The Marvel Cinematic Universe already addressed the concept of time travel, thanks to the blockbuster hit Avengers: Endgame. Not surprisingly, it opened up a lot of possibilities for the franchise, introducing multiple versions of a certain character. But did Loki Season 2 actually break the rule about time travel? The premiere episode of the second season seemingly changed things up for the MCU. However, this was immediately addressed by a Marvel writer, suggesting time doesn’t work the way it should in the TVA.
In Loki Season 2’s premiere episode, the God of Mischief ended up back in the TVA headquarters but it’s not the same one he was previously in. After reuniting with Mobius, Loki is brought to Ouroboros aka O.B., who explains that time-slipping in the TVA is impossible. Nevertheless, Loki warps into an earlier moment where he convinces OB to create a Temporal Aura Extractor that would fix their problem.
While it was a cool way to repair Loki’s dilemma, Marvel fans pointed out that it breaks a time-travelling rule that was introduced in Avengers: Endgame where an individual must avoid trying to change the future. By telling OB what he needs to invent to fix the problem, the God of Mischief altered the future to his advantage.
Loki Writer Addresses Possible Avengers: Endgame Retcon
So did Loki Season 2 just change the rules of time travel from Avengers: Endgame? Writer Eric Martin told The Hollywood Reporter that this isn’t necessarily the case since “time works differently” in the TVA headquarters.
“It’s absolutely that, and it shouldn’t be possible,” Martin said. “OB sees this [time slipping], and it’s like, ‘We don’t actually have time. We don’t age. This should not be something that can happen.’ And so there are different rules in the TVA itself, and we don’t even quite understand what that means yet.”
He then added the Loki Season 2 premiere didn’t intentionally change the rules that were set in Avengers: Endgame. Instead, Martin and the writers wanted to explore the possibilities with the MCU series.
“It’s not that I was trying to not work within the rules we’ve established; I was just trying to continue to grow them,” Martin said. “I really didn’t want one scene to be something that broke the paradigm, although it was a scene that came to me and just stuck immediately. So that’s very much the scene that we talked about in the room. I definitely was trying to not just stay within the rules we had, but also expand them, grow them and grow out our world of the TVA as a whole, and really ask the question, ‘Well, if that’s not possible, how is it happening?'”
It’s certainly an interesting thought and it seems to confirm that the TVA is exempt from certain time rules. For instance, OB himself had a subtle yet significant change when Loki visited him in the past. With that in mind, the God of Mischief can take advantage of the TVA being exempted from certain timeline rules in an effort to secure the Sacred Timeline. And while Loki and his companions try to fix last week’s disaster, anything could still happen in the last two episodes of Loki Season 2.
Will Loki Season 2 Present a Possible MCU Do-Over?
While it is still unclear if the Avengers: Endgame retcon will be addressed in the future, the MCU series finally got a hopeful update. As Loki Season 2 progresses towards its conclusion, the trailer for the upcoming episodes has left fans with high expectations and various possibilities. In the previous episode titled Heart of the TVA, Loki and his team faced a failure in their efforts to prevent the Temporal Loom, which has been malfunctioning since Sylvie’s actions led to the downfall of He Who Remains, from wreaking havoc on the timeline. This episode saw the pruning of Renslayer and the horrifying transformation of Victor Timely due to the Loom’s radiation.
However, the new trailer for Loki Season 2’s last two episodes possibly presented a new option. In the trailer, Loki and his companions are still alive and determined to rectify their past mistakes by fixing the Loom and preserving the Sacred Timeline. The upcoming episodes promise to deliver thrilling twists and turns as Loki, Sylvie, and their allies strive to restore order and undo the chaos that has unfolded within the TVA. Fans are eagerly anticipating the epic conclusion and the resolution of the complex narrative in the second season.
Loki Season 2 Episode 5 will be the penultimate episode of the new MCU series. It is set to premiere on Disney+ on November 2, 2023.
