http://bato.to/forums/topic/17761-shall-we-try-to-understand-the-story-so-far/#entry1656805
Ragnarök
In Norse mythology, Ragnarök is a series of future events, including a great battle foretold to ultimately result in the death of a number of major figures (including the gods Odin, Thor, Týr, Freyr, Heimdallr, and Loki), the occurrence of various natural disasters, and the subsequent submersion of the world in water. Afterward, the world will resurface anew and fertile, the surviving and returning gods will meet, and the world will be repopulated by two human survivors.
Yea, first wiki-quote-dump. Key points:
- Ragnarok roughly translates to "Fate of the Gods" and "Twilight of the Gods"
- The culminating battle of Ragnarok is fought between the Gods as led by Odin, and a bunch of monsters led by Loki.
- Tons of gods and monsters die, and nearly everything in the universe will be destroyed.
- 2 humans survive; Líf and Lífþrasir, and they will repopulate the world. It feels like a new cycle of Ask and Embla, the first two humans created by the gods to populate the world.
Anyway, back to AFotDL (I ain't typing the whole freaking title everytime.)
In season 2, chapter 10, we learn from Mimir what's Loki's ultimate fate is, and it gives us a hint to Odin's plans.
Mimir says to Ormr: "Destiny has already changed, because of Odin. You will all become extinct, and the world will forever continue to be ruled by the AESir. Loki's dream... contains the future. "
Ormr: "And what happens in the dream?"
Mimir: "All I can see with my abilities is just an image.
Odin's sword of destiny...
and Ragnarok impaled by the sword...
sealed within cheers of victory and joy."
So. It sounds like Odin wants to concentrate all elements of Ragnarok into one being; namely Loki. And then seal him with a sword. To what end? To prevent the passing of the events of Ragnarok?
Where's this sword? our princess/knight "Nir"... which in hindsight now looks like an affectation of the full name "Gungnir"
So, how does she serve her purpose? I'm going to quote Garmr here from chapter 19:
"It makes sense. Lord Loki is different compared to when I was observing him before.
He would kill anything that trespassed in his territory, no matter if it was a Knight or a Dragon.
Like an unsheathed sword that only exists to slaughter.
He looked like a mad swordsman, just as the rumors said."
This looks like him fulfilling his role as the "Doom" that will claim the world of the AEsir.
"But there has been a massive change. He's a totally different person... it is like he had a different personality stuffed into him.
The change started to happen just after... His encounter with that knight. It seems that is when his fate began to change."
Thinking back to the way the Nameless Knight behaved in season 1, and Loki's behaviour in season 2, they both match what Mimir says in chapter 3:
"The source of Evil in this world has been sealed. The Demon Lord is trapped in an endless cycle of self restraint, so he will not seek the world's destruction."
So. Now we kinda know Odin's goal and plan (A.K.A. The TL;DR version):
Goal: Prevent the end of the world of the AEsir.
Step 1: Concentrate all the fates of evil into one being - The Demon Lord Ragnarok.
Step 2: Bewitch Ragnarok with the cutie pie Gungnir and seal him with the power of LOVE!!
Step 3: Prance about like a happy man, except, it seems that the cost of this is his own death. Can't dance if you're dead.
Now. This still leaves a few questions for me:
- What is Odin's sins that Ragnarok now bears?
- What about the Nameless Knight that Odin created was necessary to fulfil this plan? Why did it take so many incarnations?
- What is Puginn's objective and motivation? She seems to be working to foil Odin and Mimir's plans.
- I feel like the answers are there but I just haven't noticed them yet.
Also, back to season 1:
- If Ragnarok is now sealed by Gungnir, why did Odin continue to create Nameless Knights to unseal Ragnarok only to take its place again? Why that cycle?
- The only guess I have is that its a natural occurrence and not Odin's design. Fate is auto-balancing and its creation of the Namless Knight is the means to this end. It tries to unravel the entwinment of Gungnir and Ragnarok so that a natural Ragnarok can occur. Each time this happens Odin kicks in the plan for corrupting the Nameless Knight once more and reseals it with Ragnarok.
- How the fsck is Odin alive? Why the hell is he panicking? He seems to have things under control.
- Actually... season 1 makes no bloody sense. Its so full of plot holes its ridiculous.
Anyway... after typing it all out there seem to be even more holes in this explanation. Oh well. What insights do you guys have? |
