Thor: Ragnarok, a lesson in starting over

[This post contains spoilers for anyone who has not seen this movie—read at your own risk. You have been warned.]

While Thor: Ragnarok may stand out as the favourite installment to date in the Asgardian god's story because of it's bright visuals, strong comedic writing, and better character development, we might also consider the important lesson it has for us regarding starting over. The story places its main focus on the development of the title character as he finally comes to accept his role and responsibility, but what this narrative is really about is a people struggling to survive the secrets of their past.

Knowing that they are potentially facing their end, these people are fighting for a future, and one that is free of evil, death, and destruction. Their hope for a prosperous future, for a better life, for a new start, is something that I think we can all relate with.

Few of us can probably say that our misdeeds have ever caused the damage that Asgard experienced (at least, I certainly hope that none of you have done something bad enough that it brought about the end of the world), but I am sure that some of us have felt that our past wrongs might come back to bite us, or that our choices have the potential to ruin our lives and the lives of others if something is not done to make amends. None of us is perfect; we've all made mistakes at some point in our lives, and sometimes the consequences of our actions have devastating affects. But that is exactly why I think that this movie has a lot to teach us.

On a grand scale, Thor: Ragnarok demonstrates the negative effects that our bad choices and mistakes can have, but it also gives us insight into how we can get a fresh start and be free of all of that.

What can Ragnarok teach us about starting over?

Covering up the bad stuff doesn't make it go away

As a parent, and as a king, Odin makes a lot of mistakes. But when he comes to regret the things that he did, and the darkness that overcame his daughter in the process, he makes an even greater error by attempting to erase all evidence of his murky past. When he locked his daughter away, he wasn't just trying to protect his kingdom from the threat she posed; he was also attempting to erase her from existence. In order to avoid admitting to his wrongs, he shut his daughter up (literally and physically) and then did everything in his power to change the narrative. All record of his daughter was removed, to be replaced by images of his new, more ideal family.

Odin came to see his daughter as a reminder of every poor choice he made and everything he came to regret, and so, instead of trying to make amends and right the situation, he locked her away so that he would never have to think about any of it again.

But that only made the situation worse. Even though he removed all reminders of this dark period in his life, he never stopped feeling shame and regret for what happened to his daughter, or even for the damage they did together. He spent the rest of his life trying to do good—to raise better children who could rule in a way he never could—all because of what happened with his first-born.

And even though he found a solution for protecting his people from the evil he had created, he could never prevent the destruction that he knew she would cause. As he reached the end of his life, he knew that Hela would be free to once again wreak havoc on the world, and he would no longer be able to prevent that. His death left his people helpless because he had chosen to hide the darkness in his past instead of confronting it.

Likewise, if we try to cover up our wrongs, to hide them,  or to lie about them, it won't make them go away. We can't undo the past, no matter how much we might like to. Pretending we've never made mistakes doesn't mean that the consequences of our mistakes simply cease. It's easy to imagine that we can simply erase all evidence of our wrong actions, but in reality there are always negative consequences. We may be able to put them off by hiding or lying, but eventually they will come to light.

Starting over means letting go of the past for good

In this twist on ancient mythology, the people of Asgard are facing their destruction in the form of Ragnarok, a world-ending supernatural event brought about as a result of their dark and sordid history. Despite Thor's best efforts to fight off the forces of evil—led and embodied by his elder sister—he realizes that the only way to put an end to her wrath and remove her powers is to bring about the destruction of Asgard.

In attempting to save Asgard, Thor realizes that he must actually let it die. If he and his people ever expect to be able to escape the evil of their pasts, they have to let it go and start over somewhere new. Though it is not a happy event, the death of their home brings them hope because they understand that it brings with it the possibility to build new and better lives that aren't plagued by the darkness of their past.

When we are faced with the reality of our imperfections, it can be hard to have hope that we can be free of it all. As human beings, it is in our nature to sin. And those sins inevitably have negative consequences. Though we might like to believe that we can start over by erasing the past and trying to do better, Thor: Ragnarok serves as a reminder that we can't continue to live in the world that was built upon our errors and bad choices and yet believe that we can create something better. If we truly want to start over, we can't bury the past, but we also can't hold onto it.

Like the Asgardians, we must let the past go. Thor sets the perfect example when he chooses to let Asgard die. Why? Because he separates the people from that which has brought them so much darkness and pain, therefore giving them a true fresh start to build a better, stronger kingdom. We, as individuals, can follow that example by choosing to die to ourselves.

What does that mean? It means that we must surrender all of the wrongs in our past by giving them completely to God. Then, through the death of His son on the cross, our sins can be removed from us to make room for His Spirit to live in us and to give us a new life free of our past sinfulness and the consequences of those sins.

If we truly hope to start over and lead better lives then we can't let our past continue to define us. We have to let go of our old selves, and by God's grace we can start over with a clean slate. Just as the Asgardians had to let go of their old home, which had created and given power to their very own force of evil, so we must be willing to let go of our previous nature and desires which lead us into sinful patterns. Only then can we truly start over.