Odinson Family Values
Thor nodded at Ragnar's statement that suicide would be preferable to being related to a monster, but it was a nod of acknowledgement rather than agreement.
"One of the things our worlds share," he began steadily as the flames began to dim slightly, "is being ruled by an Allfather. You hath your Emperor, I had my King; King Odin, who's wisdom no one questions and who's will no one dares deny." He remembered in graphic detail the punishments which that King inflicted upon the insubordinate. He remembered how he and Loki were brought to tears by the scraps of agonized screams which they occasionally heard from the dungeons beneath the palace.
"The blood of the Allfather flows through both of our veins, my friend; I am Odin's firstborn son, and was Crown Prince." He revealed that truth with neither relish nor pride in his tone. He began to look into the flames then as he continued to recount the events. "I have a brother back home," he continued as a slight smile asserted itself on his lips; "his name is Loki. Odin adopted him as an infant, and we were inseperable ever since."
He cast his mind back to those many times with his brother; he may not have known about Loki being adopted back then, but Thor knew that revelation did not damage his affection for the sorcerer in the least. "Odin was harsh on us both, but I constantly aspired to please him. After all, he was unquestioned, and we all believed him in possession of mystic foresight. I performed my duties," he confessed as the flames dimmed further. "I tried to be a good son and a worthy heir. I shed the blood of others and the blood of myself in his name. I supported his absolute rule. I refused to believe him capable of evil."
The thunder god exhaled slowly then as he shook his head; his gaze focused again on Ragnar, and it seemed strangely wide-eyed and pleading then. "And then I discovered my father had been raping my brother for many years," he said. The flames seemed to intensify at that moment as Thor's jaw began to clench.
"I spent so long worshipping that monster; were I not such a loyal, obedient son, perhaps I would have been able to stop my father's predations. The blood of a rapist flows through my veins, Ragnar. When I finally saw the heinous beast atop Asgard's throne for whom it was, I was cast out." The final sentence seemed to be drained of the anger which infused the earlier parts of his statement.
"My own complacency, obedience towards and idolization of my father enabled the most vile and bestial cruelties. I thought him perfect; I thought him the God of the Gods. I was a loyal son of the Allfather, and my brother paid the price."