Marvel Studios definitely exceeded expectations with Loki, a series that's had major consequences for the wider MCU. The creation of the Multiverse has fans chomping at the bit for what comes next, but there were definitely some bumps down the Sacred Timeline before we reached that big reveal.
Time travel and alternate dimensions are a confusing concept at the best of times, and the MCU is definitely playing hard and fast with the rules. Answers could be coming, but for now, there were key parts of Loki that just didn't make sense to us. Some will call these plot holes, while others may argue that it's deliberate ambiguity, but all we know is that something doesn't add up!
We're gonna try and come up with some answers for you as we go, but if these passed you by or simply didn't register at the time, then you might find yourselves as frustrated as we currently are!
Love or hate the Disney+ series, we think you'll find some interesting talking points here...
5. What About The MCU's Other Variants?
Unbeknownst to us at the time, Avengers: Endgame featured quite a few Variants. The 2014 versions of Thanos, Nebula, and Gamora were among them, and rightly should have been pruned by the TVA given the impact they had on the Sacred Timeline.
In a throwaway moment, Judge Renslayer mentioned that Earth's Mightiest Heroes were meant to travel back in time. By that logic, these Variants were supposed to exist, thereby justifying how and why Gamora will be allowed to remain. It doesn't really make sense when you stop and think about it, though, and goes against the rules this series went to great lengths to establish.
After Captain America travelled back in time to reunite with Peggy Carter, he effectively made her a Variant because she was straying off the path created for her (a branching timeline must have also been created in that moment).
Luckily for Marvel, the birth of the Multiverse means none of this really matters as we're about to see lots of Variants in the MCU!
4. Kang's Grand Plan
So, everything we saw up until that final conversation was written by Kang - well, He Who Remains - and destined to always happen. The show made it clear his hope was that Loki and Sylvie would take his place, freeing him to do...what exactly?
With the two Loki Variants tasked with keeping an eye on the Sacred Timeline, it likely would have been up to them to ensure no more Kang Variants would ever be created. However, beyond stopping any branching timelines, what would they have to gain from taking on such a role? Could they rewrite history to their liking or would they simply be forced to keep an eye out for Kang?
It's a weird plan, and in such a dialogue-heavy finale, one that could have been better explained.
Perhaps there's a connection between Loki and Kang that has yet to be explored, but as of now, the time-traveller's desire to appoint the God of Mischief his successor feels a tad too convenient.
3. Loki's Variants
Loki has established the concept of alternate realities without explaining why the God of Mischief, for example, looks so different in them. If there was only ever supposed to be one version of the Asgardian in the Sacred Timeline, why were other timelines allowed to get far enough for a female version to reach the age Sylvie did?
We see the TVA leap into action to prune timelines as quickly as possible, so what's up with Variants like Boastful and Classic Loki?
We can only assume they were on the same path as our Loki up until a point - in the latter's case when he emerged from that hut - and it was then the TVA had to step in. However, does that mean there are timelines constantly running concurrently next to the "Sacred" one where we all have doppelgangers living the same life who look completely different?
If so, that leaves us with even more question, but they're not ones we're anticipated receiving answers to.
2. What About 2012?
Loki used the Tesseract to escape from The Avengers in 2012, and the TVA then stepped in to prune the timeline and take the God of Mischief into custody.
We can assume that the present-day Avengers had left by the time that reset charge was set off, but if the entire timeline was pruned, what did Captain America return to when he took the Tesseract back to 2012? There would have been nothing there, meaning that the timeline was either only pruned to a certain point in time or that a new one was created for him to return to.
Either way, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense, and we'd like to know what happened to a timeline that Earth's Mightiest Heroes left in complete disarray (like Steve telling his past self about Bucky).
We're not banking on this being addressed in a meaningful way, especially as Loki has made it clear he knows that he no longer has a timeline to return to.
1. The TVA's Rules
You could say this about any bureaucratic organisation, but the Time Variance Authority's rules really don't make much sense. They certainly picked and chose which ones to follow during the course of Loki, but there's one, in particular, that really didn't sit well with us as viewers.
The TVA established that when a Nexus event occurred, a new branching timeline would be created that had to be pruned before it was too late. That's all well and good, but what were they hoping to avoid?
Unlike some of the other issues listed here, we may have an answer for this. That red line point of no return was likely the moment Kang would have somehow been reborn, though it still feels like a stretch to suggest something happening in the 1980s at a renaissance fair would lead to Kang's emergence!
Honestly, it feels like Kang - and the show for that matter - was just making this up as he went along.