As of earlier this week, Loki has officially come to a close, but like all good media, we simply can’t stop thinking about it. Also like all good media, there are continuously more things to consider and observe when you revisit it — which yes, I already have a bit… no judging. One thing I keep coming back to is the final bit of the series final episode, and the more I think about it, the more there is to unpack.
Following Sylvie’s ill-advised and life-altering actions in Loki episode six’s climax, we return to Loki, who has been thrust back to the Time Variance Authority headquarters. As Loki frantically searches the building for anyone who will hear out his warning and help him, there are two important things to take notice of: Mobius’ inability to recognize Loki, and a new statue donning the TVA’s main lobby.
Based on these two occurrences, there are two possible conclusions we can reach in regards to what’s going on. Either Loki has wound up in an alternate dimension, or the dimension the Loki variant formerly inhabited (which was already an offshoot of the core MCU universe following Loki’s Tesseract heist Nexus event) has been altered.
Either way, in this dimension it becomes abundantly clear that the struggle “He Who Remains” (Immortus) described in episode six — in which he faced off against several Kang variants and ultimately came out on top — ended quite differently. In this universe, Kang the Conqueror rose to power and governs the TVA, and whereas Immortus did so from the shadows, we can tell from the statue constructed of Kang that this variant is far more grandiose.
In this dimension, there is not even the illusion The Time Keepers lord over the TVA. Instead, Kang the Conqueror publicly executes his will over his own “sacred” timeline, without bothering to hide his involvement in the pruning process. This might just be the universe where we see the Kang and Ravonna we know from the comics and have been theorizing about — which means pretty bad things for the MCU and a whole lot of drama.
Now, before we get too carried away, let’s jump back up to the other major red flag up there: Mobius and Hunter B-15 not recognizing Loki. While this scene might have been heartbreaking to watch, things actually get worse upon closer inspection. Despite the pair celebrating undermining Ravonna and Loki and Sylvie’s “victory” moments prior to Loki’s arrival, they seem far more stressed when Loki appears. Furthermore, Loki’s warnings seemingly mean nothing to them, as does Loki himself as Mobius asks him if he works in analytics. While Mobius and Hunter B-15 still work at the TVA and much feels the same, it’s once again clear something is off — and right now it’s impossible to know just how deep that goes.
In this new (or altered) dimension, it’s unclear if Mobius and B-15 know that they’re variants, what their exact job entails in this new TVA with assuredly a new objective, and if they’re even on the “good guys” side. However, what is both clear and unusual, is that Loki is no longer even a person of interest at the TVA, much less a threat. Whereas Mobius spent day after day studying those mischievous Lokis every move and trying to prevent the damage they consistently caused, in this dimension they’re quite simply not noteworthy — and therefore have probably never even caused a single Nexus event.
Based on all of this, we can infer that season two of Loki is going to look entirely different than the first, and the main Marvel timeline should mostly be intact (for now), this one is going to be all sorts of messed up. How much of the first season of Loki actually mattered within the confines of the show is now up on the air, as is what the world outside of the TVA looks like. Only time, and seeing what happens in the MCU films between now and Loki season two, will give us any insight into what’s to come.