We’re getting a second chance at doing this the right way.

Episode 5 was almost a What If? episode in itself, showing us the effects of the loom exploding. Obviously, it’s not clear that it’s a What If? episode until the end, when Loki is able to figure out how to timeslip on command and go back to the end of Episode 4. Yet there were still a lot of important moments that we need to focus on, as this episode taught us that without the loom, the Multiverse would not be able to be stable. The loom has to be fixed, or everything just falls apart, setting up the finale perfectly. I’ll get into all this in a second, but first, you know the deal. Take a listen to our corresponding podcast episode on your listening platform of choice, or listen live now in this blog post.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/7J9PlTrG3BaA1dNSqXieb4?si=ZpuLO97qQoSQ4jEUO2YH_A

Loki, a Possible New Nexus Being

One thing I love more than anything is being right, and this episode gave me at least one thing to be right about. Our theory of everyone returning to their original spots in the timeline where their branches could now grow came true, although we had one outlier. Of course, Loki was the only one who didn’t return, naturally, because Marvel couldn’t give us this one thing one time. Yet it’s important to ask the question that I was asking the whole episode which is, why didn’t Loki return to his branched timeline, and why is he starting to timeslip again?

These are great questions that go hand in hand with one another, yet we don’t actually have answers from the series itself, leaving us with theories. The current running theory that I can get behind is that somewhere in the middle of all this, Loki became a Nexus being. As a reminder, there are only a few other Nexus beings that have existed to our knowledge, such as the Scarlet Witch and America Chavez. There is only one version of both of them across the entire Multiverse. As for this variant of Loki, the possibility that he has somewhere along the way become a Nexus being is mainly solidified by him being the only one who doesn’t seem to be affected by anything happening around him. He didn’t return to his branched timeline when the loom exploded like the rest, he’s the only one timeslipping, and he doesn’t appear to start to noodle when everyone else does at the end of the episode. Somewhere along the road, Loki gaining the ability to timeslip may be what makes him a Nexus being, unable to be affected by time and universes.

While we’re on the topic of the timeslipping, it also would check out that Loki has become a Nexus being based on the fact it looks like the timeslipping is here to stay. Episode 5 was primarily here to show us that not only did the timeslipping return, but Loki is learning how to control it and use it to undo the damage done from the loom. Past this, continuing to have the ability to timeslip makes Loki arguably one of the more powerful beings in the universe, similar to our Nexus being buddy America Chavez and her ability to navigate the Multiverse.

The Consequences of Losing the Loom

This entire episode lived in the aftermath of the loom explosion that ended Episode 4. As said before, we were right about the heroes returning to their home branches, but we certainly learned some interesting things about each in the process. No one should be shocked about Mobius being a jetski salesman, as I’m pretty sure that was a theory running already from Season 1. B-15 makes sense as a nurse and O.B. being a science fiction author while still being extremely smart also checks out. I think I speak for the group when the most shocking person’s original life was Casey, who was actively escaping Alcatraz in his timeline. Casey, who is seen as a nerdy analyst in the TVA, was a harder criminal in his life, which is just a crazy 180 from what we know.

However, beyond being able to see everyone’s true lives, the real consequences of losing the loom come down to the fact the branches are noodling. When the loom exploded, we theorized the real Multiverse would form, no longer being held back by being sucked back and woven into the Sacred Timeline. Clearly, this is incorrect, as we saw the branches falling apart, but why? The last time we saw a noodling was Victor Timely and it was because there was too much temporal energy. It may be safe to assume that the loom explosion spread high levels of temporal energy throughout the Multiverse, tearing through timelines and destroying them before our very eyes.

What is the Timeline of Loki? – Again

As much as we would love to avoid this topic, it continues to come up in importance as the stakes of Loki continue to increase. Remember, Loki Season 1 supposedly opened the Multiverse and allowed for No Way Home and other Multiverse-related works. We have to assume that Loki Season 2 would have just as important effects in the larger MCU. So here we are, once again trying to figure out when exactly the Loki series takes place in the MCU.

Here’s our current theory coming out from Episode 5. Loki Season 1 takes place close to 2012 when this Loki variant is picked up after deviating from the path of the Sacred Timeline. The events all take place along the 2012/2013 timeframe, and then the Multiverse is actually opened during this area of the timeline. This then explains why in Dr. Strange, the Ancient One references the Multiverse multiple times. Then, Loki Season 2 takes place somewhere between 2017 and the present time in the MCU. This will allow the events and whatever comes from the conclusion of Season 2 to affect the current state of the Multiverse, which would be Phase 4 and 5. We can’t continue to act like the loom exploding, branches being bombed, and various branches noodling aren’t affecting the greater MCU. We especially can’t avoid it when things like Multiverse of Madness tell us that we are currently facing an Incursion and we have something called Secret Wars slated in our near future. For now, this is the best we have thought as far as the timeline of Loki itself, but again, this may change by just watching the finale, meaning we have to wait and see what’s coming next for us.

The Possible Return of Victor, Miss Minutes, and Renslayer

We have three characters who may or may not return in the finale, especially now that we are timejumping back to the last few moments of Episode 4. The most notable here might actually be Victor Timely. The jump point takes us back to right when Victor descends the stairs and is getting ready to go out to the loom. Logically, the only way to not make the same mistake as before would be to stop Victor, which would stop him from dying. Now, I’ve been clear on how much I adore Victor and how his death genuinely shocked me. However, I have to say bringing him back awakens the fear in me again that he will turn into He Who Remains. The only thing keeping that fear at bay is how strongly Marvel is trying to avoid making a bigger deal out of Jonathan Majors’s characters, meaning if that was the ending, it’s possible they changed it.

Another character I do expect to return is Miss Minutes, as she is the only one who isn’t dead or ‘banished’ I guess we can say. She was rebooted out of the system, but that means when the system comes back online, so does she. She’s a menacing force and quite frankly, is terrifying, meaning Marvel will for sure want to have her return. I’m not sure what role she would play in the finale if one at all, but I do think her return could ominously lead us to a set-up for Season 3 if the studio plans to go there with the Loki series. As we know from Season 1, we won’t get any confirmation on this until we finish the finale and they keep all talks about it silent. If they do plan to do another season, though, I could see Miss Minutes being set up to be the opposing force they face.

Lastly, we have Renslayer who we last saw be pruned by her mind-controlled buddy Brad. We’ve seen people return from being pruned before and I do think it could be a big miss if we don’t see her character return in some way. However, as I said before, I think Miss Minutes is the bigger threat across the board, so I’m not sure Renslayer really has a purpose for returning. As far as what they’ve shown us, her character has pretty much run her course for the current storyline, so unless things really ramp up in Episode 6, I think her character may be sidelined for a while.

Season Finale Predictions

We are one episode away from wrapping up Season 2 of Loki, which means we have to make some solid predictions regarding what could happen in Episode 6. While I’ve already mentioned a few, there are two notable ones that Taylor and I both want to pitch in for the finale of Loki Season 2.

My theory that I want to throw into the mix for the finale is that I think Loki will use his new timeslipping capabilities to fix the loom. There have been several notable moments that have hinted at this happening, including the argument between Loki and Mobius about who is going to do it in Episode 4. But the best piece of evidence is all of Episode 5. We learned that Victor couldn’t be the one to do it as he would fail, and we also learned that Loki now has control over his timeslipping, which happens to bypass the rules about timeslipping not being able to happen in the TVA. It seems all of this has been leading to Loki being the one to timeslip out to the machine and widen the loom.

Taylor’s theory can be looked at two ways in regards to mine. It can either support mine or pretty much throw mine in the trash, which always makes a good theory. She believes that Loki is going to have to prune all the branches to save the team time on fixing the loom. This could go with mine in saying he does this to give himself more than 3 seconds to timeslip into the temporal energy that is radiating off the loom and timelines. Or it could go against, saying that if they prune all the branches to begin with, the temporal energy will decrease enough that Victor would still be able to be the one to fix it. We’re definitely excited to if either of these come to fruition and who might be right as we finish Loki.

Conclusion

You might be sick of me saying it, but we are on the final episode of Loki Season 2 and the ending really is anyone’s game. The fate of the entire Multiverse rides on our misfit team of heroes and we might get to see multiple variations of an ending in Episode 6, which could be pretty cool. As we gear up for that to come Thursday night, don’t forget that early showings of The Marvels also start Thursday, so make your watch plans, as we have a crazy double header coming in only a few days. With this wave of content, make sure you keep up with Marvel and all of our corresponding podcast episodes, as Marvel just blew your mind, so let’s talk about it.

Image: “Loki Season 2 Episode 5”, Therese Lacson, Collider