Loki finale explained: What this means for the MCU

Loki finale explained: What this means for the MCU

The premiere season of "Loki" has come to a close, with the sixth and final episode airing on Disney Plus. The episodes were extraordinary and answered many of the questions people had about the show's plot.

But as with any mystery show, providing answers only leads to more questions. Loki may have explained much, but there is still much that needs to be explained. Spoilers for episode 6 of "Loki" follow.

This is especially true given the universe-shaking events set in motion by the series. It could potentially mean big changes coming to the MCU in the future.

In Loki's finale, "For All Time. Always," Loki and Sylvie headed for the citadel at the end of time. Despite the similar colorful aurora in this citadel, it does not seem to be in the quantum realm as I had previously speculated. There they run into the man behind the curtain, behind the incessant pruning of the TVA and timeline, the man Ms. Minute calls "He Who Remains."

He is played by Jonathan Major, who is known to play Kang the Conqueror in Ant-Man 3. However, he appears to be a variant of Kang. Or Kang is a variant of him. Either way, you get the point.

But since this is a variant, we don't expect Major to look the same. That said, we are excited about the leak of Kang's Ant-Man 3 look. It's a very traditional take on the purple-helmeted villain, with Ant-Man's helmet in the reflection.

"He Who Remains" is closer to Immortus, the future version of Kang in the comics. Bored and frustrated with the endless cycle of violence by time-traveling conquerors, Immortus becomes an agent of the Time Keepers (those from the edge of time) and is charged with preserving the timeline.

Obviously, the story of "those left behind" is slightly different. Namely, he is from the end of time and the Timekeepers work for him. His role is also to protect the reality of the MCU from another version of himself that may not be so benevolent. To do so, however, the MCU seems to have to remain isolated, and as we saw at the end of the episode, that protection breaks down when the timelines diverge.

What can be said about the one who remains is that he is not a hunch. He does not appear to have grand ambitions of conquest, or at least not anymore. But the actual Kang, whom everyone expected to be the man behind the curtain, made a small cameo appearance.

In fact, TVA seems to have a statue of him, not the timekeeper seen before Loki and Sylvie entered. The statue features the face of the major, rather than Kang's iconic helmet, but is dressed in Kang's classic comic costume.

It is unclear how much of a presence Kang will have in "Loki" Season 2, but it has been confirmed that the time-traveling villain will be the MCU's first major major major villain since "Thanos."

Time is complex, and it gets even worse when you throw the multiverse into the mix. The last we saw of Mobius and the TVA, there appeared to be some kind of revolution going on. However, when Loki returned to TVA and realized that no one remembered him, that subplot was apparently removed.

It is possible that this is not the TVA to which Loki belonged, but a version of the agency from another universe, with Kang in charge. Or it could be that by killing "those left behind," Sylvie brought Kang into the MCU, disrupting the timeline and putting herself in charge.

In any case, the divergence of the timelines and the disruption it causes is still happening. The unfortunate thing is that neither we, the audience nor Loki, really know what is going on. That is a question that season 2 should answer.

Sadly, it is not. Let's hope he regains his memory and plays an active role in Season 2.

When we last saw Sylvie, she had just stabbed "those who remain" and helped shatter the sacred timeline into endless new possibilities. What happened to her after that is not particularly clear.

Possibilities include her taking up residence in the citadel at the end of time, being accosted as Kang enters the MCU, or using her temp pad to return to another point in time. After all, if she can send Loki back to the TVA (or TVAs), and if the timeline diverges endlessly, there is no telling where she will end up.

We already know that the multiverse is set to play a major role in the upcoming MCU. Dr. Strange and the Madness Multiverse literally has a multiverse in the title, and there are rumors that Spider-Man: No Way Home will bring various characters from past Spider-Man films across universes into the MCU.

Indeed, the entire "crazy multiverse" that Doctor Strange will have to deal with may be due to Loki and Sylvie breaking the timeline.

We are also introduced to a new big bad (sort of) villain named Kang. He doesn't take half of life like Thanos, but he is still not to be underestimated. Especially since he can use time travel (and apparently TVA) to get what he wants.

The idea of multiverse warfare has appeared several times in comics, most notably in the 2015 "Secret Wars" arc. There, the various universes began to collide, and if one of them was not destroyed early, both were destroyed. Eventually, all of the known universes were annihilated, and their remnants were put together by the multiverse-powered Doctor Doom (who may or may not appear in Marvel's "Fantastic Four" movie).

While we don't know what Marvel's plans are for the future, they could go a long way toward bringing "Secret Wars" to the big screen. It was caused thanks to the Avengers going back in time and accidentally releasing Loki. Way to go, Iron Man.

The breakout star of Episode V didn't appear in Loki's finale, but that doesn't mean we've seen the last of the reptilian god of mischief. In fact, there is plenty of room for the crocodile Loki (and the other Loki's) to return in future seasons as the timeline branches off into a situation where protection is lost and anything can happen.

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