Loki season 2 episode 6 ending explained: How does the finale set up the future of the MCU?
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Loki season 2 has now come to an end, and that finale is going to have a huge impact on the MCU going forward. The final episode of the show contained some pretty massive revelations for the God of Mischief and all he holds near and dear. Not only that, but we also find out what’s going on with the branching timelines and what happened to Kang variant Victor Timely.
Suffice to say, a lot is going on in the final episode of the Marvel Phase 5 show, but despite some big answers, there is still a lot left unsaid. Well, that’s where we come in: we’ve taken a deep (and we mean deep) dive into the show’s final episode to unpick what’s next for the God of Mischief. We also get into the fates of Mobius, Sylvie, O.B., Judge Renslayer, and Miss Minutes, as well as the big question about what all this means for the future of the MCU.
Before we get any further, here’s your official spoiler warning. We’re getting into third act reveals below for the Loki season 2 finale, so make sure you’re up to date.
Loki season 2 ending explained
The season finale of Loki season 2 sees the God of Mischief getting control of his time-slipping to try and stop the end of everything. Well, to be more specific, to go back in time and make sure Victor Timely manages to make it to the Temporal Loom before turning into temporal spaghetti. After centuries (yes, literally) of trying, Loki finally managed to do just that before realizing that it was ultimately pointless as the loom will always fail.
Just when all hope is lost though, Sylvie seemingly has the answer. "It's almost as if, as soon as the timelines started branching, this was doomed to happen," she says to Loki, giving him an idea. He then starts time-slipping back to the End of Time to try and stop her from killing He Who Remains. But as she keeps warning him: the only way she’ll stop is if he kills her.
He Who Remains then freezes time, asking Loki how long he’s been trying to do this. He then explains that his "see you soon" as he dies was actually pretty literal: he always knew that it would come back to this moment. The Kang variant also explains that the Temporal Loom is a failsafe too. When it’s overloaded, it will delete all branches but the Sacred Timeline, every time. The TVA may be destroyed, but they’ll just rebuild it, and Loki will always lose. That is unless he kills Sylvie and stops He Who Remains from dying.
Loki’s got another idea though, he’s going to destroy the Temporal Loom (ignoring potential multiversal war consequences) and time-slips back to his first meeting with Mobius. The pair have a heart-to-heart about what sacrifices are the ones we have to make, and it seems like Loki knows he may have to kill Sylvie after all. He slips to their last moment together to say goodbye, but Sylvie isn’t about to let him off the hook that easily and tells him that sometimes we have to die fighting. She tells him, it’s okay to destroy things, as long as you have something there to help replace it.
This is enough to give Loki a new plan as he time-slips back to the TVA and takes Victor Timely’s place walking out to the Temporal Loom. As he walks out, he transforms into a god-like Loki, getting some pretty cool new horns as he uses his magic to grab the branching timelines before walking them up to his new throne on the Citadel at the End of Time. He takes his place where He Who Remains was, holding the branches like roots of the tree, as we zoom out and see Yggdrasil (more on that below). It seems Loki is now the keeper of the multiverse.
The show then cuts to "After" back at the TVA. Mobius and Hunter B-15 are talking as they adjust to life after Loki’s sacrifice. It seems everything is running pretty smoothly again as Miss Minutes is back and O.B. has written a second version of his TVA handbook (although that’s not been given to Victor Timely). It even seems the Kang variants are under control for now, thanks to an Ant-Man 3 Easter egg.
The series ends with Mobius going to see his variant on the timeline with Sylvie, where he decides to stay a while longer. Then we see Renslayer, who seems to have been deposited in the Void before ending on a shot of Loki at the End of Time.
Is Loki now the God of Time? What is Yggdrasil?
Loki’s final sacrifice seems to make him a He Who Remains-like figure, placing him as the one on the throne who makes the hard decisions. Trapped now at the End of Time to keep the branches from dying, he’s essentially taken on that mantle, and we’ve got to admit, it’s a pretty epic sacrifice from the character who never wanted to be alone.
Key to this is also how Loki has now become a living embodiment of Yggdrasil too as he holds the branches in his hands. If you’re not familiar with your Norse mythology, this is the central sacred tree, which holds all Nine Realms together, controlling all life and death. In the MCU, this is redefined to hold all of the multiverse, with Loki at its center.
What’s going on with the Kang variants?
Following on from Loki’s sacrifice, it seems the TVA is keeping a close eye on the Kang variants. Mobius has been given the job of filing a report on them, and tells B-15 that they’re not yet aware of their existence. The only one that’s caused a real issue so far is Kang on Earth-616, but that’s been dealt with.
Then we see that no one leaves the young Victor Timely a TVA handbook in his window, allowing him to grow up as a normal child and not become the variant we know. Although, given we’ve got The Avengers: The Kang Dynasty coming, we’d say we’re not out of the woods just yet.
Where is Renslayer in the Loki season 2 finale?
One big unknown is just what will happen next to Judge Renslayer. We only see Ravonna very briefly at the end of the season finale, when she’s been dumped in The Void after being pruned in Loki season 2 episode 5.
It seems like she’s at the End of Time, given that purple glow that we see on her face. This is likely Alioth, the temporal guardian who was previously controlled by He Who Remains.
There are some very interesting aspects to her location too, as we can see pyramids in the background as well as the broken TVA emblem beneath her feet. It's not quite clear where this is but it seems this is a different part of The Void than we're used to.
If only we knew a Kang variant with ties to Egypt... Oh wait, could a reunion with Kang variant Rama-Tut on the cards too? All in all, it’s not looking good for Ravonna…
Will we see Loki again in the MCU? Will there be a Loki season 3?
Well, this is the big question, and right now, we don’t really know. Loki season 3 hasn’t been commissioned yet, and the writers have made it pretty clear that the second season brought this version of his story to a conclusion.
However, it seems pretty clear we will see the God of Mischief once again, as he’s now absolutely crucial to the existence of the multiverse. As we speed towards The Avengers: The Kang Dynasty too, this is going to be a big factor as those Kang variants are seemingly set on war. All we’ll say is watch this space.
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