The MCU Just Dropped The Biggest Bombshell Since Infinity War – WTF Just Happened?!

Warning: This post contains SPOILERS for Loki season 2 episode 4

In a huge shock, Loki season 2 seemingly just killed off Tom Hiddleston’s God of Mischief, destroyed the TVA and set up the biggest MCU bombshell since Thanos’ snap at the end of Avengers: Infinity War. Not since Josh Brolin’s Mad Titan clicked his fingers and wiped out half of existence has the MCU been so rocked by a single ending.

It’s already very clear that Loki‘s Multiverse storyline is headed towards something massive: Loki is effectively Marvel’s herald for the coming Multiversal War, which will pit thousands of Kang variants – known officially now as the Council of Kangs thanks to Ant-Man & The Wasp Quantumania‘s post-credits scene. The upcoming Avengers: The Kang Dynasty should deliver on that war, before Avengers: Secret War promises the MCU reboot that has been teased for the end of Phase 6. But in a mid-season surprise that few could ever have predicted, Loki season 2 episode 4 just delivered a killer blow to the Sacred Timeline.

Related: How Loki Is Setting Up Avengers 6’s Secret Wars

What Really Happened In Loki Season 2 Episode 4’s Final Shot?

The death of the Sacred Timeline?!

Having pulled Victor Timely from his early 20th Century timeline branch and convinced him to help fix the TVA’s Temporal Loom, Loki season 2 episode 4 spectacularly kills him off – spaghettifying him in a spectacular downer ending to the misson to save the timeline from overload. With the TVA’s blast doors open, the resulting timeline explosion appears to completely destroy the TVA, condemning Loki, Sylvie, and their TVA allies to the same fate as Victor Timely. In short, Loki appears to have just died. Again.

On a bigger scale, the explosion of the Temporal Loom has even more terrifying implications for the rest of the MCU. The Loom was the only thing controlling the Sacred Timeline and stopping everything from descending into temporal chaos. As Sylvie said in Loki season 1, “The universe wants to break free, so it manifests chaos,” creating its own variants and branches at an almost infinite level, which He Who Remains kept under control using the TVA. Every deviation from his approved timelines was destroyed, with variants either being pruned or recruited as TVA employees until the end of time. The explosion of the Temporal Loom effectively means He Who Remains’ nightmare has come true. The Sacred Timeline is no more and chaos will reign.

What The MCU Timeline Exploding Means For Future Marvel Releases

The Multiverse manifests chaos

He Who Remains confirmed in Loki season 1’s ending episode that a lack of order opened the multiverse up to the many evil variants of Kang who would seek to invade and control every other timeline. Without the TVA existing as a final safety net between the Sacred TImeline and the Council of Kangs, they’re now free to mount their invasion, directly setting up the events of Avengers: The Kang Dynasty.

How soon after this explosion at the TVA they arrive is up for debate, since time doesn’t work the same way within the TVA, which could explain why there’s still 3 years until The Kang Dynasty releases in 2026. Before then, The Marvels is unlikely to really explore the multiverse, but could be set before the events of Loki season 2, while Deadpool 3‘s rumored multiverse cameos would now make much more sense with the universe welcoming chaos. In fact, the explosion of branches could be exactly how Deadpool comes to the MCU in the first place.

Beyond that, Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts feel like they’re isolated to the Sacred Timeline, and Blade is a stand-alone wildcard, but the Fantastic Four could very well be directly set up by the timeline explosion as the means to bring them to the “main” timeline. And then, of course, Avengers 5 and 6 will be the culmination of Loki’s Multiversal War arc, assuming Loki, Sylvie and the TVA survivors can’t undo the Temporal Loom explosion. Which will be hard if they remain “dead”.

How Can Loki Fix The Sacred Timeline?

What’s next for the God of Mischief?

Loki, Sylvie and the entire main cast apparently dying at the end of season 2 episode 4 would appear to end their involvement in saving the Sacred Timeline and preventing all-out Multiversal War, but it’s deeper than that. Loki season 2’s trailers have already revealed footage of the final two episodes, including shots of Casey (Eugene Cordero) emerging from the wreckage of the TVA, and a shot of Sylvie apparently being surrounded by strands of timeline. There’s also shots of Loki timeslipping to a jet ski dealership, and one of Hunter B-15 dressed as a doctor, which all come after episode 4 suggesting there is still some hope.

Realistically, Loki isn’t likely to win at the end of Loki season 2, because the Multiversal War is coming in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. The final two episodes are more likely to be focused on the immediate fallout of the destruction of the Temporal Loom and the TVA, with the most likely theory being that Sylvie uses He Who Remains’ timepad to undo what has happened, somehow. Could this be another time heist so soon after Avengers: Endgame? Loki’s final episodes will reveal all.

Loki

Having escaped from a different timeline, Loki stars in his own titular series, where he learns about the life of his predecessor and discovers the truth of time and space. In the show, Loki reluctantly becomes a part of the Time Variance Authority (TVA), an interdimensional governing body that keeps time in order. On the chopping block, Loki is given a chance to save himself by helping the TVA hunt down someone more dangerous than himself – another Loki.

Release Date

June 11, 2021

Cast

Tom Hiddleston, Richard E. Grant, Erika Coleman, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Sophia Di Martino, Owen Wilson, Wunmi Mosaku, Sasha Lane

Genres

Adventure, Action, Fantasy, Superhero

Seasons

2