Loki season 2 has premiered to bless our screens, so we start out the second second with a strong episode and some questions.
The first season of Loki came to a close with an unexpected twist. Loki and Sylvie, one of the God of Mischief’s many variants from another timeline, finally find themselves in the Citadel at the End of Time, where they meet the enigmatic man behind the Time Variance Authority – He Who Remains. The all-powerful entity revealed that he’s kept the multiverse in check to prevent an all-out war between his own countless variants, including Kang the Conqueror. When Sylvie chooses to kill He Who Remains against Loki’s wishes, it not only unleashes the potential chaos of a multiverse but also sends Loki back to a TVA where no one recognizes him, hinting at an altered timeline and setting the stage for the current second season.
After a lengthy wait, season 2 has arrived and the first episode was a solid start to the continuation of this lore. Our favorite baby-faced trickster, Loki, returns to Disney Plus, bringing with him a series of mysteries and revelations about the Marvel Cinematic Universe. For those of us who’ve closely followed his journey, we know that every revelation often leaves us with more questions – such as the first returning episode.
*** This article features SPOILERS from Loki season 2 episode 1. Do not read on if you haven’t seen it yet and don’t want it spoiled for you. ***
By the end of “Ouroboros”, Loki’s time hiccups aren’t the only mystery. This episode has already left us with a bunch of unanswered questions: from Sylvie’s sneaky moves to that weird phone call and who exactly sent Loki packing. It’s clear the show’s setting up a few mysteries, and I bet we’ll get some answers in the upcoming episodes.
But the two biggest questions we were left with need immediate answers. Let’s take a look at those questions, which we all likely had after watching the premiere of Loki‘si highly anticipated second season, shall we? Oh, and of course one more time – please beware of spoilers.
2. Why is Loki time-slipping?
As a very unexpected jump-scare hit us while watching the premiere of season 2, we see that Loki is being pulled in and out of time, bouncing between the past, present, and future of the Time Variance Authority. Weirdly, no one else is experiencing this anomaly, only Loki.
One theory presented by Ouroboros (known affectionately as “O.B.” and played by the brilliant Ke Huy Quan) is that the Temporal Loom is on the verge of overloading, which might be causing all this. But with O.B. himself as well as Mobius, B-15, O.B., and even Sylvie seemingly just cruising along without any kind of hiccups, completely unaffected by this time chaos, there has to be more to this phenomenon.
Maybe Loki’s time hiccups aren’t just some random glitch. Given how time travel rules in Loki’s world differ from, say, Avengers: Endgame, someone else entirely could be pulling the strings. It would absolutely not surprise me if it’s Loki himself, or maybe even Sylvie or another Kang variant, messing with time once again to set the stage for what needs to happen to solve all of this.
The season 2 trailer suggests that the time-slipping is not yet finished for Loki but what else could be waiting for him in the five episodes ahead?
1. Where are the rest of Kang’s variants?
After He Who Remains took his final bow, the multiverse swung its doors wide open to the calvary of the “other Kangs”. This means a ton of Kangs, with no exaggeration, will be back on the scene. There’s a storm brewing with these guys, and they’re definitely gearing up for some kind of cosmic showdown as remembered from the mid-credit scene from Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
Now, while we’re all trying to figure out this Kang chaos, Loki has his own set of problems, as well now. He’s bouncing around, time-slipping from the future to the past and vice versa. And here’s where things got a little interesting for me: During one of his time hiccups, Loki hears a recorded call between Ravonna Rennslayer and Kang. And I’d be lying if I said it didn’t give a nod to their romantic trajectories and overall complicated relationship from the Marvel comics. Could this mean Ravonna and Kang have possibly been in an alliance this whole time, since it seems Loki is in the same timeline yet going back in time itself? The plot thickens…
So, with Kang variants popping up and Loki diving into the past, Loki season 2 will maybe/probably/definitely be bringing some more variants along – we just have to wait and see which ones make their presence felt. We do know Victor Timely will be in it at some point as he has been confirmed (via both the Quantumania post-credits scene and the Loki season 2 trailer), what remains is to see what’s next.
We’re only one episode into Loki season 2, and the intrigue is already through the roof. Here’s hoping that as the season progresses, some of these puzzles get solved properly. But, knowing our favorite whimsical Trickster, we’re in for some time-drama, variant-drama, and maybe a lot of Kang-drama, too. Hopefully the list of post-episode questions isn’t entirely too long by the end of this season. Now is the time for answers, right?
What did you think of the Loki season 2 premiere? What questions did season 2 episode 1 leave you asking?