Updated February 5, 2021 6.2K votes 1.8K voters 269.3K views
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Vote up the fan theories worthy of the god of mischief.
"You really are the worst brother," Thor tells Loki in Avengers: Infinity War. That seems a bit harsh. Loki has made plenty of deceptions and mistakes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but his biggest fans would probably prefer to call him "mischievous." Those same fans have also come up with some rather clever theories about the Asgardian god.
One of the most prevailing theories suggests that Loki wanted Thanos to kill him in Infinity War so he could return to Valhalla and consult with Odin. There's also a popular speculation that when Loki disappeared with the Tesseract he spent time with Red Skull and saw many new worlds. In one of the trickiest theories, fans suggest that Loki might actually be Eitri the dwarf! If you can't get enough of the MCU and its most misleading villain, check out this list of Loki fan theories.
Hela says that Odin was a conqueror, an emperor, but "suddenly" decided to become a pacifist.
With no further context, Odin's change of heart could seem sudden or even forced. But we did get more context on the first Thor movie.
The real reason Odin changed was... Loki.
When he found the baby abandoned in the battlefield, he finally learned the consequences of his acts. It's very likely that Thor was already born as well, so he empathized with the baby because he had his own baby. So, he thought about how many babies must have died because of his conquests, and from that point on decided to stop.
So, in a certain way, Loki might have saved the Marvel Universe from Odin and Hela.
Loki says this line, creates a weapon, and then attempts to kill Thanos. There has been much speculation about why Loki would do something that would so obviously result in his death, and I think I have the answer: I think Loki was giving Thor the idea of forging a new weapon to defeat Thanos.
The 'sun' he was referring to represents Nidavellir.
When Thor wakes up on the Guardians' ship, the only thing on his mind is going to Nidavellir and forging Stormbreaker. I don't think he came up with this idea on his own. After all, in Ragnarok, when Hela is the greatest threat he's ever seen, he never thinks of swinging by Nidavellir to pick up a new weapon to help him out. There's even a line in Infinity War where he refers to Stormbreaker as "the god-killing kind" of weapon. Seems like the kind of thing that would come in handy when going up against a goddess.
The only thing that Thor didn't pick up on was that when Loki tried to kill Thanos, he went for the head.
TL;DR: Loki is going to Valhalla to consult with Odin/other dead Asgardians, and dying in "battle" with Thanos was the only way to get there.
Disclaimer: I've seen a lot of theories as to why Loki dies so easily at the start of the Infinity War, including many that assert he dies on purpose. I give full credit to those other theorists for inspiring this theory, but I think this one ties all the evidence together in a way that makes the most sense.
Let's look at the evidence.
1) Loki's move against Thanos looks like suicide. So, it probably is.
He should know that a tiny knife isn't going to do much damage to an Infinity Stone-wielding Thanos.
This creates two options: Loki is stupid enough to think this attack will work, or he know it won't, and is intentionally setting himself up to die. Given Loki's history as a master manipulator, I think Option B is far more likely.
Thanos wants the Infinity Stones and he knew that Odin and his kids are the greatest threat against his plans. He was biding his time, looking for an opportune moment to strike in order to make sure they wouldn't get in his way.
He possibly had the Mind Stone for a long while, and planned ahead on how to get the others with minimal room for error. He knew the Tesseract was on Earth after the events of Captain America. But he knew that Midgard is watched over by Asgard, so he risked the wrath of Odin at His full power if he made any assault on Earth directly.
I'm not sure if anyone else has posted this already, but this is one of the most convincing theories I've found surrounding Loki's "death".
Loki is right handed. If you look, in movies since the Thor to Avengers to Ragnarok, he wields with his right hand. He holds weapons with his right and the sceptor in Avengers with his right.
There are two occasions he uses his left hand (that I've found). One, when he fakes his own death in Dark World. You can find him holding the dagger with his left hand during the entire scene. Two, when he stabs Thanos.
So, Loki's illusion uses his left hand because he's a mirrored version? The Loki that was killed in the beginning of IW was an illusion and he's still out there, maybe disguised or just in hiding.
Firstly, I’d like to draw your attention to a few things that have at some point been established in the MCU. Think of these as rules that we are already aware of:
Thanos, for all his power, is not all-knowing (Infinity War)
The Space Stone (i.e. the blue one/tesseract) is capable of transporting people over long distances, such as from Asgard to Earth (this happens twice in The Avengers)
And now several things relating directly to Loki:
Loki can create incredibly lifelike illusions of himself, including ones of his dead body, that do not fail even under fairly close inspection, and even when touched (Thor: the Dark World)
Loki can do his illusions over very large distances (Thor: Ragnarok: in the credits scene, Thor assumes Loki’s casting an illusion of being on the Asgardian refugee spaceship without being on it, therefore he expects it to be possible)
Loki is proficient at using his illusions in battle, and rarely fights without illusion-based deception (The Avengers, the Thor movies)
