Warning: The following contains spoilers from Episode 4 of Loki Season 2, now available on Disney+.
In the Season 1 finale of Loki, the variant God of Mischief and Sylvie confronted the Kang variant He Who Remains. Sylvie aimed to kill him, while Loki wanted to assist her. During their conversation, He Who Remains seemed unusually certain that even if Sylvie ended his life, he would return. Despite the dramatic events of the fourth episode, Loki Season 2 strongly hints that these characters are part of a continuous time loop. This timeless time-travel trope may help explain why He Who Remains set these events in motion. When Victor Timely meets O.B., he expresses the same enthusiasm as Casey because they both admire Timely's work on the Time Variance Authority Guidebook.
O.B., on the other hand, is genuinely impressed by Victor Timely, as his scientific theories and work heavily influenced O.B.'s writing. "It's like a snake eating its own tail!" he exclaims, making a rather explicit reference. O.B. is short for Ouroboros, an ancient symbol often depicting a self-perpetuating cycle. While the Time Keepers did not "create" the TVA agents, they selected these variants for specific reasons. The name Ouroboros may hold more significance than just a hidden Easter egg for time-travel fans. It offers the clearest evidence yet that everything occurring in Loki Season 2 may have already unfolded. Loki, Mobius, Hunter B-15, and Sylvie may believe they are fighting to liberate the multiverse, but they might unwittingly be setting up its ultimate destruction.
He Who Remains Told Loki and Sylvie They Were in a Time Loop
During their pivotal encounter, He Who Remains revealed to Loki and Sylvie everything about his identity, the creation of the TVA, and the consequences of his death. It remains uncertain what would have transpired if Loki and Sylvie had accepted his offer to manage the TVA. Would one of them have to oversee the Citadel at the End of Time? Would He Who Remains go on to live multiple lives along the Sacred Timeline? This aspect of the story remained uncertain to him. Nevertheless, he was absolutely certain that if Sylvie killed him, he would return to the Citadel at the End of Time. He referred to it as "reincarnation."
One of the most notable uses of a time loop in a time-travel TV series was in "12 Monkeys," where the "ouroboros" played a significant role. It is possible that one of the writers of Loki was a fan, as when Sylvie kills He Who Remains, he says to her: "See you soon." This phrase became a mantra in the series and was often uttered to characters who were at an earlier point in the time loop. One character even says it as he dies, signaling to the audience that he would return before the show concluded.
He Who Remains employs it in a similar manner. The loop began anew when Sylvie stabbed him. While Victor Timely may be a variant of Kang, it is improbable that he is He Who Remains. Victor was transformed into cosmic spaghetti when he attempted to install the Throughput Multiplier at the end of the fourth episode. He Who Remains sent Ravonna and Miss Minutes to him for a purpose, but it's not what everyone assumes. After all, he informed Loki and Sylvie that he was from the 31st Century, which is the future from Loki's perspective.
Kang's Multiverse War Exists in the Past and Future of the Loki Series
Another common feature of time-travel narratives is events happening out of sequence. The Loki variant at the core of this series hails from 2012, shortly after the first Avengers film. The multiversal war described by He Who Remains took place in the past in every sense of the word. It occurred "before the TVA," which appears to follow a linear timeline. Nevertheless, the war he narrates has yet to occur, either in the 31st Century within the Marvel Cinematic Universe or in the "real world" in "Avengers: Kang Dynasty." "Before the TVA" might not describe a multiverse where the organization does not exist but rather another point within the loop.
In fact, the explosion of the Temporal Loom might signify the moment when the TVA technically ceases to exist. Since the TVA existed outside the realm of normal time and space, this implies it never existed. At the outset of Season 2, Loki traveled to the TVA's past, but perhaps he was simultaneously journeying to his own future. Maybe he or Kang must reconstruct the TVA from the ground up. If Loki Season 2 is indeed part of a time loop, Ouroboros is the key to deciphering it.
Mobius and the others have had their memories erased multiple times. He Who Remains initially purged their original identities from their memories, followed by their time serving him openly. Strangely, Ouroboros seems to have retained his recollections throughout this process. While Loki was in the TVA's past, O.B. recalled their conversation. For some reason, Ouroboros only loses his memories of previous loops. Unless, of course, the loop has finally been broken.
Loki Season 2 Is About Breaking Destructive Cycles
Through the characters' efforts to transform the TVA, Loki Season 2 reflects on both the detrimental and beneficial roles of institutions within society. If it were just another turn in the cycle, there would be little reason for the story to continue. Something about Loki, Sylvie, or even TVA characters like Mobius or Hunter B-15 sets this iteration apart. Ravonna Renslayer may seek to assume control of the TVA, but she may be playing into Kang's hands, just as Sylvie did when she stabbed He Who Remains.
According to He Who Remains, Alioth was pivotal in winning the multiversal war and establishing the TVA. It is a creature that "consumes time and space," and He Who Remains harnessed its power to vanquish his adversaries. However, he may not have been the most reliable narrator. It could have been Ravonna who had truly tamed Alioth. Still, her refusal to grant He Who Remains control over the creature could alone break the loop.
The real variable in the story appears to be time manipulation, which is set to return in Loki Season 2, as revealed in the trailer. One scene shows Loki time-slipping to what seems to be a personal watercraft dealership. Another scene depicts Loki encountering his past self within the TVA. Only a God of Mischief skilled in time manipulation stands a chance of outsmarting He Who Remains.
New episodes of Loki air on Disney+ on Thursdays at 9 PM Eastern.
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