continuing to fall for Loki’s tricks because he still trusts him. Then Loki kills Coleson. After that, Thor accepts that Loki’s darkest side has consumed him: Loki is selfish, murderous, and without remorse. Still, he doesn’t hate him, doesn’t kill him. He never even comes close.

And Loki doesn’t, either. Upon rewatching Avengers recently, I noticed Loki’s hidden blade he stabs Thor with was very small. It would have been easy for Loki to carry a longer knife (heck, maybe he did), but his goal was to hurt Thor, but not kill him. Loki might tell himself he spared Thor because he wants his brother to witness his success, but really, he values his blond counterpart. 

Loki’s dependence on Thor for validation becomes more obvious in Thor: The Dark World. This movie is a mess, but it does accurately depict how the Attack on New York would affect on the brothers. Loki has begun to realize his limits, and Thor has realized how dark and demented his brother is. At the beginning of the movie, both men are content to despise each other for all time. Then, Frigga dies.

Frigga’s death greatly impacts how each son treats the other. Thor’s opinion of Loki changes very little, but he does want to be reasonable with Loki, so as to honor their mother’s memory. Loki, on the other hand, gains a stronger appreciation for his family after experiencing how profoundly his mother’s death affected him. The viewer can see him wrestle with this during the film, as he wants Thor to trust and pay attention to him, but also does whatever he can to rattle Thor’s cage. And in a hilarious turn of events, Thor accidentally encourages this behavior by pulling tricks on Loki.

My favorite parts in any Thor movie are when Thor gets one over on Loki, because not only is it funny, but most of the time you can tell Loki loves it. Before, Loki played a one-sided, cat and mouse game Thor didn’t even know about. Now Thor is in on it, and Loki is surprised to find he likes the challenge. It also feeds into Loki’s pretty obvious masochism, but I won’t get into that here.

One of the obstacles to Loki trusting Thor is Thor’s blind faith in Loki. It’s not until Thor begins distrusting Loki and anticipating his schemes that Loki believes his brother could actually love the true him. The tables have turned: now that Loki has finally attained his goal of making Thor disillusioned towards him, he now he wants Thor’s esteem. We have to give the trickster some credit: he knows his brother, and he knows what works for him. But instead of playing the long game and slowly regaining Thor’s trust, he fakes his own death, banking on the moral benefit of dying for another, and the “absence makes the heart grow fonder” principle.

And that death scene. Oh boy. I acknowledge Loki’s main motivation in faking his death was to escape prison and be venerated as a hero on Asgard, but he put in the extra effort to be Thor’s hero specifically. He says he’s sorry (for what? It could be for “not listening”, it could be for all his sins in the past), then he admits he died for Thor, not Odin. When recounting Loki’s heroism, Thor would have left this out, and Loki knows this. He wants to show Thor his hope in him wasn’t unfounded. Thor, his loyalty for his brother renewed, accepts his death (again), not believing even Loki could pull off such a deception.

But of course, he does, and even succeeds to peacefully and deftly usurp Odin in the process. Then, in the last scene of Thor: The Dark World, Loki as Odin talks to Thor. He gives a very self-aware speech about being proud of Thor, which I know is mostly for the audience’s benefit, and Loki could have only said what he thought Odin would say. What caught my imagination was that Loki!Odin didn’t send Thor on some long mission, or banish him, or suggest he wasn’t ready to rule. In addition, Loki couldn’t have been sure Thor would reject the throne, so what if Thor hadn’t? I believe Loki would have relished being Thor’s mentor, of ruling Asgard with him. This ambition definitely comes across in the next film.

Thor: Ragnarok is the culmination and resolution of all the past development between the brothers. Thor, bless him, figures out Loki’s deception pretty fast because, as Neil Gaiman writes in Norse Mythology, “when something goes wrong, the first thing [Thor] always thinks is, it is Loki’s fault. It saves a lot of time.” Even though he thought Loki was dead.

So Loki is almost back to square one as far as Thor is concerned. Thor distrusts him, and is angry with him for hexing and sending away their father. However, Loki doesn’t comprehend how badly he’s screwed up until Odin dies and Thor get murdery-eyed on the Norwegian plain. In that split-second, Loki knows that Thor is dangerously close to hating him. Curiously, he doesn’t prepare for a fight, but looks as if he’s going to beg for his life. Who knows what would have happened if Hela hadn’t shown up.

To his credit, Loki doesn’t attempt to join her side at any time in the film. Loki continues to act like Loki, though, putting his best interests first and his brother’s second. But Thor is his second. On Sakaar, Loki immediately invites Thor to be his co-conspirator in a coup d’état, again showing his willingness to rule alongside his brother (even if Loki is first-partner).

However, this is all too soon for Thor, who still sees his brother as an adversary, not an ally, and he rejects Loki’s offer. During the famous elevator scene, Thor tells Loki he agrees they shouldn’t even keep up the pretense of being a family. While Loki is obviously conflicted about this, Thor’s speech also isn’t all that seems. In a role reversal, Thor how Loki thinks, and he knows Loki thinks he’s stupid, too stupid to manipulate him, or to know when he’s being manipulated. He carefully constructs his speech and responses in the elevator to push all of Loki’s little brother buttons (this coming from an older sibling with experience in this area).

Thor begins by telling Loki flattering truth: that he idolized him and thought they’d be together forever. This inflates Loki’s ego, as he always wanted Thor to recognize him as an equal or superior. In the same moment, he realizes this is no longer the case due to his actions. Thor then alleviates some of the burden, inferring with “you’re you and I’m me” that their separation was inevitable. This and the paths diverging statement are both beliefs Loki has held, but never wanted Thor to have. He’s used to his brother chasing him. In order to reinstate this status quo, Loki says “it’s probably for the best that we never see each other again.” He expects Thor to protest here. After all, Thor has crossed galaxies, fought armies, risked death to be with his delinquent brother. Thor doesn’t deny or affirm Loki’s statement, but responds with the piece de resistance: “It’s what you’ve always wanted.”

This is the ultimate challenge to Loki. First of all, Thor is presuming to know what he wants, which Loki doesn’t think Thor can know about him, which makes Loki rethink what he actually wants. His gut reaction is to rebel, to say “don’t tell me what I want!” but that would mean he actually wants to stay with his brother, to be a family. Is that what he wants? Maybe. Now that Thor accepts the idea of their separation, maybe being a constant thorn in his side isn’t a bad prospect. All this, of course, ends up being a distraction so Thor can put the shocker on Loki’s back, but that it distracted Loki at all is telling. In reality, Thor didn’t agree they should become strangers, but he knew framing it that way would make Loki consider becoming his brother again. And that’s sibling love right there.

Immediately after this heart to heart, Loki pulls another Loki and tries to betray Thor. Thor doesn’t even hold it against him anymore: he just thwarts his brother and carries on. Perhaps he knows Loki will show up when he’s most needed later.

He’s right, of course. And when he does show up on Asgard, he does so in typical Loki fashion: in a cry for attention. But that’s who Loki is: selfish, murderous, short-sighted, but sensitive and seeking acceptance. Thor has now accepted Loki for who he is, and Loki isn’t about to lose that. Not only does he go along with Thor’s plan for Asgard (and revels in his brother’s recklessness), but he recognizes Thor’s kingship for the first time. That moment when Loki looks up from the final battle to see Thor embracing his true power, and that pride on his face… oh, my heart!

If I were writing the continuation of Thor and Loki’s relationship, I would never give Loki a redemption arc. Loki is the god of mischief. Instead, I would make him a part-time ally, but only with Thor. He doesn’t do anything selfless unless he knows Thor would be disappointed if he didn’t. He still plays tricks on his brother and the Avengers, but he no longer commits major crimes in their jurisdiction. Loki is at his mildest when bantering with Thor, and at his fiercest when Thor’s life is threatened. This is all selfish, though: without Thor, no one would accept him or be his equal. Thor knows all this, and is resigned and secretly flattered. He takes their relationship from day to day, enjoying fighting side-by-side again.

After Infinity War, though, (God willing they both survive) I think Loki would strike out on his own for a little while, in search of what would make him “more than a god of mischief.” Because he sees his brother’s progression, and like a little brother, he wants to keep up.

PS I know I focused a lot on Loki in this essay. This was unintentional, but happened because Loki’s development as a character is more dependent on Thor than Thor’s is on Loki. Thor’s changes center more around Odin, Frigga, and Jane, and the loss of said people. However, I wasn’t writing about their separate development in this essay, but the progression of their brotherly relationship. I hope I succeeded.

PPS In lieu of the new “news” about Loki being on Thanos’s team, I have heard multiple theories, and here’s what I like:

Anything involving Loki being mind-controlled. It prevents the whole “Loki, again?!” reaction, and provides lots of nice conflict.

Loki being forced against his will in some other way.

I will say this: they better not kill Loki off, because that’s also cliche at this point. They should kill Thor, and have Loki go ballistic. And then bring Thor back in some later film. Because, once again, Loki isn’t himself without Thor, and Thor isn’t a hero without Loki.

#thor #loki #thor odinson #loki laufeyson #thor: ragnarok #thor: the dark world #marvel #infinity war #character development #opinion #essay