After all, there was an Infinity Gauntlet in Odin's vault.
This proved that Odin not only knew about the Infinity Stones but had actually sought them out at some point in the past.
For whatever reason, he eventually gave up the quest. That was why the gauntlet in the vault was a fake.
But having pursued the Stones, even if he didn't succeed like Thanos, his knowledge of them wasn't superficial. He understood their capabilities profoundly, especially the Reality Stone.
"It seems the seal has weakened," Odin sighed.
Looking at it from this angle, the root of the problem lay with him. Why did a perfectly good seal suddenly break? Why did the Aether resurface and enter Jane Foster, triggering this chain of disasters?
Sure, Asgard's response in the video was full of tactical flaws that could be debated.
But the core issue was his own failing strength.
If he were still young, still as powerful as he was back then, none of these problems would exist.
This was the fundamental truth. The root cause of everything in the Thor series was Odin's aging and impending death.
In Thor 1, the brothers fought to the death. Why? Because Odin fell into the Odinsleep at the worst possible moment. If he hadn't passed out, none of that drama would have happened.
In Thor 2, his weakening power led to the Aether's release, which brought the Dark Elves and killed his wife.
In Thor 3, Ragnarok and Hela's return were directly triggered by his death.
If he were still in his prime, like Zeus, none of this would have happened. Thor would still be his happy-go-lucky heir. Loki might grumble, but he would remain an Asgardian prince instead of becoming a villain. And Frigga would still be alive.
After thinking for a long time, Odin finally grasped the core issue. He sighed heavily.
He didn't know if the true "Nodes of Destiny" could be changed. But he knew one thing: whether he wanted to or not, things would not go his way easily.
Changing fate was incredibly difficult.
"I will go and reinforce the seal immediately. But you must understand something, Thor: the Reality Stone will resurface eventually. I cannot suppress it for eternity," Odin said, looking at his son.
Hearing this, a look of profound sadness crossed Thor's face. He knew exactly what Odin meant.
"Cannot suppress it for eternity" meant Odin was going to die soon. Lucas's diary had already confirmed this.
"I understand," Thor said quietly.
"If we follow the logic of those Earthlings... that our world is part of a 'Series of Stories' and you are one of the 'Protagonists,' then you need to interact more with the other Protagonists. For example, Tony Stark. Do not pull rank or act like an arrogant prince around him. Do you understand?" Odin advised.
He was exhausting his heart and soul to pave the way for Thor's future.
"I understand." Thor nodded. "Tony Stark has a toxic tongue, and he can piss people off with just a few words. But I've noticed he's not a bad person at heart. We can work together."
"There is one more thing. Lucas. Since he comes from the outside world, he knows the trajectory of our fate. If possible, within the rules, build a good relationship with him. He might be the key to breaking this deadlock," Odin said earnestly.
"They say 'Character determines Destiny.' Many things that seem like sudden accidents were actually determined long ago by our personalities. Especially for those of us trapped insidethe story... it is very hard to break free from the net."
"But Lucas is different. He is from the outside. He might have ways to solve problems we cannot, to break traps we cannot escape. The future will rely on you to solve these things. After all, this world belongs to the young."
Having said all this, Odin turned to leave. "I am going to spend time with your mother. You handle the rest. Oh, and if you see Loki again... take care of him. You are the older brother. Pull him back from the edge. He isn't evil at his core. I am to blame for pushing him to this point."
"Understood, Father."
Thor nodded, watching his father's aging back as he walked away.
"So that's what Lucas was talking about in his diary!"
Inside S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ, Agent Hill broke the silence. "It's almost unbelievable. I didn't expect the Dark Elves to look like that. They're so ugly!"
Well, even as a top-tier agent, Hill was still a woman. Aesthetics mattered.
"They might be ugly, but their technology is no joke. First, they have ships capable of reaching Asgard. That alone puts them lightyears ahead of us," Coulson analyzed.
"Second, their cloaking tech. It's virtually invisible to the naked eye and completely silent. If Heimdall didn't have some special sensory ability to detect the ship, they would have bypassed him entirely. That level of stealth technology is terrifying."
Everyone nodded.
Looking at the big picture, both Asgard and the Dark Elves had incredibly advanced technology in some areas, but absurdly primitive habits in others.
For example, why were Asgardians so obsessed with cold weapons?
Even the Dark Elves seemed to prefer melee combat. Yes, they used energy blasters and black hole grenades, but they clearly loved hacking and slashing.
It gave the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents a very weird feeling.
If you said these aliens were incredibly advanced... they didn't really feel like a sci-fi interstellar civilization. It felt a bit underwhelming.
But if you said they weren't advanced... Earth couldn't replicate a single piece of their tech.
So the team's feelings were incredibly complicated.
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