Real Reason for Loki Attacking Thanos:
Loki is one of the most complex and yet beloved characters of the MCU. His ways of trickery have amused us for years but he has also found himself in more trouble than one could imagine through those ways. His last piece of trickery was seen in Thor: Ragnarok when he tried to make a run for himself leaving Thor behind on Sakaar. But since Thor was ready for his betrayal this time, he left Loki in a helpless state having electrocuted him. But he did leave him with one suggestion that probably changed Loki for the better.
Here’s what Thor said to Loki right before the get help sequence in Ragnarok:
“Thor: Loki, I thought the world of you. I thought we were going to fight side by side forever. But at the end of the day, you’re you and I’m me. I don’t know, maybe there’s still good in you. But let’s be honest, our paths diverged a long time ago.
Loki: Yeah. It’s probably for the best that we never see each other again.
Thor: It’s what you always wanted.”
This is what got Loki a bit sentimental. But Thor left Loki with a little more to think about by saying:
“Dear brother, you’re becoming predictable. I trust you, you betray me, round and round in circles we go. See, Loki, life is about, it’s about growth. It’s about change. But you seem to just want to stay the same. I guess what I’m trying to say is that you’ll always be the God of Mischief, but you could be more.”
Thor trusted that his brother would indeed evolve and show up to save the fellow Asgardians. And Loki did turn into a full on hero from this point on. He led the revolution army to Asgard and then he was the one to make the sacrifice so his brother could survive against Thanos. For proof of that, here’s the theory that has been presented by Reddit user “u/GeneralIKenoA”. This theory makes a little more sense out of why Loki attacked Thanos.
The theory rightly states that Loki was a fairly smart guy and he had just seen Thanos bash the Hulk. Throughout Ragnarok, we’ve seen how afraid Loki has been of the Hulk. So clearly he knows that there is no way that he could best Thanos. But he believes that his brother most definitely could. So, from that point on, whatever Loki does is indeed for his brother. The theory states:
“Loki’s worked with Thanos before. He’d know about Thanos’ rule of killing half the population. Loki might be reasoning that if he forces Thanos to kill him, Thanos would feel obligated to leave the only other royal Asgardian alive.”
This totally makes sense. Loki did sacrifice himself for the wellbeing of his brother. We’ve done several theories in the past trying to prove that Loki isn’t as stupid. He would never attack Thanos without an illusion or a backup plan. But here he actually did it so Thanos would spare his brother. Here are the last words he said to his brother – “I assure you, brother, the sun will shine on us again.” And then look at what he said to Thanos –
“Oh, mighty Thanos, I, Loki, Prince of Asgard, Odinson, the Rightful King of Jotunheim, God of Mischief, do hereby pledge to you my undying fidelity.”
Right when he said “Odinson”, he looked at Thor. This is the moment when Thor knew what Loki was trying to do to Thanos. Loki died a hero saving his brother. It was quite noble indeed, and that is why the theory about why he made his foolish attack upon Thanos makes perfect sense. And now that this is done, we’re going to see the return of villain Loki, who will probably turn into an anti-hero in his own upcoming series. The Coronavirus has delayed it, so we should expect it to arrive in the second half of 2021.
