"She knew you," Eleven said, "that's promising! If we're very lucky she's been dreaming about who she is. She won't believe that the dreams are real, but they'll give us something to work with."
After the day's fights, at night medics came in to patch up the wounded and get them ready for another day. Eleven didn't sleep, attempting to calculate the probability that Steve would be worthy of lifting Thor's hammer. She didn't share the odds and chose to keep her hope quietly to herself.
The next day, the fights again started with the cannon fodder. This time the lowest of the low were forced to go up against a giant made of rock. There were no survivors. Asgard had quickly become populated with aliens from other planets, eager to turn the beautiful planet into a hub of slavery and black market trade. Like yesterday, the Master watched from her well anointed perch, though today there was no one present at her side.
As Jane had warned, a platform was placed at the center of the colosseum grounds with Thor's hammer as the centerpiece. Thor, favorite of the top tier fights, was forced into the ring to fight several mid-tier gladiators. He went for the hammer first and was unable to lift it. He took a few free hits from the other gladiators as he tried in vain to prove himself worthy.
Only when his spirit was crushed did he resign himself to playing the game, and defeating his opponents. He was shuffled back into his cell.
The platform was left out in the open for the next round. Steve was selected along with a few others in the mid-tier. Eleven would have protested if she hadn't known about the hammer. Instead she remained uncharacteristically silent. Likely someone would have informed the Master who Jane had spoken to and was attempting to punish Steve.
River and Eleven, for some reason, still had not been selected for the fight. That part concerned The Doctor.