Thor: The Dark World (2013): Cast, Plot and Ending Explained

The full story of Thor: The Dark World begins with a survivor. Malekith and his Dark Elves were beaten long ago and the Aether was buried, but Malekith survived in a long sleep. In the present day Thor helps restore order across the realms while Loki is locked up in Asgard. When Jane is infected by the Aether in London, Thor takes her to Asgard, where healers cannot cure her. The Aether wakes Malekith, who attacks Asgard to get it back, and Thor's mother Frigga is killed in the raid.

Odin refuses to act, so Thor breaks the rules and plans to take Jane to Svartalfheim, the dark elf world, to draw the Aether out. He needs Loki's knowledge of a secret route, so he frees his brother to help. Loki appears to die while helping them, and Malekith absorbs the Aether and escapes in his ship.

Malekith heads for Earth, planning to unleash darkness at the point where the Convergence is strongest, in Greenwich. Thor and Jane join forces with Erik Selvig and Darcy Lewis to use portals that the Convergence has opened across the realms. Thor and Malekith fight while being thrown between different worlds. In the end Thor wins, and Malekith is crushed under his own ship. Odin offers Thor the throne, but Thor turns it down and chooses to be with Jane. It is then revealed that Loki is alive and has taken Odin's place on the throne.

The ending of Thor: The Dark World closes the Malekith story and quietly swaps the king of Asgard for the god of mischief. Malekith is destroyed when his own ship crushes him, so the threat to the realms is over, but Asgard has lost Frigga and Thor has lost his appetite for the crown. When Odin offers him the throne, Thor refuses, saying he is not ready to rule and that he wants a life with Jane on Earth. Odin accepts his decision.

Then comes the twist. After Thor leaves, the figure on the throne is shown to be Loki, who has secretly taken Odin's form. Why does that matter? Because it leaves the Asgardian throne in the hands of a trickster who everyone, Thor included, believes is dead after his apparent sacrifice on Svartalfheim. It is also not a throwaway: in Thor: Ragnarok, Thor returns home to find that Loki has been posing as Odin.

In my opinion, this is the smartest move the film makes. Thor turning down the crown gives his arc a human cost, and Loki's return hands the next Thor film its first problem to solve. It could be argued that the Malekith plot is the thinnest part of the film, because the Aether story moves quickly and gives the Dark Elves less room than the brothers get.

Is it okay to skip Thor: The Dark World? You could, but I would not, since you would miss Frigga's death, the Loki switch that Thor: Ragnarok depends on and the Collector's interest in the Infinity Stones. At 112 minutes it is also a light commitment.

Thor: The Dark World has two credits scenes, one partway through the credits and one at the very end. In the mid credits scene, Sif and Volstagg carry the Aether to the Collector for safekeeping, and he says he now wants the other Infinity Stones.

The Collector is played by Benicio del Toro and appears again in Guardians of the Galaxy. If you want to follow the stones from film to film, the Infinity Stones page lays out where each one turns up. Perhaps the oddest detail is the choice of keeper, since Asgard hands a dangerous weapon to a stranger with a private museum.

In the post credits scene, Jane and Thor are reunited on Earth.