Marvel Kills Another Asgardian Hero in ‘War of the Realms’ #2

War of the Realms continues this week, leaving a pretty drastic impact on the Marvel Comics world in the process. And if the event’s most recent issue is any indication, that appears to mean the end for one fan-favorite.

As you would expect, spoilers for War of the Realms #2 below! Only look if you want to know!

The issue sees the various heroes of the Marvel universe trying to guard Midgard against Malekith and his evil army, as they attempt to invade Manhattan. At one point, Odin, Brunnhilde, and the Valkyries arrive to help in the fight, and are the only ones remaining against Malekith after a poorly-planned spell from Doctor Strange.

The fight eventually ends up being between Malekith and Valkyrie, before the villain delivers a pretty devastating blow. In one splash page, Malekith can be seen driving his sword through Valkyrie’s chest, killing her. A loud “SHNNK” sound can be seen after, seeming to clearly indicate Valkyrie’s demise.

Interestingly, diehard readers of all things Valkyrie may have been able to see this coming, thanks to the events of Asgardians of the Galaxy #8. In that issue, Heimdall tried to warn Annabelle Riggs, Valkyrie’s human half, about what dangers were ahead for her, but she didn’t listen.

Granted, the solicitation for Asgardians of the Galaxy #9 hints at the “strange fate” of Annabelle Riggs, which could very well mean that she isn’t dead yet. (After all, Loki’s death in the first War of the Realms issue is proving to be more complicated than it seemed.) But for the time being, it’s safe to say that Valkyrie’s death is just the latest major thing to come out of War of the Realms.

“I can say certainly everything I’ve done on Thor has been building towards this,” War of the Realms writer Jason Aaron previously told ComicBook.com. “And it will dramatically change Thor’s status quo, and the status quo for kind of all those characters around him. Then I’m wrapping up my Thor run kind of right after that. Also, everything that I’ve been doing now will be building into Avengers, so it’ll have big ramifications not just for the Thor corner of the Marvel Universe, but for the bigger gooey center of the Marvel Universe, as well.”

“I don’t want to spoil too much, but there will be a relationship between Midgard and Asgard that we have not seen before, and it’s going to go both ways,” Marvel Chief C.B. Cebulski says of War of the Realms. “So, now that the denizens of Earth are a little bit more aware of everything that’s going on in Asgard with Thor and everything that’s happened and that there are all these creatures up there, there’s more of an awareness that’s going to affect everything going forward. There will be pieces of the story that are left behind on Earth, that we’re going to be following up with, with the series starting over the summer.”

War of the Realms #2 is available in stores now.