Thor, Loki, and the Warriors Three are caught in a sudden
thunderstorm; the God of Thunder decides there is little glory in merely
stopping the storm so he chops down a mighty tree and carves a shelter out of
the middle of the trunk where they can wait for the storm to end. It doesn’t
stop Loki’s mockery so Thor ends the storm while scaring Loki with his wrath. Suddenly,
a huge dark warrior appears, demanding to know why Odin’s whelps have trespassed
on his land and challenging any of them to do battle. Loki goads Thor into
action and the Thunder God knocks the Dark One’s head clean off; the Dark Man
merely puts his head back on and reminds Thor that he must lay himself open to
a return blow—but not here. The Dark One tells them to ride to the north to
learn their fates. Thor rashly rides north, demanding that Loki accompany him,
leaving the others behind….
After three days, they come to the northern edge of Asgard
where they find a golden bridge spanning a chasm, guarded by a beautiful woman,
wife of the Dark Man. She tries to seduce Thor into remaining with her but he
cites his promise to meet the Dark Man. Loki panics and rides away while Thor
continues over the golden bridge which shatters like glass as he passes over
and barely manages to reach the other side. The woman is now on this side of
the chasm and vanishes, telling him to meet his fate. The Dark Man rides by but
he does not stop for Thor. Thor then comes to a massive edifice with a golden door;
entering he finds several statues of heroes frozen in positions of horror. The
Dark Man strikes Thor down with a blow of his axe, but he is not dead. The wife
tries to turn him to stone with a kiss, but Thor remains whole. He stands and
knocks the Dark Man across the room with his return blow. The Dark Man states
how he once saw his own image in Odin’s eyes and now beats down Thor who fights
from fear—fear of shame and fear of defeat and now he is in the Dark Man’s
power. Yet Thor fights back, destroying the entire building around their heads.
The Dark Man rises unharmed from the rubble yet Thor is nearly broken; he
refuses to fall with no one to witness his end. As the Dark Man goes for the
killing blow, Thor wishes that his father might know his son died not a coward
but a true son of Odin. The Dark Man is surprised that Thor’s last words are,
not of pride or fear, but of love; at his weakest, Thor’s nobility shines
through, breaking his enemy’s hold over him. All is restored and Thor sent
home. He arrives just as Loki is bringing word to Odin of Thor’s death. Thor
steps forward and Odin tells him he has defeated Fear and Desire but warns him not
to be overconfident. The Warriors Three rejoice with Thor while Loki sulks….