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Laurits Seier Jutul in Ragnarök S03

Ragnarok without context

Re: Laurits Character Development

(Ragnarok Spoilers)

I feel like Laurits was actually the reasonable one throughout all of season three, and it was ultimately his reasoning that led to the resolution.

Interesting considering Loki is blamed for starting Ragnarok and as such people have treated Laurits like a traitor or a pawn the entire time.

No one wants to take accountability for themselves so they make Laurits & Loki scapegoats. He put his foot down, though, and changed everything.

Laurits matured quite a lot and held onto his beliefs even when everyone else mistreated him. I was kind of worried they'd make him go full villain but...

It was Magne's pride and hubris that got the better of him, in addition to Fjor's fear of losing power. All the others wanted to profit off of godliness.

Laurits just wanted to be himself and live peacefully. He's always played both sides in order to just be able to exist freely and enjoy life.

That's very Loki of him. Like, the mythos Loki. Not the villain Loki popularized in media. Maybe that's why Magne struggled to understand him.

Magne judged him on this perception of who Loki was supposed to be and for a long time he didn't accept him for being both god and giant.

Everyone was trying to make Laurits "good" by making him choose a side, but as shown neither god nor giant are inherently good or evil.

Because both were capable of good and evil.

When Jens tells Laurits he's a good person and Laurits says he's never been told that before it really solidifies how awful people have treated him.

For something he can't control - his ancestry.

Anyway, I was ready to see Laurits sharply decline into villainy given the end of the second season but I was pleasantly surprised by his development.

manipulate mischief massive worm

RAGNAROK 2.06 “ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE”

Laurits with his baby

mirror scene redraw because that scene was awesome

Edit: I forgot to clarify. When I say "Ragnarok", I'm talking about the Norwegian Netflix Series. NOT Thor: Ragnarok (2017) from Marvel.

You really can't trust Marvel to handle anything re: Loki's identity or any traumas associated w/ it while Ragnarok does the opposite and gets minimal praise for it comparatively. It's such a shame. Like, I don't care how anyone personally feels about the character. Here are The Facts:

Marvel never adequately addressed that Loki was stolen from the Jotnar as a baby, and that he was adopted into a society that hated Jotnar - that Loki has a complex relationship with his identity because of this and that Odin played the part of a genocidal warmonger far before Loki ever did.

Ragnarok explicitly identified 'Loki's' parentage as a complicated part of his identity, and they continued with this throughout the show. His inability to fit neatly into the 'god' or 'jotnar' categories results him being both used and discarded by both. "Odin" is not clearly a benevolent god who is always justified.

Marvel Loki's identity as a Jotun is rarely brought up ever again. Whereas it's a constant point of conflict for 'Loki' in Ragnarok, and actually he doesn't hate being a Jotun because it FINALLY explains why he feels different from everyone else AND 'Thor' tries to protect him despite his difference.

Marvel has "fluid" written under sex/gender for Loki, and gets monumental praise for it. They put in a throw away line about hAs AnYonE EvER sEen A FeMAle LokI soUnds TerrIFying or whatever which completely ignores the fact that Loki's gender is fluid, defeating the purpose of that "fluid" line.

Also, they make their Loki fall in love with a female variant of himself rather than commit to showing either in queer relationships, after another throw away comment about them both being bisexual. Like, there's a running theme of telling and not showing in Marvel and I hate it.

Ragnarok's 'Loki' dresses however they want, and he's in "women's clothes" and wearing makeup by like the second episode. He internalizes that his feminine appearance and dress makes him a freak, but he does it anyway AND his family supports him! They encourage him to be himself!

Also! He explicitly flirts with men. He explicitly says he doesn't care about gender and sexuality, not that they aren't important to him but they're not a barrier to him. He shows a wide range of complicated feelings towards his identity that are actually explored and taken seriously.

Marvel will NEVER do that in their MCU.

Magne´s little smile when he sees his brother showin off and doing a little dance after they were both reprimanded by Turid for breaking curfew after prom gives me life

Ragnarok + Laurits Seier/Loki

RAGNAROK 2.06 “ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE”

Laurits has very clear attachment issues that I wish people would take into account when judging his actions. Not just why he flip flops between helpful and not-helpful behaviors, but why he struggles to connect with his peers in general. It seems a bit paradoxical - he gets attached easily to anyone who gives him the tiniest hint of acceptance / inclusion (e.g. Fjor & friends, Jens, Vidar...) but he is incapable of maintaining those relationships. He internalizes this, blaming himself. Yet, many of the people around him simply do not understand what it is like to be him. People in Edda seem generally accepting of gay, lesbian, and transgender people. At the same time, Laurits does not fit neatly into any one identity. He can make friends easily by being bold in his gender presentation and his words/actions, which people like. They just don’t care to know him beyond the performance he gives to gain the attention and acceptance and affection he seeks, and he doesn’t really know why that is so he calls himself a freak. He’s not a person. He’s a roadside attraction. He can certainly entertain people but he can’t ever truly fit in. This makes him feel unwanted and unlovable.

To compound all of this, Laurits has to deal with a familial identity crisis. Magne’s father, who Laurits admired and feared he couldn’t live up to, isn’t Laurits father. Vidar is a terrible person, but at this point Laurits is willing to do anything to gain a sense of belonging. Perhaps on a subconscious level, he knows Vidar is only getting closer with him to get to Magne. He was so happy to spend the day with Vidar, but his smile fell as soon as Vidar started asking questions about Magne. He didn’t want this. He just wanted a father who could be there for him, relate to him, teach him to be stronger, and accept him as their son. Now, he’s forced to split his loyalty between his father and his brother who hate each other. Helping either one of them calls into question his loyalties. No matter what he comes out a traitor. He’s not fully allowed to be either Vidar’s son or Magne’s brother. His desperation leads to an unhealthy attachment to Vidar, who is literally just using him. The rest of the Jutuls hate him and call him a bastard and a “thing” - not a person, a thing. Meanwhile, Magne becomes easily upset with him and doesn’t trust him even when Laurits does try to maintain their relationship.

Odin/Wotan, as usual, does not help matters. Laurits is trying to precariously balance his relationship with Vidar with helping out Magne. To just walk into the room with Magne offering help only to be told by Odin/Wotan that it’s in his nature to be a traitor was horrible (as if alienating and hurting Loki and his children didn’t make Ragnarok a self fulfilling prophecy...) He’s really just a kid who is trying to find his place. His awakening as Loki doesn’t make him good or evil. His skill of deception isn’t more or less hurtful or helpful than Thor’s direct and violent approach to problem solving. Being forced out, Laurits took Odin’s blood knowing it would be the only way to preserve his life. By being both god and Jotun, he’s no longer forced to be loyal to one side or another. He can pick whatever side helps him survive. That may seem self-centered of him, but that’s just what happens to people who don’t feel loved or cared for at all. They fight for themselves because no one else fights for them. Now, it’s easy enough to say - hey wait - Magne fights for him! ...but that’s... complicated. I have no doubt Magne loves his brother, but winning his battle hinges on the destruction of the Jotun... and Laurits is Jotun.

Maybe there is a way around that, but for Laurits it doesn’t look good. I’ve said this before, but it’s hard for Laurits to reconcile Magne telling him he’s his most important person and he loves him with Magne killing Vidar and forging a hammer that could kill more Jotun. I am not trying to condemn Magne, because I believe he did everything for the right reasons and he’s really trying to protect Laurits. It’s just that Laurits still doesn’t know where he stands, and by the end of the second season he’s decided to just stand for himself. You can really see how confused and frustrated he is by all of this after he is beaten and Magne rescues him again. Magne holds him. Apologizes to him. Affirms he cares for Laurits in his actions. It’s the closest Laurits gets to anyone showing him genuine kindness in a long time, and it’s from the one person who could utterly destroy him. Not only that, but Laurits now has his own weapon (the Midgard Serpent) which he may have to use against Magne either because the Jutuls force his hand or Magne does. The tears that roll down his face while in Magne’s arms seem at odds with the very next scene of him releasing Jormungandr but it isn’t.

It encapsulates Laurits’ inability to form any stable attachment to anyone and his belief that the only way he can survive this ‘war’ is to look out for himself and his own interests.

LAURITS SEIER’S LAST APPEARANCE in RAGNAROK 2.06

season 1 | season 2

I'd like to think Laurits's super-gaydar comes from his being Loki, God of queerness. 💚