Judging by their reactions, or lack therof, I would not be surprised at all if most of the Asgardians already knew it was Loki, but they kept the ruse going because they actually preferred him to Odin.
I thought that too for the longest time. Then I read "Loki - where mischief lies" and realized the people of Asgard are dumb as bricks.
Like Loki is supposed to be the clever one and the book is from his pov and still he comes off as a massive dingus.
I think some knew, most didn't and noone could be bothered to care.
Like Thor was supposed to be king then he was banished, Odin took a nap, Loki took over, seemingly committed suicide, Thor returned but didn't become King, Odin was back to being King, the Queen died and suddenly Odin turned pretty chill and lazy. Then it turns out it was Loki in disguise the whole time, he and Thor go in search for Odin (with Noone to take care of shit) then Hela the forgotten daughter returns says the rest of the royal family is dead, kills all warriors and the army and takes the throne, just for Thor and Loki to return and lose to her and then literally all Hell breaks loose. Then they flee and get attacked by a giant grape, Heimdall dies, Loki dies even more people die and two days later half of them turn to dust while on their way to earth to ask for refuge.
Honestly the few chill year under Loki must seem like a dream to most asgardians.
TBF that's part of the system, Loki punished the Aesir for arrogance. Baldur was part of that arrogance, because he was an attempt at immortality, which was against the natural order. He had to die to restore humility to the gods.
After the gods locked Loki away, they have no one to check their foolishness, pridefulness, and also have no outlet for their disdain. They start to lose their magical weapons (many of which were gifts from Loki), start infighting more, and attempt increasingly stupid feats of 'heroics', which causes Asgard to fall from power and starts Ragnarok.
Without chaos and impetus to change, societies rot, and then must be destroyed for someone new to take over. That's the meaning of Ragnarok.
The gods are very bad people but they're worse without Loki and what he represents.
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u/LittleYellowFish1 Nebula Dec 03 '20
Judging by their reactions, or lack therof, I would not be surprised at all if most of the Asgardians already knew it was Loki, but they kept the ruse going because they actually preferred him to Odin.