Odin returned to his old habits and ignored Loki once Thor returned home with him. His adopted son died in the Stronghold of Asgard, assassinated as Thanos feared Loki would reveal Thanos' weaknesses. Then Thanos, encouraged by the success of the assassination and the knowledge gained from the interrogation of Loki, attacked Asgard and the nine realms.
The war does not go well for Odin, and he tries to reclaim that which he once rejected and undo his mistakes.
Odin stood before the Gates of Helheim with his eyes closed and his head down. Laufey was beside him.
Out of the fog sounded footsteps and laughter. Odin looked up.
Grey figures came out of the fog, dark and indistinct at first, but then their figures cleared. Two winged, fanged creatures walked towards him, each held the hand of small boy. The child laughed.
Odin wondered at it, that a child laughed in such dreadful surroundings. Surely all those damned to Helheim groaned under the punishment justly given for their sins.
The creatures swung the child aloft by his arms, then down, and then aloft again. The child laughed once more.
The child's face became clear, and Odin recognized his youngest son. They looked at each other. He opened his mouth but before he said a word, Loki screamed.
His youngest son turned to his caretakers. One caught him up in its monstrous arms, stroked its charge's back and murmured soft words. Loki's screams turned into sobbed cries.
Odin shifted from foot to foot, and began again to speak. The second caretaker suddenly loomed over him, wings outstretched. The stench gagged Odin. "No," it rumbled. "The boy refused you. You frightened him."
"He was the only one who adventured into the strongholds of Thanos and lived. We need his insight and his knowledge to defeat that monster." Odin strained with the effort needed to make urgent with these of the past. Is did not exist with the Was. "Loki! All of the Nine are in peril!"
"His cooperation cannot be compelled," rumbled the caretaker. Loki's cries faded, as if carried back into Helheim.
"Why a child? Why has he stayed?" Laufey quietly asked. "Why did he not suffer?"
"He suffered in life." The caretaker looked at Odin, then at Laufey. Neither father reacted. The caretaker blinked once then turned away.
"Why not Valhalla if he was judged innocent?" asked Odin.
The caretaker looked back and laughed, and vanished into the fog. The Gates clanged shut. Odin touched them, then left.