Loki season 2 has come to an end, seemingly bringing the God of Mischief’s journey to a close with it. Or at least we think it has; you never can tell when Loki’s involved. He’s the ultimate survivor, after all. That said, the Loki season 2 ending was anything but simple, so if you need help understanding what happened, we’ve got your back.
Loki’s season 2 ending explained
Summary:
- Loki saves the MCU’s multiverse and the TVA by destroying the Temporal Loom and taking He Who Remains place, maintaining the timelines.
- The TVA dedicates itself to protecting the world tree, Yggdrasil, which Loki builds from the various strands of the multiverse.
- Mobius quits the TVA and goes to see the timeline he left behind.
The main conflict in the Loki season 2 finale involves Loki confronting He Who Remains and realizing that everything that happened in the Marvel series was part of the Kang variant’s plan and that there’s no way for him to win. He has only two options: kill Sylvie and restore the Sacred Timeline or accept that the multiverse will be destroyed.
Struggling to choose, a devastated Loki uses his time-slip powers to visit a past version of Mobius, who tells the God of Mischief that sometimes you’ve got to make tough decisions for the greater good, even if it means sacrificing what makes you human. Determined to do the right thing, Loki then travels to Sylvie and tells her his plan: he’s going to kill her and stop the multiverse from being born, saving at least some of reality and the TVA.
Furious at this, Sylvie turns on Loki for siding with He Who Remains and robbing the multiverse of free will. Clearly affected by her words, Loki resolves to take another option. He jumps to the TVA and approaches the Temporal Loom. Transforming into his godly robes and horns, Loki uses his magic to destroy the Loom, seemingly killing the multiverse in the process.
But that was only part one of Loki’s plan. The God of Mischief then begins to grab the ‘dead’ strands of the multiverse and infuse his magic into them. As he grabs more and more strands, a portal opens to He Who Remains’ throne, and he continues to pour his magic into the dying realities.
Slowly, the multiverse is infused with green energy, and more strands attach themselves to Loki. As he sits on He Who Remains’ throne, the magic Loki runs through the multiverse allows him to reweave the divergent timeline into something new. The multiverse is no longer a knot of threads and dead ends. Instead, it’s a beautiful and growing tree, likely a reference to Yggdrasil.
Unfortunately, becoming the new equivalent of He Who Remains means Loki cannot return to his friends; he’s needed to maintain order, but it’s a duty Loki takes on willingly to keep everyone and everything that will ever be safe.
As the episode draws to a close, we get a brief look at the reformed TVA, which now works to maintain Loki’s multiversal tree. Still, Mobius makes the hard decision to leave and finally take a look at what he’s been protecting all these millennia.
What the Loki season 2 finale means for the MCU’s future
The first and most obvious takeaway from Loki’s finale is that we’re finally done with He Who Remains and his grand plot to save the universe from Kang the Conqueror. I’ll be honest, I’m really glad about this. I had presumed after the Loki season 1 finale that we were going to get a definitive Kang who’d become the new big Marvel villain, but that never happened.
Oh sure, we’ve plenty of Kang variants, but none have really impressed me in the same way Thanos did, and it’s served to undermine my excitement for Avengers 5. With He Who Remains gone, it feels like the board’s finally cleared for us to meet this ‘Prime Kang,’ whoever he or they may be.
It also seems that Loki’s story is over, for now, at least. While we’re sure the sun will shine on Tom Hiddleston’s most famous character again, if this is the last we see of Loki, then it feels like an appropriate ending for the character.
All Loki’s life, he’s wanted the throne and schemed to steal it from his brother by being cruel and treacherous. It’s only when he’s brave and self-sacrificing, traits usually associated with worthy kings, that he gets what he wants. It’s a brilliant end to our favorite Marvel character’s arc, and we don’t want to see it undermined anytime soon.
We also loved the metaphor of the multiverse as a tree. It was a unique spin on the concept that tied in nicely with Norse mythology and is an easy metaphor for people to understand. The multiverse isn’t a bunch of loose threads; it’s a growing tree that needs care.
Finally, we have the TVA. In our interview with Kevin Wright, he said he wanted the TVA to become a sort of multiversal SHIELD, and it looks like that’s what they’re going to be moving forward. Protecting the branches of the multiverse from threats like Kang. That ties into the rumors around Deadpool 3 involving the TVA, although Mobius is supposed to return for that film, so maybe he gets bored of touring the timeline and goes back to work?
Sad to see Loki’s story come to an end? Don’t worry. There’s plenty more Marvel goodness on the horizon. Check out our list of all the upcoming Marvel movies to learn more about Marvel’s Phase 5 and Phase 6 films. Or you could learn the best way to watch all the Marvel movies in order.
We’ve also got a load of content on the newest MCU movie, The Marvels (read our The Marvels review to learn what we thought of it) including a breakdown of The Marvels cast and an interview with the executive producer.
If you’re bored of superhero stuff, though, why not check out our lists of everything new on Disney Plus and the best TV series ever made?