Thor becomes worthy once again in War of the Realms No. 6

Odin and Freyja are captured and the Earth is at its last wits. In order to save it, Thor must finally gather enough power to defeat Malekith, along with the help of a few old allies. Spoilers for War of the Realms No. 6 follow.

Thor has given his eye to Yggdrasil to obtain the wisdom he needs to defeat Malekith and end the War of the Realms, but there is one more thing he must sacrifice before he does. He must let go of the sliver of Mjolnir he carries with him, which he does, but not before some reluctance due to his fear that this is the only thing that makes him Thor. Through his sacrifice though, he gains the wisdom he needs to defeat Malektith, bringing King Thor and Young Thor along with him.

Before the trio can head off for the fight, an unexpected arrival appears. Jane Foster comes bearing the hammer of the War Thor and offers her services to fight alongside them, which Thor happily agrees to. The three head off for the final fight with Malekith, hammers (and axes) in hand.

Malekith, now with the Venom symbiote attached to him, is prepared for the arrival and readies his forces. Once the fight starts, it’s not long before Malekith overpowers Thor, even stealing his hammer from his grasp. As Malekith goes for the killing blow, Jane saves Thor, which gives Thor the oppurtunity to begin punching his hammer, much to the surprise, and confusion, of everyone.

Image by Marvel Comics/Art by Russell Dauterman

A storm begins to brew above Earth, a storm of fire and ice, and out of drops a magnificent treasure, a re-forged Mjolnir. Thor had been forging it since his sacrifice and with the certainty of the god that he is, lifts his hammer, not because the hammer makes the man, but the man wields the hammer, faults and all. Thor unleashes his fury against Malekith, taking him out in one, swift hit. On Earth, the Avengers begin to thin out the herd of Malekith’s forces, thus ending the War of the Realms. Malekith’s pets proceed to turn on him, tearing him limb from limb, killing him as well.

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In the aftermath, the hammer of the War Thor breaks apart, becoming something new and attaches to the wrist of Jane Foster, granting her power that she has earned. As for Odin and Thor, Odin abdicates the throne of Asgard, instead kneeling before his son and pronounces him All-Father Thor.

This issue feels very much like the culmination and climax of seven years of storytelling that Jason Aaron has accomplished since he began his run in Thor: God of Thunder. There’s a lot threads to tie up with this issue and somehow, Aaron and artists Russell Dauterman manage to do a pretty solid job of tying most everything up.

Unlike the previous five issues of War of the Realms, the action very much takes a backseat in this issue. It’s very much there and present, but the focus is in the character moments, especially Thor’s. This is a seminal issue for the character and Aaron & Dauterman manage to both show how broken he’s become over the course of the past seven years, while also showing his ability to overcome and why he truly is worthy. That’s the focus of the issue, so while some of the side stories take a bit of hit because of that, the main focus hits an absolute homerun and sends the series out on a high note.

9.0/10 

War of the Realms ends with several extremely satisfying moments for Thor and manages to tie together threads from the past seven years of Thor stories in an effective way.