History Headscratchers / MagnusChaseandtheGodsofAsgard

** Ragnarok doesn’t really destroy the world. The world’ll still be there once Ragnarok is over. If Apophis ends the world, Ragnarok either won’t matter or immediately trigger (Fimbulvinter sounds a lot like something that would happen if the sun got turned off, followed by wars for resources, and if Apophis’s WierdnessCensor manifests as an Earthquake, those vibrations reverberating across Yggdrasil would cause Jormungandr and Fenrir to break free) because the world would cease to exist in its entirety.

* So Ragnarok is [[YouCantFightFate inevitable]], meaning that no matter what anyone does it will happen. Does this mean the world can't end any other way? Like, say, if the [[Literature/TheKaneChronicles Kane children]] weren't around to stop Apophis from eating Ra and ending the world, would he still be stopped because the world can't end any other way but Ragnarok?

*** It seems like the real estate is both cultural and metaphysical. So the Greek pantheon has tied it's power to various aspects of Western Civilization, and that lets them place a certain portion of the underworld under their power. Similarly, the Egyptian pantheon is invested in the culture of Egypt, which continues to have aspects in the modern day. And how, in a throwaway gag, [[NotSoDifferent we learn that certain monsters embodied blights on the modern world that undermining civilization]] [[TakeThat E.G fast food chains and similar institutions]] But the gods have existence and power beyond just their cultural ties: this is why they can take on different aspects, such as the Greek and Roman manifestations of the same god. [[AFormYouAreComfortableWith The power is manifested in a context appropriate to the culture they have bound themselves too.]] And, of course, there are beings like [[EldritchAbomination Apothis]]. So Maat, the order that maintains the universe in the midst of Chaos, is a power that both the Greek and Egyptian pantheons could see and interact with. But because the Egyptian culture has such a close connection to it, it has the best "tools" to interact with and manipulate it. Basically, the clearest vision we have of what's ''really'' going on is when Annabeth sees into the Duat using Egyptian magic or Percy sees the world through the eyes of Nekhbet.

**That, my friend, [[DontExplainTheJoke is the joke]]

*** Indeed Sigurd's slaying of Fafnir to be precise.

** Well, Loki is the Norse archetype of TheTrickster. Can't be a very good trickster if you can't get people to trust you. This also fits with the Norse myths-right up until he kills Balder, he's more-or-less welcome in Asgard. As [[Creator/NeilGaiman another book on Norse mythology]] put it, you were grateful to him even when you hated him the most.

* Well, Junior is really old. Maybe he made the rope way back in the 90s. PlusNorse stuff seems to have a thing for the 90s, like the sword Magnus got from Hotel Valhalla turning into a chain.

*** Indeed Sigurd's slaying of Fafnir to be precise.

** It's a mythological reference to a german myth I believe.

* When Magnus drops Mr. Alderman's dragon heart into the fire on accident, he licks the blood off of his fingers and somehow gains the ability to understand animals. Was this added for the sake of the {{Rule of Funny}}? It struck me as rather anti-climatic.

** It may be subconscious shapeshifting on her part.

** The guy has only been an orphan for around two years at the start of Magnus Chase and the God of Asgard. Given that it takes place just after Blood of Olympus. That puts his time of being an orphan at Battle of the Labyrinth. Besides Annabeth both live thousands of miles away.

** I always assumed she was physically transforming too, but that was just my belief.

* So Alex has made it clear that, being genderfluid, she has no control over what her mental gender is, but can she change her physical sex to accommodate said gender? I don't recall the text being clear on that.

** Remember that Annabeth tells him about the Greek and Roman myths being real later. The story is narrated in past tense, so he could mention Jason in the title, and what he meant was that he had never heard of him at that time. At least, that's how I saw it.

** Rick Riordan has always had a tendency to be a bit meta in his chapter titles don't worry about it.