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Why did Malekith have such a strong connection to the Aether, and how was he able utilise its powers in ways no one else could — for instance, being able to extract it from Jane's body and absorb into himself, without it having any ill effects on his body, like it had on Jane earlier in the movie.

Furthermore, the Aether's power appeared to have awoken the Dark Elves from hibernation and Malekith's ability to sense the Aether's power drew them to Asgard.

The Aether has no master, so why is he able to wield it? Even Jane couldn't handle its immense power running through her veins.

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  • I thought the only reason he could draw it from Jane was because the circumstances where perfect for it. The realms aligning and all that. Also the Aether itself didn't awaken him and the rest of the Dark Elves, it was simply the fact that someone else had used the power at all that woke them.
    – Monty129
    Apr 10, 2014 at 20:51
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    "Even Jane"? She's just a primitive human! =P
    – Izkata
    Apr 11, 2014 at 0:28

2 Answers 2

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From the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Earth-199999

Because Malekith was one of the first known sentients to try and utilize the Aether as a weapon during a time when the Nine Realms aligned, a period called the Convergence.

  • Like the Infinity Gems upon which it was based, the Aether calls no particular user master, but a strong-willed or magically-capable individual make take control of them (if the item allows it).**

  • His brief control of it before being stopped by Odin gave him a permanent connection to it and its powers. Once it became free again, he could control it once extracted from the Human, Jane Foster.**

  • The Aether is a mysterious force that existed before the birth of the Nine Realms. It is known to be able to convert matter into dark matter, and otherwise maintains an almost lifelike existence that causes it to bond in a parasitic fashion to a living host.

  • Once bonded, the energies of the Aether slowly consume any mortal host, and also have a volatile and deadly effect on any who come into contact with the host in a manner that the Aether perceives as threatening. Bonded with a stronger host that understands its power, the Aether can be employed as a weapon where it lashes out with a concussive force, or reaches out to convert matter.

  • During its brief time bonded to Malekith, the Aether also enhanced his physical form, causing him to grow threefold in height.

The Aether responds to being utilized depending on the natural abilities of the user. A weak user is possessed and ultimately destroyed by the Aether, while a strong one may utilize it as a weapon depending on their spiritual/magical capacities.

  • The Aether did not wake the Dark Elves. It woke Malekith who put the Dark Elves into hibernation until he sensed the Aether and the Convergence approaching again.

  • Jane Foster is merely human with no awareness of magical capacity, nor any understanding of the fundamental nature of the Aether. She couldn't make use of its power-enhancing abilities since she had no powers to speak of.

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  • I thought it was Odin's father Bors that stopped Malekith the first time and locked the Aether away Apr 5, 2016 at 9:41
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I think it had a mind... feeling almost. Did you notice how it wanted to flow into his hand? My thoughts are that it is an energy source but with a sort of artificial intelligence (not Jarvis) that enabled it to psionically bond with whosoever was unfortunate enough to discover it. Also, if it hadn't been for Malekith Jane would've died. One nurse in the movie said:

She will not survive the amount of energy flowing through her

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