A Ragnarok for the Soul.

Picasso created about 147,800 works of art, including pioneering new styles of art such as cubism and surrealism. He said of his artistic process, “Every act of creation is first of all an act of destruction.”

It’s not just Picasso: the silence in the auditorium is broken, the marble block is chipped, hammered and chiselled, the film set is built out of the remains of last week’s, and the blank page gets covered in words (hopefully!).

In 2017 Thor: Ragnarok was billed as a new beginning for Thor within the MCU. His previous solo outings, the self-titled Thor and Thor: The Dark World were comparatively serious, whereas Ragnarok is so much of a comedy that it’s almost a reboot of the franchise.

Lots of the characters from previous films are now too dead for the actors to return in sequels, and their removal makes room for new characters with a more comedic edge, like Valkyrie and Korg, who both have roles in the following Avengers films. Loki, one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s (MCU’s) best villains, is given a redemption arc and becomes one of the good guys.

The event of Ragnarok itself is even more of a reboot; the complete destruction of Asgard, as not just the city but the whole planet including its foundations is reduced to less than rubble.

The film opens with Thor fighting to prevent Ragnarok.

Taking on the giant sized Surtur, plus an army, plus a dragon only using Mjolnir, his mighty and reliable hammer which gives him the power to control lightning.

The fight is literally smashing.

Thor will fight bad guys of any size, number or species to save his planet from destruction “because that’s what heroes do.”

He has no idea that by the end of the movie he’ll be the one making Ragnarok happen.

That this destruction will be the right course of action.

The only way they’ll have a chance of a new beginning.

Despite the destruction of his home, the loss of his father, friends and, at some points, his freedom, Thor ends the movie hopeful and optimistic. Telling Loki, “I feel like everything's gonna work out fine.”

Thor can see the possibilities in the future, the chance they have to create something new and better.

It seems that he agrees with Picasso that for something new to start, something old has to be destroyed.

There’s always an opportunity for a new beginning. In December and January everybody’s saying, ‘New Year, New Me’, then as spring follows winter we get into spring cleaning, getting summer ready and getting organised (with all the back to school stationery).

Most of these opportunities for a new start come after some kind of a destruction: we clean after decluttering, the trees blossom after a winter without any growth, we reorganise because none of our pens work anymore, and the seed dies in the ground before a new plant can grow.

For lasting change, for a new beginning that goes beyond just the beginning, we often need a Ragnarok; something big, even destructive, to clear out what has gone before.

Perhaps describing it as a Ragnarok is too big a word to use to describe a personal change. After all, it doesn’t usually involve the literal end of the world!

But it can feel world shattering to have to begin again, or even to put yourself in the position to begin again. The known and familiar feel safe and, when compared with the unknowns of change, the possibility of destroying something that you know is less than comfortable.

A Ragnarok for the soul is no-one’s idea of fun.

What would be worth it?

What could possibly be worth the pain and the trouble?

Thor believes Ragnarok to be worth it because destroying Asgard will take the power away from Hela, Goddess of Death. Ragnarok saves Thor’s life, and the life of all the Asgardians.

Death is no longer a threat to them, and they have a chance at a new beginning.

But what if the cost was less than that of the world and the prize was still freedom from death?

What if it was our hearts that needed a reboot, if the selfishness, self-righteousness, and shame could be destroyed and we could start again without them?

Wouldn’t that be worth it, to live without the threat of death?

~ By Hannah Lewis