Loki and the Stairs to the Left
Loki, I think, was working on the Asgardian side when he told Kurse to take the stairs to the left.
He knew that Kurse thought he was a threat to the Dark Elves; Kurse did not smash his cell like he smashed the cells of the other prisoners.
I think Loki tried to use reverse psychology on Kurse, reasoning, “This Dark Elf knows I am inimical to him. Therefore, if I counsel him to take the stairs to the left, he will take the ones to the right.” There must have been more than one way out of the dungeon; and wherever the stairs to the right went, it probably wasn’t where the stairs to the left did.
But Kurse, as we see later, decided that Loki was an enemy of Asgard because he was in the dungeon, and therefore heeded him.
Thor: “What help were you in your cell?”
I think he tried to be as much help as he could, and it went awry.
