Loki: What’s hidden in plain sight in episode 4
By Mike McNulty
The truth about the Time-Keepers
As suspected, the Time-Keepers proved to be a complete sham; or more precisely, a trio of elaborately crafted “mindless androids.” Which begged the question: If the Time-Keepers didn’t create the TVA, then who did?
Well, if you’ve been following our previous articles on Loki, then you also know that the villainous time-traveler from the distant future, Kang the Conqueror, is the prime suspect. Or Immortus. Or Rama-Tut. Or one of the many past and possible future selves of Kang. After all, we already know that Jonathan Majors will play the part in the upcoming Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. But since that movie doesn’t come out until 2023, it would only make sense for Kang to make an early appearance, or have a character mention him by name, as a teaser for that movie.
In addition, we’ve already talked about how Judge Rannova Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) has direct ties with Kang as his lover in the comics. Her being Kang’s partner would certainly fit with how “The Nexus Event” clearly shows her knowing way more about what’s really going on than anyone else at the TVA.
But if Kang really is the mastermind behind all this, why the charade? And why go to these elaborate lengths to “protect the Sacred Timeline” if it’s not really to prevent another “Multiversal War?” The answer lies in Kang’s title as the Conqueror. In the comics and other media, his goal is to rule all of time itself, and he goes to great lengths to ensure that his future Empire comes to pass. That would mean making sure that certain key events happen the way they are supposed to, while also eliminating branching timelines that could threaten his rule.
This would also retroactively explain why the TVA had no problem with the Avengers going back in time to take the Infinity Stones as shown in Avengers: Endgame (2019). Because with both Thanos (Josh Brolin) and Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) dead, Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) retired, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) off-planet, the Asgardian population dwindled, and the Avengers all but disbanded, most of the major threats to Kang have all been dealt with. All except Loki and his many variants.