10 Twisted Timelines Created By Avengers: Endgame

What makes a difference here is not just the theft of the Aether from Asgard in 2013, but that Rocket gets caught doing it, and that our Thor takes Mjolnir with him when they leave. This leaves all of Asgard on guard, looking for intruders in every shadow: the return of the Aether and Mjolnir doesn’t change that.

It is, of course, this same night that Malekith and his dark elves mount their surprise attack; and it is, of course, much harder to carry off a surprise attack via an infiltration when the target is prepared for battle and actively seeking out intruders. In this timeline, Asgard repels Malekith’s sneak assault before it has a chance to get started, and Thor’s mother Frigga is never murdered.

With his mother alive and no dark elves to chase Loki remains in prison, and so doesn’t have the opportunity to fake his death and depose Odin. Without Frigga’s death breaking his heart and Loki’s magic draining the Odinforce, Odin remains the All-Father, Hela never returns from exile and none of the events of Ragnarok take place.

In many ways, 2013 to 2023 is already the darkest timeline for Thor, and it’s hard to argue that the fall of Asgard wasn’t objectively bloody awful for the Asgardians as a people. However, a timeline where Thor: Ragnarok doesn’t take place isn’t one that bears thinking about… for fans of the MCU. For Thor, it’s raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens.