Odin chastises Thor. Loki, Sif and the Warriors Three snicker.

"Have you forgotten what I taught you? Mere fighting does not make you a king. It simply makes you a warrior, and we have plenty of those already in the realm. Tell me, Thor, my son, are you one out of many?"

Thor sulks.

"Why can't Father just let me be?" he asks his brother. "Why can't I remain just a warrior?"

"Father is right, you know. We must learn much more than fighting, Brother. After all, we are the Princes of Asgard."

"Suit yourself. I would much rather be in a drunken brawl."

"Then the throne would suit you ill, Brother."

Thor grinned.

"What I wouldn't give to be free of kingly activities."

Odin relays his worries to Frigga.

"I see them training everyday, Odin. Just as you do.

Sif excels at swordplay. She is a very diligent student and a very good fighter. Quite a war goddess. Loki has his knives and staves and is very skillful in battle, too. Together they constitute the better warriors. Flandrall brandishes his blade like a peacock strutting around its mates. Hogun says little and fights even less. Volstagg prefers to fill his belly rather than make use of his strength. Even then they make better students than Thor. Thor mocks his masters, forgets his lessons and gallivants around with little care in the world."

"Perhaps it is because his brother and friends do well that he himself does so much worse. He needs to have a reason to believe he can be better than them all."

"But they are also children.

Tell me again why we must act in haste. Have we not put an end to the last great battle between the two worlds of Asgard and Jotunheim? Is there to be a tenth world flowering on the Ygdrassil? Or are there enemies amongst our very midst that we must be constantly wary?"

"The treaty between us and the Jotun offers a very delicate balance. They wait for a chance to break it and to invade Asgard. They are not to be trusted.

The world is changing. I can feel it. The conquered will not always remain so. And the last enemy we must face is, inevitably, death. Our sons will not always have us to protect them and to teach them.

Neither will Asgard as we know it last very long, Frigga. I can feel it in my bones. The end is near. The old must die to bring in the new. And Thor is as yet ill equipped to handle it.

Loki far surpasses Thor in all of the lessons. He understands ruling as Thor does not. It is, perhaps, ironic that my child by blood is the one least like me, while the child I took in is the one most like me," Odin says.

"Or perhaps it means that family ties have little to do with blood," Frigga says.

Odin takes her hand.

"I love both our sons, as much as you do, Frigga. But the force that courses through my veins is in Thor and Thor alone. He is the best chance of defense that Asgard has. If he refuses to wield it, then there is nothing that will stop an an immediate collapse of our realm in the face of danger."

"What do you propose, then?"

Odin sighs.

"What he needs is a tool. Something that will help him focus his energy."

"Odin, my husband, you can't mean that!"

"Frigga, I must."

"You think only as a worried father. Think, Odin. This will only be seen as a sign of favouritism towards Thor. It will not be fair to Loki. Thor must learn to earn his place, just like the others."

"I'm afraid by then it will already be too late for Thor. He's too rash, too reckless. We cannot let him tarry."

Frigga considers.

"If that is so, then we must pay equal mind to Loki as well. If Thor must have an advantage, so must Loki. And if Thor is to have his sister's hammer, then Loki must have his mother's magic."

"I trust your judgement. You are a wise woman, Frigga. I doubt I would have lasted long without you by my side."

"And you? It seems that I chose the best man in Asgard."

They embrace.