Loki

[luprki]

No.

It's [expletive deleted] awesome.

Excellent, unfortunately I can’t see it until tomorrow

[j9ac9k]

****SPOILERS for EP 1*****
There's so much packed into this show, but a few thoughts:
-- The beginning was definitely giving me "Ragnarok" vibes, with Thor's introduction to the Grand Master paralleling Loki's admission into the TVA. Aside from the humor, both of them being unceremoniously knocked out by a woman, then the juxtaposition of a mundane recorded introduction with something grand, Loki being stripped and humbled/Thor's haircut, the control device with a remote control (that he ends up palming), a random person in the same position being disintegrated in front of them, the impotent display of non-power, etc.
-- All these Marvel shows are essentially therapy sessions for their characters, isn't it? I'm in. Loki's realization of how small he actually is, and how meaningless his ambitions have been was very effective. Aside from the initial reaction, we never really saw Loki deal with the fact that he got his mother killed. It's great that these shows give us all these character moments the movies didn't have time for.
-- How ironic that Loki thought the Avengers went back in time to thwart his rise, when they did it to reverse Thanos's victory - the guy who just gave him an army to invade earth, and also ended up killing him. If it weren't anymore clear that he was a pawn - kinda humbling.
-- This show gave themselves the ultimate loop hole to explain why sometimes the TVA has interfered with time travelers and why they haven't. I know they'll never address "Agents of SHIELD" but they were branching timelines all over the place in that final season... Maybe they'll make a comment about having them cancelled to stop their shenanigans.

[Hypestyle]

so when will we eventually get to see Justice Peace?

[Donald]

So assuming the Eternals know about the TVA I guess we know why they haven't interfered up until now. The whole "supposed to happen" is still a hard sell imo. How many variants does Steve have at this point?

I think the 'supposed to happen" just means it's part of the timeline the TVA heads put together after mushing the multiverse into one timeline. Wasn't that DC?

The TVA doesn't interfere in anything that goes on in history, only when something steps out of time in a destructive way. They didn't interfere with Endgame because returning the stones stopped the alternate timelines. Returning the stones should have prevented Loki's escape, but apparently not.

Wild Idea: Loki was right, and the TVA is an illusion. King Loki created the TVA to get this Loki to do...something that creates King Loki.

[green_garnish]

MCU meets Sleeper. But they couldn't pull off the funny bits

[Hiromi]

-- This show gave themselves the ultimate loop hole to explain why sometimes the TVA has interfered with time travelers and why they haven't. I know they'll never address "Agents of SHIELD" but they were branching timelines all over the place in that final season... Maybe they'll make a comment about having them cancelled to stop their shenanigans.

ironically this is the first time Coulson's actually appeared in the MCU proper since Avengers I believe

[CliffHanger2]

I think the 'supposed to happen" just means it's part of the timeline the TVA heads put together after mushing the multiverse into one timeline. Wasn't that DC?

The TVA doesn't interfere in anything that goes on in history, only when something steps out of time in a destructive way. They didn't interfere with Endgame because returning the stones stopped the alternate timelines. Returning the stones should have prevented Loki's escape, but apparently not.

Wild Idea: Loki was right, and the TVA is an illusion. King Loki created the TVA to get this Loki to do...something that creates King Loki.

It would be funny if he was playing a trick on himself to just to level up. But it could be true if anyone could spot an illusion it should be Loki. He's looking out the window like"This isn't real." Things that make you go hmmmmmm....
Having a multiverse that functions on the same timeline also needs to be explained. When DC did it all The alternate earth's were destroyed.

[AnakinFlair]

The TVA doesn't interfere in anything that goes on in history, only when something steps out of time in a destructive way. They didn't interfere with Endgame because returning the stones stopped the alternate timelines. Returning the stones should have prevented Loki's escape, but apparently not.

But they didn't get the Tesseract from when Loki escaped. They got it from the 70's from SHIELD Headquarters at the army base. So Steve putting that stone back won't change anything with Loki.

Which begs the question- did the TVA reset the timeline from when Loki escaped, and in doing so was the original Loki still sent back to Asgard with Thor. And the Loki we are seeing is some kind of temporal copy? I hope we get a better explanation as to what a Variant is at some point.

ironically this is the first time Coulson's actually appeared in the MCU proper since Avengers I believe

Coulson was in Captain Marvel.

[Donald]

Having a multiverse that functions on the same timeline also needs to be explained. When DC did it all The alternate earth's were destroyed.

Pretty sure they said the merged the multiverse into one, sacred timeline.

[Donald]

But they didn't get the Tesseract from when Loki escaped. They got it from the 70's from SHIELD Headquarters at the army base. So Steve putting that stone back won't change anything with Loki.

But the did get the Time & Mind stone (Loki's spear) from that era. Would putting them back prevent Loki escape & getting the Tesseract?

[inisideguy]

The set designs on this show are pretty freaking cool

[Frontier]

It is kind of surreal following the Loki from circa-The Avengers and not the "real" Loki, but I guess that does help set up the show's premise and core themes.

That flashback may be the last time we see the Avengers Trinity together any time soon...oh, and here's Ant-Man and Hulk.

Poor Loki had grand plans and then, once again, they get upended even before he can get started. The TVA doesn't mess around. And are a little trigger happy.

Even Loki is not immune to getting forcibly stripped after being captured...like brother, like brother. Also, shirtless Tom Hiddleston.

So...how frequent is time travel that the TVA have so much work to do and take so many people into custody? How did that Skrull, that Goldman-Sachs guy, or that one woman end up as variants? Not everyone can nab a Space Stone thanks to time travel hijinks.

I never would have thought I'd hear Tara Strong in a Marvel Studios TV show, but Miss Minutes and that retro animated promotional video really handled the exposition of the TVA quite well.

So the Time Keepers are basically time gods who re-forged the universe into one, single, timeline that can't be altered? All the Avengers' hijinks in Endgame was part of "the plan" which is why it wasn't a problem? The Time Keepers are still around, building the timeline? Is there not supposed to be a multiverse even though it seems like we'll be seeing it in future movies? Seems like this series is going to say a lot about determinism, fate, and the choices we make.

What exactly is where the TVA is? The end of time? Are they a civilization existing outside of time and dedicated entirely to protecting it? Kind of giving me 31st century, Legion of Superheroes, vibes.

Agent Mobius in the comics was based on Mark Grunewald, right? So is Owen Wilson playing Agent Mobius as if he was a real life Mark Grunewald? Although he's still obviously an Owen Wilson character.

Sorry AoS fans, I think Feige still believes Coulson is dead...

I wonder what Ravonna being a by-the-book Time Judge in a position of authority in the TVA will track with how she's historically hooked up with Kang the Conqueror?

Nothing quite makes it settle in how powerful the Time Bureau are like how the Infinity Stones are just baubles to them.

Loki fast-forwarding through his timeline, seeing his mother's death, Odin saying he loved him, and that he reconciled with Thor...only to then die, definitely put him through the emotional wringer. Oh yeah, and the Big Bad is apparently himself.

So how are there two Loki variants? Is this second Loki going to end up being Female Loki? What's the endgame here?

[AnakinFlair]

So the Time Keepers are basically time gods who re-forged the universe into one, single, timeline that can't be altered? All the Avengers' hijinks in Endgame was part of "the plan" which is why it wasn't a problem? The Time Keepers are still around, building the timeline? Is there not supposed to be a multiverse even though it seems like we'll be seeing it in future movies? Seems like this series is going to say a lot about determinism, fate, and the choices we make.

Supposedly, this show is going to have a major impact on the films going forward. I have two theories:

1. What happens in this show will create a new multiverse that will end up getting explored in Doctor Strange 2.

or

2. The Time Keepers lied. There is still a multiverse, but they did something to hide those universes, they chose one timeline to call the 'Sacred Timeline', and the TVA exists to make sure those other timelines don't get more powerful then the Time Keeper's chosen timeline.

[Scott Taylor]

So ok one interesting thing to me was that the Ancient One was totally wrong about those variant timelines and scared Bruce for nothing. I mean, she could not have known of the TVA. But essentially no matter what happens to anything, it all stays on the rails like a Disney ride.

And will the Tesseract that Loki used to create a variant will have to be returned? Unless by resetting things after the TVA picked Loki up the Tesseract went back automatically. That could explain why they have all those Infinity Stones sitting around being used as paperweights - leftovers from variants being created and then fixed.

But the really interesting thing is the name of the upcoming Dr. Strange film. Seems like the TVA is doomed, yes?

[ZeroBG82]

They totally set up the TVA to get destroyed here. They might as well have lampshaded the Miss Minutes bit with a caption that read "We totally have a movie called Doctor Strange: The Multiverse of Madness coming soon!" Even the word choice seemed to deliberately tie into that title.

Red herring? Or blatantly obvious foreshadowing? I guess we'll find out in a few weeks.

Unless by resetting things after the TVA picked Loki up the Tesseract went back automatically.

I get the impression that the reset bombs pretty literally do their thing. They effectively erase the branch before it can create a fully fledged alternate universe. How? Who knows, they haven't shown us. Maybe they are literally destroying entire timelines. But I think it's simpler than that, more like the Time Twister that Mobius uses on Loki. With the Variant removed, they just kind of snap everything back into place with a rewind. Considering the alternate Loki variant (or future Loki variant? They were awfully coy with showing his face in that final scene) seems to be collecting them, it's entirely possible we learn more about how they work as we go along.

For me the biggest question here is that second Loki variant. When does he come from? Was he (or she, I suppose, with Loki being fluid) spawned from an event we might already have seen? Or is it a future where Loki lived past Thanos? What circumstances created him? Could he even be the future incarnation of THIS Loki variant? Part of me is expecting Old Man Loki now. With this Loki forced to choose between winning his freedom in the now by stopping his future self, but possibly being forced to accept some terrible outcome that results, or siding with himself and trying to change fate.