Loki: What’s hidden in plain sight in episode 5

Alioth and his possible master

And now we come the gigantic, all-consuming, ever hungry purple smoke monster in the heart of the Void and of “Journey Into Mystery,” Alioth. What Alioth does is made perfectly clear, and the shark analogy Classic Loki uses in describing its behavior is apt. Even then, this still doesn’t give us the full story because, believe or not, Alioth is a creature from the original comics, too.

First appearing in the 1993 miniseries, Avengers: The Terminatrix Objective, Alioth occupies a vast territory of nothingness outside of space-time. Rather than being a “guard dog,” however, Alioth serves only its own appetites. The only reason it hasn’t consumed other portions of space-time is because it’s kept in-check by none other than Kang the Conqueror. That’s right, Alioth is yet another direct connection to the Marvel supervillain, and yet another clue pointing towards him being the secret mastermind behind the TVA and the myth of the “Sacred Timeline.”

And it’s not the only one. Remember the glimpse of Avengers Tower from the beginning of the episode? Written on the side of it was the word “Qeng.” This is reference to Qeng Enterprises, a multinational company Tony Stark sold the Avengers Tower to in the original comics. The CEO of Qeng Enterprises is one Mister Gryphon, an alias of Nathaniel Richards. And Nathaniel Richards is the real name of… you guessed it! Kang the Conqueror. What’s interesting to note is that in Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Tony also sold Avengers Tower, which was brought by an as of yet unidentified corporation. It’s now entirely possible that that corporation was Queg Enterprises.

There’s one more possible connection to Kang in this episode. Remember Immortus, the alternate future version of Kang who worked with the real Time-Keepers in the comics? Well, he operated in a stronghold that floated within the vast expanse of nothingness known as Limbo. The name of Immortus’ stronghold was known as “Castle Limbo.” And do Loki and Sylvie not see a castle on an asteroid floating in some vast expanse at the end of this episode?

Between Ravonna Renslayer, the false Time-Keepers, Alioth, Qeng Tower, and other Easter Eggs, the clues all seem to be pointing towards Kang. It’s possible that the big bag could be yet another Loki variant, but the evidence, circumstantial that it may be, isn’t pointing towards this. Even if there’s another Loki variant at the castle, or if Sylvie ends up being a traitor as part of an elaborate long con, it does seem Loki is building things up towards a greater mastermind operating from the shadows. If it does turn out to be Kang, then Marvel has already sprinkled those breadcrumbs, perhaps even as far back as the first MCU Spider-Man movie. How’s that for a conspiracy theory?

Did you spot more clues or Easter Eggs in Loki, episode 5, that we might have missed? Let us know what they are, and some of your own theories about the season finale in the comments below.