Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Loki Season 2.
The Big Picture
- The finale of Loki Season 2 injected much-needed excitement, innovation, and emotion into the MCU, proving that it can still deliver surprises that go beyond fan service.
- The finale’s major plot twist changed the context of everything that came before it, showcasing the show’s ability to deliver both surprising and emotionally satisfying twists.
- While the timeline is reset and previous adventures are negated, the characters still experience significant growth and face the consequences of their actions, leading to a meaningful evolution for Loki, Sylvie, and everyone at the TVA.
Although the Marvel Cinematic Universe could be accused of spending too much time spinning its wheels, the franchise received the kick of energy that it needed thanks to the second season finale of Loki. During a time when Marvel’s plans seem to be fluctuating, Loki proved to be as exciting, inventive, and emotional as the MCU has ever been. Recent MCU projects have struggled to justify their existence due to the lack of stakes; when any character can return from the dead and the multiverse can be used to explain away any minor plot point, it becomes harder to invest in anything. However, Loki showed that the MCU is still able to pull off major surprises that don’t have anything to do with fan service. In fact, Loki’s second season finale pulled off a major plot twist that changed the context of everything that preceded it. The best plot twists are both surprising and emotionally satisfying, and Loki succeeds on both fronts.
Loki
Loki, the God of Mischief, steps out of his brother’s shadow to embark on an adventure that takes place after the events of “Avengers: Endgame.”
- Release Date
- June 9, 2021
- Cast
- Tom Hiddleston, Owen Wilson, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Richard E. Grant
- Main Genre
- Superhero
- Rating
- TV-14
- Seasons
- 2
‘Loki’ Erases the Events of the Second Season
The second season of Loki revolved around the titular character (Tom Hiddleston) and his attempts to figure out why he has been time-slipping. After going on a series of adventures with his buddy Mobius (Owen Wilson), Loki discovers that he must stop his variant Sylvie (Sophie Di Martino) from killing He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors). Although He Who Remains is a villainous presence, killing him would thrust the Sacred Timeline into chaos. Loki must try and convince Sylvie to not kill He Who Remains at the end of the first season’s finale. When Loki circumvents changing Sylvie’s choice, the series negates everything that happened in the second season.
Instead of preventing Sylvie from killing He Who Remains, Loki decides to take his responsibilities and become the overseer of the Sacred Timeline. This means that the new branch timeline continues on from the point at which Loki takes over. Loki’s leadership allows the Time Variance Authority to protect different branches from colliding, and gives it the responsibility of protecting the timeline from different variants of Kang that are still on the loose. Loki is the god of time now, and his leadership reverses the unexpected deaths that resulted from the collapse of the Time Variance Authority.
However, changing the past also means that none of the adventures that Loki and Mobius went on in Season 2 really happened. The timeline is essentially reset. Mobius has returned to a different branch within the timeline where he has a family, a normal job, and of course his jet-ski. Victor Timely is back in 1863, but doesn’t have the TVA handbook that would have allowed him to gain knowledge from the future; it’s now back in the safe hands of O.B. (Key He Quan). Miss Minutes has been reprogrammed, Hunter B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku) is leading the TVA, and Ravonna Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) is left to confront Alioth. It’s a dramatic change from the way things were in the previous episode; all the chaos that He Who Remains’ death caused has been avoided.
Loki and Mobius Take on New Roles in the MCU
Initially, this twist may have been somewhat disappointing for fans who had invested in where Loki was headed. However, reverting the timeline does not mean that the characters have not evolved. Each of the main characters is still forced to face the consequences for their actions within the season. Loki would not have earned his new title if he hadn’t seen how dangerous an uncontrolled timeline would be, and decided to go back in time. Loki’s recitation of the lines “we die with the dying, we are born with the dead” indicate that he understands that self-sacrifice is part of his journey.
The events of the season have a significant impact on his decision, as the “spaghettification” of his friends proved why Loki’s sacrifice was necessary. When Loki goes back in time to the point in which Mobius interviews him about his life in the first season, it’s clear that he is a very different person. Loki has gained a newfound appreciation for the people around him, and understands that he can’t be the god of mischief for the rest of his life. It’s a fairly significant step forward for a character that only weeks earlier had been invading New York City with his army of Chitauri and trying to proclaim himself as Earth’s new ruler during the events of The Avengers.
The events of the season have an impact on Mobius as well. Mobius decides to live a life outside of the TVA because he understands that it has some semblance of “normalcy.” This feels like a strong end to Mobius’ character arc because he has already dedicated a majority of his life to the TVA, even if it was in a version of reality that no longer exists. The burden of taking care of so many innocent people may have been too much for Mobius, but that doesn’t mean that his decision is a retreat from responsibility. He now gets to be the “family man” that his job in the TVA prevented him from being; he’s now getting to enjoy the luxuries of the life that he had been protecting.
The Council of Kangs From ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ Is Still Lurking
Although Loki doesn’t end with a post-credits stinger that teases the future of the MCU, that doesn’t mean that everything is wrapped up neatly. He Who Remains may be defeated, but the Council of Kangs witnessed at the end of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania still presents an existential threat. Loki’s decision may have prevented the sanctity of the Sacred Timeline, but that doesn’t mean that it won’t ever be tested again. Loki is exactly what the superhero genre needs right now. The timeline itself can change, and some events that seemed to be very consequential can be reverted. However, changing the past doesn’t negate the decisions that Loki made, and it doesn’t mean that the time spent watching the show was wasted.
Loki is available to stream on Disney+ in the U.S.
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Khushi Patel is a science fiction author who lives in Austin, Texas. She has published three novels, and her work has been praised for its originality and imagination. Khushi is a graduate of Rice University, and she has worked as a software engineer. She is a member of the Science Fiction Writers of America, and her books have been nominated for several awards.
