The Big Picture

• Thor's emotional journey through Avengers: Endgame adds depth to his character and provides closure, particularly through his reunion with his mother, Frigga.
• Frigga's advice to Thor about being true to oneself resonates with the theme of dealing with failure and moving forward, as shown by the Avengers after the snap.
• Thor's path to self-discovery in Endgame sets the stage for his next chapter in Thor: Love and Thunder, where he embraces his true identity beyond his relationships.

Five years after its release, Avengers: Endgame remains one of the high points of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Part of that is how it successfully plays off of the devastating cliffhanger of Avengers: Infinity War (not to mention a decade's worth of films in the process). It's also quite emotional; who could forget Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) sacrificing himself to save the world while delivering his most iconic line? Or Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) giving the mantle of Captain America to Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) right before it's revealed that he finally managed to spend a lifetime with Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell)? But the character who goes through the most emotional hardship is Chris Hemsworth's Thor.

Thor Reuniting With His Mother Makes 'The Dark World' Better

Infinity War and Endgame put Thor through the wringer. He watched his brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) be murdered in front of his eyes, he couldn't keep Thanos (Josh Brolin) from decimating half of the universe, and even beheading the Mad Titan didn't bring him any closure. Thor chooses to bury himself in alcohol and food, but soon reunites with the rest of the Avengers for a mission through time that brings him face to face with his mother, Frigga (Rene Russo), which leads to Endgame's most emotional moment.

Due to Thanos obliterating the Infinity Stones in the present, the Avengers have to leap into time utilizing the same shrinking tech that Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) utilizes as Ant-Man. Thor and Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper/Sean Gunn) go back to the time of Thor: The Dark World so that they can extract the power of the Reality Stone from Jane Foster (Natalie Portman). Unfortunately, they land right on the day that Frigga dies. This leads to Thor having a panic attack and eventually finally spilling his emotions to Frigga when he runs into her. It also shows The Dark World in a newer light, which it needs. To this day, The Dark World remains one of the least-liked MCU films, even by its own director, Alan Taylor. By having Thor and Frigga's reunion take place when it does, Endgame adds a bittersweet moment to The Dark World by finally giving Thor closure.

Thor & Frigga's Conversation Tackles 'Avengers: Endgame's Theme

Thor's conversation with his mother also leads to Frigga delivering one of Endgame's more underrated lines: "Everyone fails at who they're 'supposed' to be, Thor. The measure of a person, of a hero... is how well they succeed at being who they are." This line underscores how failure is one of the major elements that Endgame deals with during its lengthy runtime, but also shows that failure shouldn't necessarily define you. In fact, the other Avengers have tried to move on in their own ways. Iron Man starts a family and has a daughter, while Captain America is holding a counseling group for people who lost their loved ones in Thanos' decimation. Even Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) are attempting to keep the world safe in their own ways.

By coming to terms with his failure and finally getting the chance to say goodbye to his mother, Thor is able to move on from his failure. The biggest example of this is when he's able to summon his hammer Mjölnir (or at least the past version that wasn't crushed into a million pieces). He even wants to try and use the collected Infinity Stones to reverse Thanos' decimation, though it's the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) who does the job. In coming to terms with his failure and moving past it, Thor underlines a thesis that Rafael Motomayor expressed in a post-Endgame piece for Polygon, where he explained how the entirety of the MCU's Infinity Saga is about dealing with failure in various forms.

Thor's Journey in 'Avengers: Endgame' Sets Up 'Love and Thunder'

Once the dust settles on Endgame's climatic battle, Thor takes his mother's advice to heart. He relinquishes the throne of Asgard and heads into space with the Guardians of the Galaxy, intending to find out who he is as a person. It's quite a fitting path, as Thor was previously defined by his relationships: his father Odin (Anthony Hopkins) groomed him to become the prince of Asgard, Loki saw him as an obstacle, and the world saw him as the God of Thunder.

Thor's journey of self-discovery comes to a head when he re-encounters Jane in Thor: Love and Thunder, as she's gained his godly powers after picking up a reconstructed Mjölnir. Jane eventually succumbs to cancer, telling Thor to make sure he opens his heart back up to love. Thor does so by adopting the daughter of Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale). Hopefully, if Thor appears in a future MCU project, Hemsworth will have the chance to deliver another emotional scene in the vein of Endgame.

Avengers: Endgame is available to stream on Disney+ in the U.S.

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