Okay there are spoilers. I warned you.
I was also thinking… if Loki himself was an illusion, wouldn’t thor simply pass through him when he tried to hold him? And the way the weapon was pulled out of him shows that he was, in fact, actually there.
Plus, Kurse (I think that was what he was called…) clearly wasn’t in on whatever plan Loki had made, so it wasn’t as if they had planned it out beforehand.
The wound, therefore, must have been real. In that case, one of two things might have happened.
A.) It was not a fatal wound, and Loki was able to use his magic to heal himself.
B.) Loki actually died, but for some reason that has yet to be explained (such as the question of how he survived falling from the bifrost), he was able to come back afterwards.I agree with theory A, that’s really the only thing that makes sense to me. Because, according to the rest of the canon we’ve seen of Loki’s illusions, they aren’t solid matter so Thor couldn’t have held him. But since Loki was able to heal Thor’s hand, it’s not too much of a stretch that he could heal his own stab wound.
My only confusion with this, then, is why wouldn’t Thor know that Loki could heal himself? Wouldn’t he be like BROTHUH, WHY ARE YOU NOT USING YOUR FANCY SORCERY AND SHIT, YOU LITERALLY JUST USED IT ON MY HAND
Now waitaminnit Ray, that’s not what happened with Thor’s hand! That was DEFINITELY an illusion there, I remember the green illusion-fade wash when Thor’s hand reappears.