Thor: Ragnarok ending explained (spoilers)

[duane]

As Hela's powers increase, the only way for the Asgardians to survive is by evacuating their homeworld on the giant ship stolen from the Grandmaster by Korg and the other gladiators. Thor, now blinded in one eye by Hela, realises they can't stop her themselves, so must cause Ragnarok to destroy her and save Asgard - the people matter more than the place.

Loki flies to the vault where Surtur's crown is stored, and places it into the eternal fire. This restores the demon to his full mountainous size, and he starts laying waste to Asgard, including killing Hela. Thor escapes with the others. Loki appears on board - Thor initially believes as a magical projection, but soon realises Loki has actually come to join them. He's still untrustworthy as ever of course, having already tried to betray Thor earlier, and he gave the infinity stone in Odin's vault a lingering glance as he passed it, so probably took that with him.

The ship sets course for earth, with the Asgardians looking to Thor as their new king. However a vast ship descends above them, almost certainly belonging to Thanos, setting up the events of Avengers: Infinity War.

In a scene after the credits, the Grandmaster returns to the surface of Sakaar while the population is still rebelling, and attempts to calm them down by calling a tie between his forces and theirs.

[Kevingracy]

Pooper:
Thor makes it off Sakaar along with Bruce Banner and Valkyrie and returns to Asgard to confront Hela and her forces. He realizes during the battle that the only way to stop her is to destroy Asgard since her power is drawn from there. He does so, and manages to escape with the surviving Asgardians (rescued thanks to the help of Loki and Heimdall) before finally taking his place as ruler.

Longer version:
The movie opens with Thor learning from the fire demon Surtur that Ragnarok, or the destruction everything, will occur once the eternal flame rests on his crown. To prevent this, Thor defeats Surtur and brings his removed crown back to Asgard to prevent it from being reunited with the eternal flame in Asgards stronghold.
When he arrives, he discovers that Skurge is now guarding and controlling the Bifrost bridge and that Loki has been masquerading as Odin while the real Odin and Heimdall have been living in exile. With the help of Dr. Strange on earth, Thor and Loki track down Odin in Norway. Odin tells them that he is about to die, and with his death, his firstborn, a daughter named Hela, will return to wreak havoc on Asgard, and that only they can stop her.

Sure enough, no sooner does Odin vanish to Valhalla than Hela the goddess of death appears and demands that Thor and Loki kneel to her. When they refuse and fight back, Hela immediately destroys Mjolnir, leaving Thor seemingly powerless. Loki inadvertently leads her back to Asgard by calling for the Bifrost Bridge. On their way, Hela knocks both Thor and Loki into the depths of space. Upon her arrival to Asgard, she kills several guards while Skurge obediently kneels to her out of survival. She takes Skurge under her wing and continues to lay waste to Asgard, easily dispatching all that stand in her way, until she revives the army of Asgards dead warriors and the Fenris wolf, to further her conquest.

Thor and Loki wind up on the planet Sakar, where Thor is captured by Scrapper 142, a former Asgardian Valkyrie. Valkyrie sells Thor to the Grandmaster where he discovers that Loki has been living the sweet life as part of the Grandmasters entourage.

Thor is chosen to compete in the Contest of Champions, before which he is given a haircut by Stan Lee. In the arena, Thor discovers that the two-year undefeated champion is none other than Hulk. After the fight, Hulk befriends Thor, who eventually finds the Quinjet Hulk had used to fly to Sakar after the battle of Sokovia. When he plays back the video of Natasha Romanoff, Hulk transforms back into Bruce Banner for the first time in two years. Loki and Valkyrie are tasked by the Grandmaster to return Hulk and Thor to him, but the two fight, ending with Loki forcing Valkyrie to relive the battle against Hela, where all her comrades were killed. Valkyrie agrees to help Thor stop Ragnarok.

With the help of Valkyrie, Banner and Thor are able to get back to Asgard to face Hela. Banner transforms back into the Hulk while Valkyrie, and the remaining Asgard warriors fight the army of the dead. Loki arrives in a stolen ship from Sakar to protect the Asgardians while Thor faces Hela. Skurge sacrifices himself so that the ship can take off. Thor is easily no match for Hela, losing his right eyes in the fight. As Hela is about to deliver the final blow, Thor realizes that his power never came from Mjolnir, and that he is the god of thunder. Thor uses his godly ability to control thunder and lightning to hold Hela off and destroy the rest of the undead army.

Thor then tells Loki that the prophecy was never intended to prevent Ragnarok, but to cause it, as it is the only way to surely defeat Hela once and for all. Loki returns to the palace while Thor distracts Hela. Loki places the crown into the eternal flame, thereby resurrecting Surtur and beginning the annihilation of the planet of Asgard. With all of Asgards people safely aboard the ship, Thor, Loki, Valkyrie, Hulk, and Heimdall leave as Surtur destroys Asgard, and Hela with it.

Now wearing an eyepatch like his father before him, Thor, the new king of Asgard, commands that a course be set for Earth.

MID-CREDITS SCENE:
While traveling through space, the ship is blocked by a much larger ship. The ship belongs to Thanos, who knows that Loki took the Space Infinity Stone from the Asgard stronghold (the tesseract).

POST-CREDITS SCENE:
The Grandmaster emerges from his ship to a revolution, and confidently suggests that the people consider it a draw.

[TravisFanna]

Short Ending:
Thors brother Loki betrays Thor and the Gods. Thor returns from his exile on Earth just in time to save his father Odin, his homeworld Asgard, and the homeworld of the Gods enemiesfrom Lokis plots. Loki realizes he will never be as loved or respected as much as Thor, and allows himself to fall intoa seemingly bottomlessabyss. Thor has gained the respect of Odin and his people, but because of his battle with Loki, is unable to return to Earth where his love, Jane, awaits him.

Long Ending:
Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is stripped of his powers as the Norse God of Thunderandbanished by his father Odin (Anthony Hopkins)after he launches an unauthorized assault on the home planet of the Godsenemies, the frost giants, thus breaking the centuries long peace between the two. Thor arrives as a mortal on Earth, and only the person who proves themselves worthy of the Thunder Gods power can remove the mystic hammer Mjolnir from where it is embedded into the desert rock. Meanwhile, Odin suffers a near-fatal heart attack after telling Thors brotherLoki (Tom Hiddleston)thatLoki is actually a frost giant whom he adopted after defeating the frost giants centuries ago.Loki ascends to the throne while Odin lays unconscious in a rejuvenation chamber.

On Earth, Thor befriends a group of astrophysicists including Erik (Stellan Skarsgard), Darcy (Kat Dennings), and Jane (Natalie Portman). Thor and Jane eventually end up falling in love. Loki, meanwhile, has arranged to let the frost giants invade Asgard and kill Odin. Defying Lokis orders, Thors god friends the Warriors Three and Sif (Jaimie Alexander) descend to Earth to retrieve Thor. Loki sends the robot Destroyer down to Earth to kill Thor, and if necessary, all who get in the Destroyers way. Thor agrees to sacrifice himself to the Destroyer to save the lives of his Earthly and Godly friends. In doing so, he becomes worthy of his powers, Mjolnir returns to him, and he defeats the Destroyer in battle. The group of Gods return to Asgard, with Thor promising to return to Jane and to be a future ally of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Loki allows the frost giants to come within inches of killing his father Odin before he betrays the frostgiants and destroys them. Loki believes that by killing the giants, he will be permanently elevated to king and gain the respect of Odin. Thor shows up and reveals Lokis schemes. Loki then uses the Godsinterdimensional teleporter to try and destroy the frost giants homeworld. Thor defeats Loki in battle, and then destroys the interdimensional teleporter - saving the frost giants homeworld while also sealing off his only means of returning to Earth and to Jane. As the floor crumbles beneath the combatants, Odin awakens and saves both from falling into an endless abyss. Loki, deciding that he will never be loved and respected as much as Thor, lets go of Odin and plummets into the abyss. Odin tells Thor that he is proud of him, and Thor discovers that Jane and her co-workersare trying to build a new interdimensional teleportation device on Earth so Thor can return.

After the credits, Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) enlists Erik to help him locate and harness a newly discovered energy source, the Cosmic Cube. Erik agrees to help, but the viewers discover that Erik is being manipulated by Loki who has survived his plunge into the abyss.