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Clip
The clip starts at 58 minutes and 32 seconds and lasts until 1 hour 3 minutes and 11 seconds (although if you want to see the whole of their escape, watch until 1 hour, 8 minutes and 11 seconds).
Thor is back on his first post-Avengers offering in the latest Marvel mega film. Here he has a lot of reconnecting to do, especially in the form of his brother Loki, father Odin and on-off love interest Jane. If all of that sounds like a family drama, don’t fret as he also needs to battle the dark elf Malekith who is intent on destroying the entire universe.
A long time ago Odin (Thor’s bearded father) had a massive fight with the dark elf Malekith to ensure that the ‘aether’ was captured and stopped from destroying the universe. Skip forward a few millennia and we have Loki standing trial in Asgard for his crimes in Avengers Assemble. At the same time Dr Jane (Thor’s love interest stuck on earth) is meddling while in London and ends up in an alternative universe where she is infected with the aether. Before you can say ‘Mjölnir’, Malekith is back, Jane is in Asgard, Stellan Skarsgård is running around in the nude, and Thor and Loki have formed an uneasy alliance to save the universe. Simple really…
The clip that we are looking at in this session focuses on the most interesting theme in The Dark World: the tense relationship between brothers Thor and Loki, and whether or not their relationship can be repaired. As Loki has betrayed Thor so many times before, can Thor trust his brother when he needs him the most? This leads to a dramatic escape from Asgard where Thor puts everything on the line to give his brother one last chance.
After showing the clip, break into small discussion groups (you may wish to have a designated discussion leader in each group) and explore the following questions:
• Is Thor foolish for giving his brother so many second chances?
• Have you ever been betrayed by someone you loved or trusted - how did you feel?
• Are we too open in today’s world? Should we be less trusting with other people?
• Are there some actions that we should never forgive?
After discussing the first set of questions, read through Romans 17:12-21 together (you may wish to give some context to this passage) and return to your groups to discuss this final set of questions:
• What does this verse appear to be saying about betrayal and forgiveness?
• Can forgiveness be a selfish act?
• Is this verse practical - or is it just wishful thinking?
• If we were to apply this verse to our lives, what might the outcome be?
