In Asgardia, Thor demands the Doom Ring…. In Limbo, Balder battles a horde of World Eaters until summoned back to life by Bill Junior and the Lady Kelda, with news that Thor has been put on the Doom Ring. Odin, dishonored and profaned by Thor’s treachery in bringing him back from exile through deceit, demands that he pay the price; Freyja points out that Odin has abdicated the authority to punish him, so Thor shall be tried. The God of Thunder is tied to the huge stone Doom Ring—at his own request—and is brought before the assembled gods. Odin calls him a reckless trouble-maker; Freyja insists he’s a hero—and that Odin is too biased to serve as judge. Odin then calls forth Amora, the Enchantress, to serve as prosecutor in his stead, while Hreidmar the Dwarf volunteers as defense attorney. Amora’s chief accusation is that all the horrors that have beset Asgard and nearby Broxton have been the fault of Thor; the defense brought by the Dwarf is that Thor was the hero who rescued everyone. Amora pounces upon that line of reasoning: Thor attracts cosmic dangers and cares nothing for the collateral damage that he causes. When Sif steps forward to defend her love, Amora shuts her up by saying she has merely been taught by Thor to react to opposition with violence. The crowning evidence against Thor is that he resurrected Loki, the God of Evil, who someday will murder B-- and at this moment Balder, who was about to be named, steps forward. Balder calls Thor Asgard’s warrior spirit made flesh, and offers him his allegiance—an action which is echoed by all the warriors present. Thor responds by pledging his faithfulness to them—and he shatters the Doom Ring, announcing the end of the cycle. The Enchantress takes her leave.
Later, Thor confronts Odin, asking him the purpose of that farce of a trial, whether it was to create a sense of unity or to prepare them for some new threat. Odin does not say, and vanishes. Freyja does have a revelation, though: she is pregnant and will bear the long-awaited joining of the Aesir and the Vanir. "The cycle truly is broken."