Eons ago, Bor, the father of Odin, clashes with the Dark Elf Malekith,
who seeks to destroy the universe using a weapon known as the Aether.
After conquering Malekith's forces, including enhanced warriors called
the Kursed, on their home world of Svartalfheim, Bor safeguards the
Aether within a stone column. Unbeknownst to him, Malekith, his
lieutenant Algrim, and a handful of Dark Elves escape into suspended
animation.
In present-day Asgard, Loki stands imprisoned for his
war crimes on Earth. Meanwhile, Thor, alongside warriors Fandral,
Volstagg and Sif repel marauders on Vanaheim, home of their comrade
Hogun; it is the final battle in a war to pacify the Nine Realms
following the reconstruction of Bifröst, the "Rainbow Bridge" between
realms, which had been destroyed two years earlier. In London,
astrophysicist Dr. Jane Foster's intern, Darcy Lewis, now with her own
intern, Ian, takes Jane to an abandoned factory where objects have begun
to disobey the laws of physics and disappear into thin air. Separating
from the group, Jane is teleported to another world, where she is
infected by the Aether.
The Asgardians learn that the
Convergence, a rare alignment of the Nine Realms, is imminent; as the
event approaches, portals linking the worlds appear at random. Heimdall
alerts Thor of Jane's recent disappearance, leading Thor to search for
her. When she inadvertently releases an unearthly force, he takes her to
Asgard. There, Asgardian healers say they do not know how to treat her.
Odin, recognizing the Aether, warns Jane's infection will kill her
given enough time, and that the Aether's return heralds a catastrophic
prophecy.
Malekith, awakened by the Aether's release, turns
Algrim into a Kursed and attacks Asgard. During the battle, Malekith and
Algrim search for Jane, knowing she contains the Aether. When they fail
to capture her, they escape, killing Thor's mother, Frigga. Despite
Odin's orders not to leave Asgard, Thor reluctantly teams up with Loki,
who knows of a secret portal to Malekith's world, where they will use
Jane to lure and confront Malekith, away from Asgard. In return, Thor
promises Loki that he can have his revenge on Malekith for killing their
mother. With Volstagg and Sif stalling Asgardian soldiers and Fandral
assisting their escape, Thor and Loki commandeer a Dark Elf spaceship
and escape to Svartalfheim with Jane.
On Svartalfheim, Loki
tricks Malekith into drawing the Aether out of Jane. However, Thor's
attempt to destroy the substance fails, and the Aether-empowered
Malekith leaves with his ship as Loki appears to be fatally wounded
while protecting Thor from Algrim. Thor, cradling Loki in his arms,
promises to tell their father of his sacrifice. Following Loki's
apparent death, Thor and Jane discover another portal in a nearby cave
and reunite with Jane's mentor Dr. Erik Selvig, Darcy and Ian in London.
There, they learn that Malekith plans to unleash the Aether to destroy
the universe, and that he will do this in Greenwich, the center of the
Convergence. Thor battles Malekith, but a portal separates them, leaving
Malekith unopposed. Thor comes back in time to help his mortal comrades
use their scientific equipment to transport Malekith to Svartalfheim,
where he is killed before he can destroy the universe.
Thor
returns to Asgard, where he declines Odin's offer to take the throne and
tells Odin of Loki's sacrifice. As he leaves, Odin's form transforms to
that of a grinning Loki.
In a mid-credits scene, Volstagg and
Sif visit the Collector and entrust the Aether to his care, commenting
that, with the Tesseract already in Asgard, having two Infinity Stones
so close together would be dangerous. As they leave, the Collector
remarks, "One down, five to go." In a post-credits scene, Jane and Thor
reunite on Earth, while somewhere in London a frost monster from
Jotunheim, accidentally transported to Earth during the final battle,
continues to run amok.
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