I’ll never forget how broken I felt when I watched Thanos turn all my favorite Avengers to ash. It’s left an indelible mark on my brain. After all, the Avengers aren’t supposed to lose. They’re heroes. Yet despite how shocking The Snap was, Loki season 2 may have created an even worse way to die.
That might shock the Marvel Cinematic Universe scholars reading this, but it’s true. You see, in Loki season 2 episode 5, we finally see why the TVA is so desperate to fix the Temporal loom. It seems that without the device, all of creation is unwinding, literally. Yes, just like Victor Timely, who was turned to spaghetti before our very eyes last week, all of reality is slowly coming undone, and the latest Marvel series gave us a front-row seat to the destruction.
That means we got to watch some of our new favorite Marvel characters get atomized before our very eyes, including Mobius, Hunter X-15, and even our beloved O.B. Just like victims of The Snap, those shredded by the temporal radiation seemed conscious as they died and all in all, it’s just a pretty nasty way to meet your maker (Oh wait, they were probably destroyed as well).
So what makes being destroyed by time worse than being snapped out of existence? Well, we’re glad you asked. The honest answer is, as horrifying as The Blip was, it only affected 50% of the population (perfectly balanced), and the planet was left relatively unscathed by Thanos’ actions.
The devastation caused by the Loom is indiscriminate and affects everyone equally. There are no survivors. Even worse, it doesn’t just erase people, planets, or even solar systems. The Loom’s radiation annihilates entire timelines. That means entire universes are being obliterated with almost no hope of restoration.
The only reason Loki’s able to save the day at the end of the episode seems to be sheer fluke (unless this was always part of He Who Remains’ plan). Had the God Mischief not been time slipping, he’d have been killed just like everyone else, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe would be over.
If that’s not terrifying, we don’t know what is. Still, you might think Thanos’ actions were more abhorrent, as The Snap left behind a load of traumatized survivors, most of whom had no idea what happened to their loved ones. It’s a fair point, but that’s not how we see it.
Survivors offer a chance to rebuild and restore. It’s a spark of hope and a reminder that things are bad now, but they have the chance to get better. That’s not the case when time itself is destroyed. It’s the cessation of everything, everywhere, all at once. The ultimate doomsday.
And if you need a reminder of the human cost of that, just think of poor Don, aka Mobius, as he saw his world turning into atoms and his last desperate attempt to get back to his children. Heartbreaking stuff.
Anyway, after that cheery story, you probably need a bit of a distraction. We’ve got just the thing: we’ve broken down what Loki potentially becoming the God of Stories means for the future of the MCU, as well as an article explaining everything you need to know about the newest and possibly greatest of all the Marvel villains, Kang the Conqueror.
That’s not all, though; we’ve also got guides breaking down all the upcoming Marvel movies where we go deep into Marvel’s Phase 5 and Phase 6, as well as a separate piece on The Marvels release date. If that’s not enough, we’ve also got an article explaining how to watch all the Marvel movies in order (It’s surprisingly difficult).
Finally, if you’re bored of all this mischief, we recommend taking a look at our list of everything new on Disney Plus so you can find yourself something new to watch. You can use our list of the best TV series to help you decide what you’re next binge is!