WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for War of the Realms #6, by Jason Aaron, Russell Dauterman, Matthew Wilson and Joe Sabino, in stores now.
Thor: God of Thunder #1 by Jason Aaron and Esad Ribic introduced in 2013 King Thor, a much older version of the God of Thunder who hailed from the far, far future. At the end of time, this Thor, now All-Father and King of Asgard, had seen plenty of battles -- and he had the scars to prove it. Most notably, he had lost his left arm (which was replaced by the arm of the Destroyer armor) and his left eye.
At the time, it seemed like this was a future that the present day Thor would never truly reach... right up until Malekith the Accursed cut off his left arm in 2014's Thor #1 by Aaron and Russell Dauterman. At that moment, readers realized that King Thor was a future the God of Thunder was heading towards -- and this meant that, eventually, he'd have to lose his eye as well. But how would it happen?
In War of the Realms #6, the final issue in the sprawling Asgardian event, the answer has finally come.
A Great Sacrifice
In War of the Realms #5, a desperate Thor sought answers about how he could possibly defeat the Dark Elf Malekith. In order to do so, he nailed himself to the World Tree that has recently taken root inside the sun. Warned by Daredevil that he would need to make a costly offering, Thor hanged upside down on the Tree, burning in the sun's flames. His armor melted down to nothing has he kept on screaming, waiting for clairvoyance.
War of the Realms #6 picks up right where the last issue left off. Thor is still nailed to the World Tree, covered in flames. And this is when we discover that the fire has taken his left eye. The narration says he offered it freely in exchange for knowledge and, through his own speech, Thor even offers his second. However, the last offering required isn't his second eye, but rather the last piece of Mjolnir hanging around his neck.
Fans surely had their own theories about how Thor would lose his eye. Of course, it was theorized that the loss could take place in battle, much like in the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Thor: Ragnarok, where Chris Hemsworth's thunder god lost an eye while fighting his sister, Hela. However, War of the Realms #6 reveals that the loss doesn't take place in battle. Instead, it is a chosen sacrifice, part of the price Thor pays to find out how to defeat Malekith.
Thus, Thor has now lost his left eye. Without it or his left arm, he is now closer than ever before to becoming his battle-weary future self. In fact, War of the Realms #6 even ends with Odin passing the mantle of All-Father to his son. Therefore, for all intents and purposes, the God of Thunder has now, essentially, become King Thor.