Question: Did Loki die instantly?
He might not have died instantly, but it was inevitable.
It is not unknown that having your neck snapped does not necessary kill you. With immediate medical attention and surgery, there is a chance to survive.
What if Loki was still alive for a short time duration, paralysed, before succumbing to his injury? His death was not instant but inevitable, since there are no healers around to save him. The way Thanos handled his body (parading it in front of Thor before throwing it onto the ground) might also further traumatise it.
“When you break the neck with enough force to break the spinal cord (the central system that goes from the head to the rest of the body through the neck), the controlling computer is cut off from the body systems; heart, lungs, muscles, organs, etc. Without the brain to control these systems, they shut off; the lungs stop taking in air, the heart stops beating, and all the muscles go limp.
If the victim is fortunate, the act that broke the neck knocked him or her unconscious, so their brain will short out and die in short order. If the victim is particularly unfortunate, they will retain consciousness as their heart stops beating and their lungs stop breathing; the victim will have seconds… maybe as many as two minutes of consciousness as they start to suffocate and panic.”
Hearing is reportedly the last sense to fail when dying.
Loki might be faintly conscious of his surrounding, when he laid there as Thanos worked his power stone and departed with the Black Order.
He might not be able to see anything, but might faintly hear Thor’s muffled screams through the gag.
If he was lucky, he might even hear Thor whispering “No, Loki” and his sobs.
He would know that Thor had survived due to his sacrifice, he had successfully distracted the Titan and brought the wrath upon himself.
He would know that Thor’s last words to him were never meant to be “You really are the worst, brother”.
Most importantly, he would die knowing he was very much loved.
Instead of trying to get away (as futile as it sounds), Thor stayed behind not simply because he had lost all hope of living.
He stayed because he was aware that Loki might still be conscious, and would be spending the final moments of his life alone and left to die if he did not stay by his side.
This is just the type of pat talk I need when I am still grieving after the ACE Con today. And I need to bless Tom for saying that Loki and Thor were meant to be together since birth. That’s just beautiful.
Thor 4 would be about Thor picking himself up again after losing his other half, he will be fine cos he has got sparkles.
There was a horror movie called “The Grudge”, in which the female protagonist had her neck snapped by her husband when he suspected her of having an affair. She did not die instantly but was left paralysed and dying on the ground as she heard her son drowned by her husband. Her extreme anger and sadness turned her into a vengeful ghost that haunted the house. That kinda made me rethink about the impact of neck snapping on the human body.