Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for Loki Season 2, Episode 3.
The Big Picture
- Agent Mobius’ past life may have been teased in Loki Season 2 Episode 3, hinting at his true identity as a variant of a Marvel character.
- The introduction of various employees of TVA as variants opens up the possibility of them being established Marvel heroes or villains.
- The appearance of a pavilion dedicated to Norse culture, specifically Balder the Brave, suggests that Mobius might have been a god in his past life with an even deeper connection to Loki.
A seemingly innocuous joke and reference in the third episode of Loki Season 2 may have possibly teased the true identity of Agent Mobius (Owen Wilson). As introduced in Season 1, the many employees of the Time Variance Authority didn’t just appear out of thin air. Every single one of them is a variant whose fate was changed to protect the Sacred Timeline, though that goal has since changed rather drastically following the death of He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors).
With that crucial info, we can’t help but wonder who these employees were before their lives in the TVA. Really, the only one whose past life we’ve seen is that of Ravonna Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), who lived a pretty everyday life as a teacher before being named head of the TVA. It would make sense for a normal life to be the case for the majority of TVA operatives, but this is the Marvel Cinematic Universe — a franchise known for constantly setting up characters and storylines from the comics.
It would hardly be surprising if some of these characters were variants of established Marvel heroes, villains, and in-between. That concept goes double for the main characters of Loki‘s TVA, who are already fan favorites in the MCU in one of the best shows ever to come from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We’ll fully admit that the following theory is something of a stretch, but if our hunch is correct, we may have gotten a hint at who Mobius M. Mobius really is.
Mobius Is Haunted by Who He Used to Be in ‘Loki’ Season 2
When Loki first began in Season 1, Agent Mobius M. Mobius was just like any other employee of the TVA. He was fiercely dedicated to serving the Time Variance Authority and protecting the integrity of the so-called Sacred Timeline, though a part of him was always slightly more rebellious than some of his peers. That rebellious nature grew into revolt as soon as he started working with a variant of Loki Laufeyson (Tom Hiddleston), and the two quickly discovered that the TVA was not what it seemed. Upon this realization, a desire to find out who he was on the Sacred Timeline was born, but Mobius couldn’t worry about that at the moment. He needed to assist his new partner in finding the TVA’s creator and bringing him down.
They succeed in that goal, but the death of He Who Remains at the hands of Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) has introduced a whole new universe of problems. Though we should say a new multiverse of problems, as the dismantling of the Sacred Timeline means that there is now an infinite number of timelines and variances that threaten to destroy the TVA. This doesn’t go unnoticed by the higher-up members of the TVA, with one Hunter, X-5 (Rafael Casal), deciding that he doesn’t have to be a time-restraining stormtrooper anymore.
As a result, X-5 decides to make a new life on the Sacred Timeline as Brad Wolfe — a movie star best known for his work on the “Zaniac” franchise. Loki and Mobius ultimately track him down and bring him back to the TVA for questioning. During this, Wolfe really starts pushing the buttons of his interrogators, even going as far as taunting Mobius with the idea that he had been somebody else on the timeline. Where Loki is usually the hothead of the duo, Mobius lashes out and attacks Wolfe. While he keeps a cool head and has a jokey demeanor most of the time, Mobius still can’t help but wonder who he used to be.
‘Loki’ Season 2 Potentially Introduces Balder the Brave as a Candidate for Mobius’ Alter Ego
When Loki and Mobius travel to Chicago 1893 to find Ravonna Renslayer and Miss Minutes (Tara Strong), they stumble upon the significant multicultural technological celebration that is the World’s Fair. There, they see pavilions based on numerous countries across the globe, with one being inspired by Nordic culture. Obviously, being the Norse God of Mischief, this particular pavilion hits close to home for Loki, who has some notes for some of the depictions of the mythological statues depicted in the display. Not only do the designs for his brother Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and father Odin (Anthony Hopkins) look completely off, but Loki has been overlooked in favor of another Norse God: Balder.
Much like his more famous counterparts, Balder is a real God from Norse mythology who also appears in Marvel Comics. Balder isn’t just any Norse God either, as he is the son of Odin and half-brother to Thor. Balder is also special in the comics as it was prophesied that his death would be the inciting incident of Ragnarok — the end of the Norse world of Asgard. To prevent this tragedy, Odin ordered that Balder be imbued with a spell that would make him practically invincible.
At first glance, the nod to Balder in Episode 3 of Loki Season 2 seems like just and only that — a simple reference to a figure in Norse mythology and a character from Marvel Comics, but what if it’s something a bit more? What if Mobius used to be Balder in his past life? For one, Mobius does seem to be pretty lucky when it comes to avoiding harm, such as when he survived the End of Time after getting pruned by Renslayer. Balder being invulnerable to harm would be quite a useful characteristic for a TVA Agent.
Though the idea that Loki — and by association, Thor — has had a secret sibling this whole time might seem a bit farfetched, this wouldn’t be the first time that happened, as we saw with Hela (Cate Blanchett) in Thor: Ragnarok (which still occurred in the MCU without Balder’s apparent death). On the other hand, Mobius simply being a normal person on the Sacred Timeline would also work just fine, as he has done more than enough by just being good ol’ jet ski-loving Mobius.
New episodes of Loki Season 2 premiere Thursdays on Disney+.
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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.
