āThor is just hurting Loki the way he was hurt!ā
When Loki hurt Thor in The Avengers, Loki was in a serious position of disadvantage. Out of his mind, out of control, visibly terrified and irrational. He was in no state of mind to be reasoned with, let alone take care with someone elseās feelings - he couldnāt even manage his own at the time. If you reach out to a loved one in that state, and are surprised when they lash out, then I have to ask: What were you expecting? The best of us will bite when weāre fucked up enough, and Loki was NOT at his best.
When Thor hurt Loki, he was in a position of advantage so drastically different itās not even funny. Not only is he the older brother and authority figure, a huge advantage right there, heās also soon-to-be king while Loki is a prisoner for life contained in a cell from which he cannot escape. Both are emotionally compromised, but guess who is in a better state to deal with it, having had a year NOT stewing in virtually complete solitude with no hope of release after a severe psychotic break and (probable, damn near definite) prolonged mental torture? And when his brotherās defenses are down, when he has a chance at last to reach out and Loki might just listenā¦ he vomits all over it and throws it in Lokiās face.
That sickly horrible smile, because heās been proved right. All the empty words about love and family were just that.
And this will invariably be slanted as āLoki had a chance, Thor is being reasonable, itās Lokiās fault he canāt embrace his inner goodness and accept the love of family.ā A love that, even here, even now, at the best possible opportunity, is blatantly NOT being offered.
It is disgusting, when those with the advantage choose to abuse it and then blame the injured party for ārejecting me first.ā Iāve seen it happen before. Iāve HAD it happen. My disgust with Thor is not playing favorites, it is recognizing that their situations and positions are entirely fucking different.
(The one time it could be argued Loki had the advantage was with the Destroyer, when Thor was mortal. Even then it was an illusory advantage: Lokiās new āsubjectsā were perfectly willing to undermine his rule and in fact were actively doing so when he sent the weapon to bring them to heel; Thor, mortal or not, was the one surrounded by allies, and Loki didnāt even have Heimdall at his back. And Loki was severely emotionally compromised and slipping from sanity already. Even if this had been the incident which made Thor give up on him - and it wasnāt, that was MUCH later - it still would not be equivalent.)
So yeah, their positions when they cut at each other are nowhere near equal. Thor has a chance to be the bigger man, to show mercy and provide an example for his little brother. He blows it, and at the same time shucks all responsibility by bizarrely stating that this is NOT his brother. Iām going to have a very hard time forgiving that, especially if (as I fear) it wonāt be called out in the narrative at all.
