Shouldn't the worthiness spell have broken when Mjolnir did?

I was rewatching the first *Thor* film and something occurred to me. When Odin enchants it so that whoever is worthy should have the power of Thor, a Celtic knot symbol appears on the side of the head of the hammer. So while it was powerful before that, it wasn't enchanted in such a way that what happened with Captain America in *Endgame* and Jane Foster in *Love & Thunder* could have happened.

But typically with spells and enchantments, when a symbol is involved, the spell is tied to that symbol. So when Hela broke the hammer into shards in *Ragnarok*, shouldn't that have also broke the enchantment? Obviously it didn't, because Jane was able to use it as she did. But it seems like a bit of a magical plot hole, no?

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bangarang902102025-10-24 22:38

Obviously this enchantment wasn’t tied to the symbol.

EnergyTakerLad2025-10-24 22:39

"Typically".

In the MCU we've seen like 4-5 different methods of spellcasting. Wanda and strange are two, even Agatha is different than both. We have no idea how Odins magic worked. Was it even the same as Friggas? Mjolnir seems somewhat sentient so its possible unless every piece is atomized that it just persists.

beardiac2025-10-24 22:46

That's fair. And Stormbreaker is able to behave very similarly without Odin even being around anymore to affect it. So perhaps his enchantment on Mjolnir was more of a limiter for Thor than what unlocked it to work for others.

depastino2025-10-24 22:41

You'd assume that it ceased after Odin passed, since his enchantments keeping Hela imprisoned were also dissolved. Endgame Cap was using Mjolnir from another timeline, so that just mucks it up even further.

beardiac2025-10-24 22:45

True. Though it's still essentially the same as the Mjolnir that Thor had at the time of *T:TDW*. So the enchantment should have been the same - it was from a timeline branch that they created rather than an alternate universe where things evolved differently prior.

depastino2025-10-24 23:05

Which would suggest that the stability of the enchantment can be maintained across the multiverse.

AwesomePocket2025-10-24 23:01

Huh. That’s a good point. I didn’t even consider that.

WaffleHouseGladiator2025-10-24 23:11

Cap was worthy though. I think the reason that he could only move Mjolnir a little in Age of Ultron was because he was full of self doubt even though he was otherwise worthy. In End Game he kicked that self doubt to the curb and replaced it with a sense of duty.

depastino2025-10-24 23:16

No argument here. I just think it's weird that Odin's enchantment still works in a universe with no Odin. It would have been interesting to see Thanos unwittingly try to wield it first.

Cashneto2025-10-24 23:38

There is a big difference, Mjolnir is an inanimate object and tool, Hela is a powerful living being who is presumed to be Odin's equal. Odin's life force held Hela back, Mjolnir wouldn't need the same treatment.

threemo2025-10-24 22:42

Evidently not

Thomas_JCG2025-10-24 22:44

Mjolnir imparted the power of its own will, not because she was worthy.

trustifarian2025-10-24 22:44

Cap wielded the enchanted version. That version of Mjolnir was from when Thor and Rocket went back for the angry sludge and hadn’t been destroyed by Hela. Love & Thunder Mjolnir chose Jane.

beardiac2025-10-24 22:54

I know. I was more saying that what *let* that work was Odin's enchantment. Prior to that (presumably) it only worked for Thor & probably Odin (and Hela before she was banished). I could have worded that part of the post better. I point was more that when he made that enchantment, the symbol appeared for the first time. So given how magic is represented everywhere else in the MCU, one would think when the symbol is broken by Hela, that worthiness/power of Thor enchantment would be broken as well.

So while Cap was able to leverage that enchantment, it makes less sense that Jane could. But it choosing her is a fair alternative reasoning.

methos32025-10-25 08:06

I’m still not understanding your point about Cap in Endgame. The hammer he was using hadn’t been destroyed by Hela, so why are you surprised that it still holds the enchantment, done by that universe’s Odin?

beardiac2025-10-25 16:14

My point is that I was never making a point about Cap. His use makes total sense. I only mentioned it initially as an example of the transfer of power, not as an error.

My whole question was more about Jane's use as that was after it was broken and the rune of enchantment with it.

Aerolithe_Lion2025-10-24 22:50

Plot hole is the my least movie term. 99% of things people call plot holes are not at all plot holes

Everyoneheresamoron2025-10-24 22:52

Didn't Thor enchant it to protect Jane after that? Its a sentient weapon, it can take whatever actions it deems necessary to do what it needs to.

Grumpiergoat2025-10-24 22:53

Magic in superhero media is "Whatever the author wants it to do."

threemo2025-10-25 01:29

That’s what all magic is

JaesopPop2025-10-24 22:53

You’re making up your own rules and are puzzled that a movie, made by people who do not know you, did not follow them.

beardiac2025-10-24 22:58

I'm not making up rules so much as trying to glean consistent rules *from* the movies and shows. This piece feels inconsistent. So I thought I'd bring it to the brain trust to respectfully come up with alternative rules or caveats that I might be overlooking.

JaesopPop2025-10-24 23:29

When else has this rule ever applied?

beardiac2025-10-24 23:34

*WandaVision* and *Doctor Strange* both established either implicitly or explicitly the power of runes when it comes to magic.

JaesopPop2025-10-24 23:39

Sure. But I’m doing for an example of something enchanted no longer working when a rune is broken

beardiac2025-10-24 23:43

I guess there are no clear examples of that. But it seems reasonable to assume that if a rune has power in its existence that doesn't require the renderer to keep imbuing it with magic, then marring that rune would negate its power. E.g., if Wanda had thought to do something to one of the runes in Agatha's basement, I'd assume her ability to do her chaos magic would have been restored.

JaesopPop2025-10-24 23:48

You’re comparing two clearly different kinds of magic and throwing some assumptions in to boot. That doesn’t qualify as a plot hole.

beardiac2025-10-25 00:04

You're arguing with me as if I stated at the top "this is a plot hole". But I didn't. I asked it as a question to engender discussion and debate from a place of sincerity. So this rabbit hole of holding my feet to the fire to bare proof is somewhat disingenuous.

JaesopPop2025-10-25 00:06

>You're arguing with me as if I stated at the top "this is a plot hole".

I am not.

>I asked it as a question

And I answered.

>So this rabbit hole of holding my feet to the fire

It's not that serious lol

beardiac2025-10-25 00:11

I don't feel like I was the one taking it too seriously.

bd29992025-10-24 22:54

It depends on the item and so on. Thor adjusted the enchantment in Love and Thunder though for it to protect Jane. It was how she could use it at all.

I am not sure there is always consistent magic and the like either.

beardiac2025-10-24 23:02

That's a fair callout - I forgot about that scene with him and Mjolnir from that film. So the enchantment by Odin may well have died, Thor's own infusion of will was still intact and not tied to any engravings on it.

SeekerVash2025-10-25 01:59

>Thor adjusted the enchantment in Love and Thunder though for it to protect Jane.

Thor didn't adjust the enchantment, he has no magical ability. He gave it orders and it followed them.

bd29992025-10-25 02:25

Later in the movie would disagree. He made the children worthy of the power of Thor. While I do not think he is a wizard or anything, I think he can do things in that fashion. Seems like when it comes to his power. Otherwise, I doubt he can just order the hammer around or anything and get it to obey. It is a piece of super metal with some magic in it.

WaffleHouseGladiator2025-10-24 23:12

I think the enchantment should've broken when Odin died, just like the magic barring Hela from the 9 realms.

EyeAmBack2025-10-24 23:27

Uru.

Ranos1312025-10-24 23:42

Your assumption is that the spell is tied to the symbol. What if instead the symbol is tied to the spell. The physical hammer itself contains the spell and the symbol is just a sign that the hammer is enchanted. After it was broken, the pieces of the hammer still contained the spell.

beardiac2025-10-24 23:44

That's an interesting approach. I could concede to that.

TomBeanWoL2025-10-24 23:55

I believe Thor put the enchantment on it to protect Jane himself, for Steve on the other hand he was using Mjolnir from 2013-2014 so Odin's Enchantment was still in affect as it had never been broken. We do also see that Thors weapons seem to have some personality of their own, or at the very least Stormbreaker does (possibly due to it being a living being, a part of a Flora Collosus/Groot)

It's possible that as all the pieces were kept within close proximity of each other Odin's Enchantment still held itself together, yes the barrier keeping Hela trapped was broken when Odin died but that was a ward to keep her sealed away, something she most likely spent centuries trying to tear down, it likely would have stayed in place for some time had Hela not been trying to break it herself. We unfortunatelty don't actually know how Asgardian magic works compared to the mystic arts or witchcraft as it can be hidden from everything look at Loki, he spent who knows how much of his life with a glamour placed on him by his mother to hide his Frost Giant heritage from his brother and possibly even Loki himself was unaware for a large portion of his life

beardiac2025-10-25 00:10

Your right about Cap's wielding it. I phrased that poorly as I know that version would have still held the enchantment. I was only raising it as an example of the enchantment working as Odin cast it.

But your point about Thor's own wishes on it is a fair fallout. Given that Stormbreaker behaves very similarly to Mjolnir without Odin having had to do anything to it suggests its magic goes beyond that one enchantment.

Your point with Loki raises yet another question - was saw his skin turn blue a couple times in the first Thor movie to reveal this heritage. But I can't help but wonder if he could counter that glamour more completely and be as tall as a frost giant as well? We've only seen him that way in a What If? episode, but what's keeping him from doing that in other instances?