ICYMI: The Truth About The Whisper That Made Odinson ‘Unworthy Thor’

One of the biggest mysteries in the Marvel Universe over the past few years centered on whatever The Unseen said to Thor in Jason Aaron and Mike Deodato's Original Sin that caused the Odinson to become unworthy of Mjolnir. It's been a long wait for those answers, but this week the conclusion of Aaron and Olivier Coipel's The Unworthy Thor revealed the truth of those damning words, while setting up a couple more big mysteries for the future.

NOTE: This article contains spoilers for Unworthy Thor #5. If you don't want to be spoiled on what exactly it was that turned Odinson unworthy --- as well as some other noteworthy events from the issue --- turn away now.

Unworthy Thor #5 by Jason Aaron, Olivier Coipel, Kim Jacinto, Pascal Alixe, Mat Lopes, Jay David Ramos, and Joe Sabino, feels like a mini-event of its own as the Odinson and Beta Ray Bill fight against the forces of Thanos, his Black Order, and The Collector. But once the fight is through, Odinson reveals the truth of why he was no longer worthy of Mjolnir. Here were the three simple words whispered in his ear by The Unseen:

Gorr, The God Butcher was the villain of Jason Aaron and Esad Ribic's Thor: God of Thunder, and was essentially a serial killer of gods, who wanted revenge on all of divinity for what he saw as their abandonment of him when he himself was mortal. The Odinson explains that when The Unseen said this to him, he knew in his heart that it was true, and that gods are vain and terrible beings who don't deserve the love of mortals, and that no god is worthy.

Beta Ray Bill pretty much dismisses that entirely, reminding Thor that even if no god is worthy, he himself has proven to be no ordinary god, as he fights for all mortals because he knows it's the right thing to do.

It may not be as satisfying an answer to the mystery as many fans may have wanted, but it stays in line with Jason Aaron's run on the Thor books, which has cast the Asgardian gods as more explicitly divine than many previous runs. Recent issues of sister title The Mighty Thor have focused on the nature of Mjolnir as its own sentient being, what it means to be a god who is worshipped, and the different ways a god can go about inspiring worship.

The idea that Mjolnir's worthiness is based on the self esteem of its bearer doesn't really add up, but it does kinda make sense that if Thor Odinson felt he wasn't worthy, then psychosomatically he wouldn't be able to pick up the hammer. The problem would be Odinson's, not Mjolnir's.

The truth about Odinson's unworthiness isn't the only big event to come out of this issue, as a mystery figure travelling as part of Thanos' Black Order was revealed to be Hela herself, who kissed the Mad Titan, sparking a romance that makes so much sense that it's surprising no-one's done before.

The issue ends on a huge cliffhanger, as Odinson refuses to wield the Ultimate Thor's hammer, but in an epilogue, someone does appear to claim it, setting up the mystery of an All-New Ultimate Thor in the coming months.

My money's on Donald Blake, for the record.