King Thor #3 (2019)

Engulfed by the All-Black symbiote, All-Father Thor channels the full force of his divine power in an attempt to break free. Fighting his way to the surface, he calls out for Loki, only for Gorr to irritably stomp on his head in an attempt to push him back under. As thunder rumbles in the distance, Gorr sneers that King Thor doesn't have enough power left to oppose him and All-Black, but Thor retorts that the thunder isn't his. The Goddesses of Thunder arrive and blast Gorr with divine lightning, Frigg mockingly asking if Gorr remembers them. Atli sends her pet starshark, Death Mouth, to find Thor, telling Gorr they brought more than just a storm to oppose him. As Gorr snarls that that isn't possible, Frigg retorts that it is. Earlier, on Indigarr, Ellisiv reads from the Saga of the God Butcher and notes that eons ago the planet was a desert wasteland whose tyrannical gods had been slain by Gorr; Frigg remarking that the entire planet now seems to be a withered garden. Ellisiv remarks that Indigarr's fortunes changed when a young girl prayed to Thor, who was called to the world and brought rain. Hacking away at the overgrown brambles with Jarnbjorn, Atli uncovers a statue in the girl's honor, Ellisiv saying that after Gorr was vanquished Thor returned to the past along with gods who saved the planet. Frigg retorts that that story is ancient history, lamenting that they are all that's left of the gods and that they are wasting their time. As Frigg snaps that the Age of the Gods is over, Ellisiv retorts that Thor didn't let it end and kneels in the dirt. Frigg incredulously asks what she's doing, and Ellisiv retorts that she's praying. As Frigg snaps that gods don't pray, Atli angrily breaks up the argument by slamming Jarnbjorn into the ground and joins her sister in prayer. Frigg reluctantly joins them and the three sisters pray to Thor, themselves, and any deities that are left, conjuring a storm that restores the garden to life. A voice speaks Thor's name and a towering green-skinned god with thorny spines rises out of the ground, remarking that he remembers Thor from long ago. Ellisiv asks who the strange god is, and he replies that he is the Rose Father of Indigarr. In the present, the Rose Father introduces himself and the other replacement Sky Lords of Indigarr - the Meat Mother, Our Lady of Comets, the Choir, and the Prince of Soot - to Gorr, declaring them Gorr's true legacy. Incredulous and livid, Gorr asks how they dare call themselves his legacy; the Prince of Soot blasting him with a torrent of ashes and retorting that after Gorr's deicidal crusade he and the others were left without worlds of their own until Thor brought them into the past and Indigarr; the Meat Mother smashing Gorr with a fleshy tendril and Our Lady of Comets shooting Gorr with a meteor arrow as they concur. Grabbing Gorr in a headlock with his thorny arms, the Rose Father saying that he and the others made Indigarr into a paradise all thanks to Thor, the Choir singing praises to Gorr the Redeemer, the Savior of Gods. Screaming in rage, Gorr frees himself using All-Black and furiously swears to finish what he started, but Frigg and Ellisiv blast him with lightning and say that he couldn't kill them even with the Godbomb. As Ellisiv snaps that Gorr's all out of bombs, Atli says that they have one - herself. As her sisters restrain Gorr with lightning, Atli decapitates him with Jarnbjorn, picking up his severed head and sneering that this time she'll make sure he stays dead by immolating his corpse in a star, then throw that star into another star. Frigg interrupts her tirade by saying they need to find Thor and that All-Black looks bigger than ever, Ellisiv interrupting by asking where the stars have gone. Gorr's severed head replies that he ate them, revealing that his resurrected body was a construct formed by All-Black, saying that he no longer has any need of flesh and that his new body has been busy feeding on the ruins of the universe and is now all around them. As Gorr declares the beginning of the Age of All-Black, Thor bursts from the primordial symbiote astride Death Mouth, brandishing the Odinsword and Mjolnir. Thor tells his granddaughters to summon as much lightning and thunder as they can, and to find Loki before it's too late. Toothgnasher fishes Loki out of All-Black, the God of Lies joking that Thor smells more like a goat than usual. Frigg snaps that this means they don't have to save him themselves, Loki greeting his nieces and asking if they're not still mad about him siccing the "Necro-Ravens" on them. Frigg snaps at him to shut up and that the only reason he's still alive is that Thor wants him as such - Atli quipping that there's hardly anything left for her to chop up. Ellisiv slams the Saga of the God Butcher down on Loki's chest, telling him that the entire universe has been infected and that, one way or the other, this is the end. As she tells him they need to finish their own sagas, Loki opens the book and quips that he always preferred an ending with lots of tears and bloodshed. Thor is shocked to see the Sky Lords of Indigarr are still alive, the Rose Father replying that Thor's not the only god to have survived the countless eons, the Prince of Soot adding that they've been sleeping and Meat Mother that they've been dreaming of revenge against Gorr. Thor thanks them for saving him, recalling the little girl who'd prayed for rain eons ago - telling them it's time for them to earn the right to call themselves gods or die trying. On Midgard, a man shivers and wonders why it's so cold and dark. As he asks what happened to the Sun, another man tells him to just keep praying to Thor and they'll be saved. Astride Death Mouth, Thor blasts All-Black with lightning; the ancient symbiote retaliating with maelstroms of living darkness, Berserker-Moons that attempt to devour the gods, and black-flamed meteors. As Thor despairs that he now has to destroy the very universe he fought to save, All-Black manifests Gorr's face on the surface of a blackened planet and welcomes him to the "Necroverse."