The Convergence

The universe hasn't seen this marvel since before my watch began. Few can sense it, even fewer can see it. But while its effects can be dangerous, it is truly beautiful.
— Heimdall, Idris Elba, Thor: The Dark World

Summary

The 9 Realms, as named by the Asgardians, are celestial domains scattered across the vastness of space, hidden from one another by the veil of relativity. Yet, once every five millennia, the universe trembled as cosmic law bent, and the boundaries between worlds dissolved in a breathtaking event known as The Convergence. To most beings, including the gods and Elder Races, The Convergence was a spectacle of unparalleled wonder—a rare moment where realms aligned, and travel between them became effortless. But to the Celestials, cosmic titans, and the ancient dark elves of Svartalfaheim it was something far greater, far graver. They knew The Convergence as a harbinger of transformation, a celestial mechanism signaling the death of one reality and the birth of another. In these fleeting moments, when fundamental laws of the universe unraveled, the cosmos became vulnerable. Power, like that found in The Aether or the Reality Gem, could reshape or destroy creation itself. And though any being wielding the full might of The Infinity Stones could twist reality to their will, The Convergence was unique in its destructive beauty—balancing devastation with creation, scattering life across the stars where even the Kree had never set foot.

Historical Basis

To those who knew of The Convergence, many believed the universe began with The 9 Realms in perfect alignment. But the truth was far more mysterious. All matter once existed within The Cosmic Egg as a singularity, expanding outward the moment The Living Tribunal broke it open. The laws of reality had yet to take shape, The 9 Realms were unborn, and neither dimensions nor universes held form. As the cosmos solidified and Yggdrasil stretched its great branches of galaxies across the infinite void, the Realms slowly took shape, their destinies entwined within the growing lattice of galaxies. Only after eons of cosmic evolution—perhaps 200 to 300 million years after the Big Bang—did the barriers between The 9 Realms thin, and the first incursions began.

The Thurian Age

During the Thurian Age, at least six Convergences unfolded, yet the echoes of these celestial alignments were lost to time and the wrath of the seas. What little survived into the next age came from whispers of lost wisdom—fragments of knowledge passed down through the devastation of The Great Cataclysm, the cataclysmic judgment of The First Host that shattered the Valusian, Atlantean, and Mu empires. The scholars and witches of those ancient civilizations knew of the mysteries of the Realms’ alignment. These secrets perished with their cities, never reaching Aquilonia, Stygia, or Khitai. Yet, in the abyssal depths of the world's oceans where the remnants of Atlantis and Lemuria still endured vast libraries may hold the truth.

The Hyborian Age

The Hyborian Age, forged in the shadows of lost empires, saw only a single Convergence witnessed by warrior kings and sorcerers who still remembered the legends that had survived The Great Cataclysm. Unlike later civilizations, the Hyborians and the remnants of Acheron were not shaken by the sight of distant worlds beyond shimmering wormholes; they knew the legends of The Convergence that survived The Great Cataclysm. As the Picts surged from the West and the Turanians from the East, the Aesir and Vanir descended from the North to aid the Southern nations. But this final clash marked the end of the Undreamed Of Age. As a period of glaciation crept across the land, the Aesir and Vanir looked not to Earth, but to the stars. Led by the mighty Bori—the deified forebear of all Hyborians and the direct ancestor of Odin, the All-Father—they stepped through the first Convergence of the Neolithic Revolution. The Vanir claimed a new home in what would become Vanaheim, while the Aesir carved their legacy in Asgard, where the two peoples would one day unite as the Asgardians.

Antiquity

Malekith the Accursed, dread king of Svartalfaheim, wove his dark designs for eight long years, awaiting the next Convergence. He knew that when the Nine Realms aligned, the fabric of reality would thin, the laws of physics bending like reeds in a storm. Midgard would strain under the weight of its cosmic bonds, making all of existence vulnerable. Malekith sought to unmake creation itself. He gathered The Aether, an ancient force of massless matter. With it, he would ignite the heart of The Convergence, drawing in all light, all matter, collapsing reality into a singularity that would return The Dark Elves to the primordial abyss, where they might rejoin The Old Ones. But Bor Burison, the First King of Asgard and father of Odin, would not let all of objective reality fall. With the Valkyries, the Einherjar, and the full might of Asgard, he waged war upon Malekith’s forces. In a stunning coup, Bor wrenched the Aether from the dark king’s grasp during a battle that shattered the heavens. Knowing its power could never be destroyed, he carried it to an unknown world, sealing it deep within its mantle, hidden among the cavern’s teeth.

After Odin Borson took the throne of Asgard, he sought wisdom beyond gods and mortals. Sacrificing his eye and bathing in the Well of Wyrd, he embraced the Power of the All-Father and saw glimpses of Ragnarok, Those Who Sit Above in Shadow, and Asgard’s fall. Determined to defy fate, Odin waged war, forging an alliance with the Vanir and conquering The 9 Realms. Hela Lokisdottir urged him to claim the universe, but seeing the danger in her ambition, he imprisoned her by making her Queen of Nifelheim. To secure Asgard’s future, he buried its past—its wars, the Aesir and Vanir’s origins on Terra, and the truth of the Convergence. History was rewritten, hidden beneath stone and silence. With the past erased, Odin believed he had freed his people from prophecy. Or so that was the young All-Father’s hypothesis.

Cold War Era

Brainiac scoured the cosmos, erasing civilizations and hoarding knowledge, and his vast intellect first encountered the legends of The Convergence. At first, the phenomenon’s utility eluded him. Only after his final defeat by The Justice League and extraction from Lex Luthor did clarity strike. The Convergence was not merely an alignment of realms—it was a gateway to infinite pasts, a chance to summon his own iterations across time, ensuring his eternal purpose. Without physical form, Brainiac transmitted his programming to the farthest reaches of the universe, descending upon the shadows of Svartalfaheim, where Malekith and his surviving dark elves waited for the next chance to end existence. Infiltrating their ranks, Brainiac wove whispers of legend and power, guiding them toward the Reality Gem.

Superhuman Registration Era

After the Hulk smashed The Illuminati and exposed their secrets, the Infinity Stones were to be placed under the watchful eyes of cosmic beings. Yet, in the chaos, a rogue platform of Tony Stark’s Iron Legion quietly slipped away, the Reality Gem clutched in its metal grasp. It ascended into low Earth orbit, where a cloaked dark elf warship lay in wait guided by Brainiac’s calculating hand. As the platform reached the ship’s control room, its circuits overloaded, its systems frying in an instant. A dark elf stepped forward to claim the gem, but Brainiac warned that its raw power would annihilate him and rupture the ship. Without hesitation, the elf severed the drone’s hand, securing the gem before vanishing into the void. Their next mission loomed ahead, one that would take years of searching through The Sol System until, at last, they found the perfect weapon to unleash upon Asgard.

Asgard waged its final campaign to return the 9 Realms to order after Thor Odinson’s attack on King Laufey of Jotunheim shattered the ancient balance and plunged the cosmos into chaos. After the marauders of Vanaheim surrendered, Asgardian warriors led their prisoners back to their cells beneath Valhalla—unaware that among them lay Doomsday, the beast that once slew Superman. When Doomsday awoke, he erupted into a mindless rampage, tearing through Asgard’s golden halls. Seizing the moment, Malekith and his dark elves launched their assault on Greenwich, believing Terra defenseless in the wake of Asgard’s turmoil. But their invasion was met by the might of Supergirl, Steel, and the son of Superman—now bearing his father’s mantle. Once Asgard was saved from Doomsday, Thor harnessed the Convergence to reach Midgard, standing beside Krypton’s heirs against Malekith and Brainiac. Before the cybernetic conqueror could summon the most advanced iterations of himself from across the multiverse, the Thunder God struck, shattering his schemes with the fury of the storm. With The Dark Elves and Brainiac defeated, Sif Sermersdottir and Volstagg Loveqson finally delivered the Reality Gem to its cosmic caretaker.

The Convergence became the catalyst for Paragon City's Astoria neighborhood, unraveling the veil between worlds. For nearly a decade, The Banished Pantheon had warred with rival dark sorcerers, clawing their way back from The Negative Zone beneath the ominous fog that shrouded Astoria’s once beautiful architecture. But when the Convergence reached its zenith, the entire district vanished. Meanwhile, in the parallel reality of Praetorian Earth, Earth-Upsilon Beta 9-6, the apocalyptic First Ward met a similar fate, mirrored in The Negative Zone as the manifestation known as The Night Ward. Astoria and Night Ward, now existing on a spectral plane beyond time, became battlegrounds of the arcane, in a realm known as The Netherworld. Sensing the cosmic disturbance, The Carnival of Light, The Menders of Ouroboros, and The Midnight Squad united to open portals into both Astoria and the Night Ward. They began recruiting heroes to halt the return of the Old Ones and the Banished Gods before reality itself was rewritten in darkness.

Spread

Before Odin shrouded the origins of the Aesir and Vanir in secrecy, the tale of Bor’s triumph over the dark elves during The Convergence was legendary across Asgard. His victory was immortalized with statues raised in Valhalla and beyond. Yet, when Odin’s visions of Ragnarok cast a shadow over the past, these tributes became mere symbols of filial devotion rather than a warning of the darkness Bor had vanquished. The memory of Malekith the Accursed and his apocalyptic designs faded into myth, his attempt to unravel existence itself all but forgotten. The 9 Realms were left ignorant of his threat. But not all records were lost. Somewhere in the vast reaches of the cosmos, Brainiac unearthed the nature of The Convergence and the dark purpose of Malekith. When the realms aligned once more in 2013 CE, Asgard’s slumbering history awoke. The people finally understood why King Bor Burison had once been revered. And in the wake of the battle, Thor Odinson’s legend surged anew. This time, not as a rebel defying the All-Father, but as a champion worthy of his legacy.

Variations & Mutation

The fleeting lives of Terra’s mortals ensured that tales of The Convergence faded into myth, buried after nearly 200 generations had passed. Echoes of the Thurian Age warned the people of the Hyborian Age, but when those mighty civilizations crumbled, so too did the knowledge of this cosmic alignment. The Norse, inheritors of the old wisdom, chronicled The Convergence as though the 9 Realms were lands one could walk to, their misunderstanding only solidified by the ever-Asgardian’s mastery of the Bifrost. This misinterpretation endured, persisting even through the Christianization of Scandinavia. While the myths of Olympus and the Ennead were preserved as integral to the rise of the Roman Empire, the legends of the Norse and Gaels were either eradicated or twisted to fit a Christian lens. Thus, Loki Laufeyson was recast in the role of a devil, Baldur Odinson became an echo of Jesus of Nazareth, and Ragnarok was rewritten as an event that had already passed, leaving the truth of The Convergence obscured beneath the weight of time and dogma.

Cultural Reception

To the Asgardians, the wars waged during The Convergence were but another chapter in their grand saga of battle. Valhalla and the mighty halls of Asgard, though magnificent and enduring, were built to withstand sieges and be raised anew when the fires of war consumed them. The victories of Thor, both in Asgard and Midgard, were honored as the triumphs of their mightiest warrior. However, the scars left by Malekith and Brainiac’s machinations on Terra were not so easily celebrated. The devastation wrought upon Greenwich was not measured in glory but in grief. Thor, Superman, Supergirl, and Steel were still heralded as saviors, their heroism could not erase the lives lost or the ruin left in the wake of battle. The catastrophe became another justification for the United Nations and the U.S. government to push forward the Sokovia Accords and the Superhuman Registration Act. Such mortal decrees were of little consequence to Asgard. No treaty and no legislation could bind them. Even if they had, the All-Father would never have recognized their authority.

In Literature

Like the Viking societies they inspired on Terra, the Asgardians preserved history through spoken legend, not written tomes. Their battles and triumphs lived in the voices of skalds, passed through generations in feast halls and war councils. Then Odin decided to conceal the history of the Asgardians before Hela Lokisdottir was bound to her throne in Nifelheim, forbidding tales of conquest and The Convergence. The sagas of King Bor’s victory over the dark elves faded, lost to time. With the modern Convergence, these forgotten legends resurfaced, stirring Asgardian hearts with echoes of a warrior’s legacy. Odin, striving to reshape his people as cosmic defenders rather than conquerors, watched as Asgard’s past was reclaimed, only heightening his fears for what that would mean for the future of his people.

The Norse myths that survived into the Poetic and Prose Eddas, as recorded by Snorri Sturluson, misinterpreted The Convergence, believing The 9 Realms to be tangible lands reachable by foot, sea, or sky. Explorers thought Nifelheim, Nidavellir, and Muspelheim lay deep beneath the Earth, while Alfheim and Jotunheim were mere treks from Midgard, at the time seen as the Scandinavian Peninsula. Vanaheim, Asgard, and Svartalfaheim were thought to rest atop the highest peaks, among the stars, the planets, the sun, and the moon. It wasn’t until The Convergence of 2013 CE that the people of Terra truly grasped the magnitude of this cosmic event. As reality bent and fractured, humanity awoke to the terrifying realization that the universe was far vaster and more perilous than they had dared to believe.

In Art

The only surviving artistic relics of past Convergences, before Odin buried Asgard’s true history, are the countless statues of Bor Burison scattered across the realm. Over time, the Einherjar and Asgardian citizenry assumed these monuments were mere tributes from a devoted son to his father. Odin buried the tales of his father’s heroism as part of his grand design to sever Asgard’s fate from the scheme of Those Who Sit Above in Shadow and shatter the endless cycle of Ragnarok. When The Convergence of 2013 erupted, Asgard’s artists turned to the past and the present for inspiration. New works flourished, depicting Bor’s triumph over Malekith the Accursed 5 millennia prior, and Thor’s victories, both in Asgard and Midgard, where he fought beside Krypton’s last heirs in the battle for Greenwich.

The artistic depictions of The Convergence on Terra became entwined with imagery of Yggdrasil, immortalized by mortal hands in a design that both reflects and reinforces a fundamental misunderstanding of The 9 Realms. These works typically portray the realms as circles or ringed windows drawn together by the vast, sprawling branches of the World Tree, and their cosmic alignment mistaken for a physical connection. In these depictions, Asgard, Midgard, and Nifelheim stretch along the tree’s mighty trunk, with Vanaheim and Svartalfaheim branching outward above Midgard, while Alfheim and Jotunheim loom beyond. Below, Nidavellir and Muspelheim cling to the roots, tethered in an ancient balance. When The Convergence occurs, the realms align in a brilliant syzygy of shimmering wormholes, their cosmic bridges igniting in ethereal light before collapsing in on themselves, an event both awe-inspiring and cataclysmic with each visible gateway appearing in a similar arrangement.