How Did Valkyrie Manage to Survive Thanos’ Attack in ‘Infinity War’?

Ever since Thor found out that Valkyrie lived, she became one of the most important people in the lives of all Asgardians. Alongside Thor, she saved everyone from Ragnarok and Hela and later became the reigning sovereign of the New Asgard on Earth. However, one thing the overall MCU franchise did not explain – how did Valkyrie manage to survive Thanos‘ attack in ‘Infinity War.’ So, here is the answer.

When Thanos attacked the Asgardian refugee ship, some passengers were sent to save themselves in rescue ships and escape pods. Joe Russo said that Valkyrie was among them to ensure everyone was safe. She already had a similar mission on Asgard when Thor appointed her to ensure everyone got safely to a refugee ship. So, when Thanos later destroyed the refugee ship, Valkyrie and some of the Asgardians were already out of harm’s way.

While this wasn’t specifically demonstrated in the movie, some minor details hinted that was what happened. And Joe Russo also clarified everything later. If you want to learn more about it in more detail, stay with us until the end!

What happened to Valkyrie at the end of ‘Thor: Ragnarok’?

For many reasons, ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ was a special movie, and the revelations that Valkyrie, the mighty Asgardian warrior and a member of once elite Odin’s army, was alive. And even though we meet her in not her finest moments, eventually, she becomes the hero and Asgard’s protector she was always destined to be.

After the initial animosity toward Thor, Valkyrie eventually helps him escape Sakaar and reach Asgard, where Hela was trying to create a new Asgardian empire under her rule.

Valkyrie piloted the ship she and Thor stole from Grandmaster, and the two of them, alongside Bruce Banner, arrived on Asgard. Many years have passed since she’d been home. This time, she had a mission to help rescue all the Asgardians and get them to safety while Thor keeps Hela distracted.

Valkyrie fought furiously and bravely against Hela’s army. However, the more time Hela spent on Asgard, the more powerful she became since she drew her power from the planet. So, the only way to stop her for good was to defeat her on Asgard and destroy the planet in the process.

To do that, Thor decided that the only way was to cause Ragnarok and unleash Surtur to destroy Asgard. After Surtur was unleashed, Hela was preoccupied with battling him. That bought Asgardians some time to board the ship and leave Asgard for good. Valkyrie and Thor, alongside Hulk, boarded the ship last. After that, they watched Asgard being demolished into pieces from the distance.

Asgardians were sad as they suffered a grand loss, but there was also hope that they would rebuild their lives and start anew somewhere else. Thor became the King of Asgard, with Heimdal and Valkyrie by his side. They set the course toward Earth, but then Thanos intervened.

How did all the Asgardians survive Thanos?

Thanos attacked the Asgardian refugee ship and immediately killed half of the passengers. It was his way of ‘cleansing’ the universe from overpopulation. Mad Titan was after Tesseract and the Space Stone that was stored in it. After initial resistance, Loki eventually gave the Tesseract to Thanos, but that did not prevent Mad Titan from killing the god of mischief afterward.

After Thanos obtained the Space Stone, he used the Power Stone he already had from before and completely destroyed the Asgardian ship. That explosion should’ve killed almost anyone onboard that ship, as even Thor barely survived and probably would have had the Guardians of the Galaxy not find him.

Even though it seemed that Asgardians were no more then, we learned in ‘Avengers: Endgame’ that the Asgardians eventually made it to Earth, where they built their community ‘New Asgard.’ Since Thor could not lead them, Valkyrie became the leader and reigning sovereign of New Asgard.

And while she deserved that, some things were left unclear. For example, how did Asgardians survive Thanos’ attack, and where was Valkirye since we hadn’t seen her in ‘Avengers: Infinity War.’ Luckily, Joe Russo provided an answer to that question. Apparently, Asgardians managed to rescue themselves in escape pods and a rescue ship.

When Asgardians learned they were being attacked, many were sent to escape pods, and Valkyrie was among them. She made sure that as many people escaped, and it made sense that she went with them. If something happened to Thor, she would become the leader of the remaining Asgardians.

So, after Thanos destroyed the Asgardian refugee ship, Valkyrie and some of the Asgardians were already out of harm’s way. It is possible that they returned later to explore the ship’s remains and rescue any survivors. Since the Guardians picked up Thor, they could not find him, so they continued with an initial plan – getting to Earth.

There were many questions regarding Valkyrie’s whereabouts in ‘Avengers: Infinity War.’ This clarifies things, as she was responsible for settling the remaining Asgardians on Earth and building their new home.

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