Loki Season 2 Episode 1 Ending Explained: Did Loki Manage To Stop His Temporal Displacement?

Loki Season 2 Episode 1 picked up exactly where Season 1 left off after Sylvie killed the One Who Remains. The novelty and narrative heart of this first episode entitled the name of a very important character, Ouroboros, is that Loki continues to jump back and forth in time without wanting to. So, at the beginning of this second season of the Marvel Studios series, it is immediately clear that in the finale of the previous season, the final scene was set in the past. A past in which it was clear to everyone that the One Who Remains was in charge of the TVA. Then something happened where He Who Remains had to erase everyone’s memories and hide traces of him from the TVA. In all this, it seems that Ravonna Renslayer is actively involved (this can be understood from a recording that Loki listens to). Sylvie, on the other hand, practically never appears except in a single scene lasting a few seconds and then, as we will see, in the end credits scene set in 1982.

In the first season of Loki, we were introduced to the god of mischief who was captured by the Time Variance Authority (AVT) for escaping his timeline with the Tesseract. Instead of being “pruned” like other variants, Loki was given a unique opportunity to help unravel a mystery within the AVT. This journey led him to Sylvie, a female variant of himself, and together they discovered the truth about AVT being made up of kidnapped variants and the organization’s deceptive practices. The pivotal moment came when they confronted the One Who Remains, the enigmatic figure behind the AVT’s existence. He presented them with a choice: kill him and release countless variants of himself or take control of the AVT to preserve the sacred timeline. Sylvie’s thirst for revenge against the AVT led her to kill He Who Remains, creating chaos and uncertainty across the multiverse. Then she sent Loki to a timeline where he was completely forgotten, including by his friends Mobius and Hunter B-15. Season 2, Episode 1 takes us back to this universe of twists and intrigue, exploring the consequences of Sylvie’s actions and Loki’s new time-displaced dilemma.

Loki Season 2 Episode 1: Story Recap

Loki Season 2 picks up in the aftermath of the shocking season finale when Loki (Tom Hiddleston) finds himself in a battle for the soul of the Time Variance Authority. Together with Mobius (Owen Wilson), Hunter B-15 (Wunme Mosaku), and a team of characters old and new, Loki navigates an ever-expanding and increasingly dangerous Multiverse in search of Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino), Ravonna Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) and Miss Minutes to understand what it means to have free will and glorious purpose. But the threat of the mysterious Victor Timely (Jonathan Majors) endangers the fragile balance of the rapidly expanding Multiverse. Will they be able to defeat him in the past, present, and future?

Loki 2 opens a few seconds from where we left our protagonist in the shocking finale of the first season, imprisoned without his knowledge in a past of the TVA in which Mobius does not recognize him and dominated by gargantuan statues of He Who Remains, the mysterious weaver of universe timelines killed in cold blood by the Sylvie variant in the previous episode. A lightning-fast incipit that already perfectly frames the pace and tone of this second appointment with Thor’s brother, perhaps a little too much at the mercy of ambitions and narrative purposes specific to the completion of Marvel’s Phase Five.

Highlights from the Loki Season 2 Episode 1

• Loki appears in the past TVA, where neither Mobius nor B-15 recognize him, and consider him an intruder
• To escape the pursuing TVA agents, Loki hides in a mail carrier that crashes into a building, causing a timeline monitor to fall and crack in the floor
• Loki meets Casey, who also does not recognize him, and tries to escape before more agents arrive
• However, Loki jumps back to the present through a phenomenon called “time slipping”, which should be impossible in the TVA but is happening
• Loki discovers that the TVA employees seem to have gaps in their memories, probably because He Who Remains aka Kang has wiped their memories multiple times
• Meanwhile, Mobius and B-15 react to the revelation that they are all variants, and B-15 is adamantly opposed to eliminating the timelines now that he knows he could be from one of them
• B-15 makes an impassioned plea to stop the erasure of the new timelines and reveals that everyone in the room is variant, gaining support from Judge Gamble but not General Dox
• In the distant past, Loki discovers through a recording device that Ravonna and Kang were very close, probably close collaborators
• When he returns to the present, Loki reveals the impending threat to Gamble, Dox, B-15, X-5, and Mobius, showing them Kang’s golden face
• Dox remains skeptical and decides to investigate on her own, seeking out Sylvie to discover what happened at the End Times
• Loki finally reunites with Mobius and tells him everything that happened at the End Times, including his last fight with Sylvie and the explanation of the One Who Remains
• Loki warns Mobius that Miss Minutes is also on Kang’s side
• Loki and Mobius decide to go to the “Repairs and Upgrades” division deep in the TVA basement
• There they meet OB, who remembers an encounter he had with Mobius 400 years earlier, while Mobius has no memory of it
• Loki continues to time jump and goes back in time to talk to the young OB
• The two versions of OB work together in some way to help Loki stabilize himself in the present through a temporal aura extractor, a dangerous process that exposes Mobius to temporal radiation and Loki to a temporal purge hoping to anchor him to the present
• During this crazy attempt to save Loki, the God of Deceit remains in the past and sees Sylvie for a moment but is suddenly “mowed down” by the timeline
• Being mowed down at that precise moment saves Loki from erasure and brings him back to the present with Mobius

Loki Season 2 Episode 1 Ending Explained: Did Loki Manage To Stop His Temporal Displacement?

The episode begins with a thrilling chase scene as Mobius and the AVT attempt to arrest Loki, who continues to move through time within the confines of the AVT. His movements take him to different moments in time, confusing those who should remember him. This anomaly arises because Loki appears at times when his interactions with key AVT personnel have not yet occurred. However, when Loki arrives in the present, he encounters versions of Casey, Mobius, Hunter B-15, and others who still remember him. The entire AVT is dealing with the revelation that their lives have been stolen and their memories erased, all to serve a mysterious figure who has manipulated time itself.

The AVT in Turbulence: In Search of Sylvie?

Amidst this chaos, X-5, a prominent AVT hunter, instructs Mobius and B-15 to attend a meeting led by General Dox and Judge Gamble, who have temporarily taken command in Renslayer’s place. Renslayer was last seen walking through a Door of Time with Miss Minutes, leaving her motivations shrouded in mystery. At the War Room meeting, B-15 and Judge Gamble argue for an end to the practice of pruning timelines, citing the ethical dilemma of essentially committing genocide. However, General Dox, a die-hard advocate of timeline pruning, is vehemently opposed to this idea. Upon learning that Sylvie is responsible for killing He Who Remains and destabilizing the universe, General Dox orders X-5 to assemble a team to track down the Loki variant.

Ouroboros and the Plan to Stop Loki’s Temporal Displacement?

Loki updates Mobius about the Citadel at the End of Time and the imminent threat posed by infinite variants of Kang, who seek to assume the throne vacated by Him Who Remains. He also reveals that all AVT employees have had their memories erased, explaining their ignorance as to the true identity of the One Who Remains. Mobius advises Loki to address his temporal displacement problem before dealing with the larger problem, as Loki’s random disappearances impair his ability to act. Ouroboros (OB), author of the AVT guidebook, becomes the key to solving this enigma. Loki continues to move between past and present versions of OB, with updates occurring in real-time as they communicate. OB devises a plan that involves a Temporal Aura Extractor connected to the Temporal Loom. At any point in the past or future, Loki must prune himself, effectively freeing himself from the constraints of time. The Extractor would retrieve it, ending the temporal displacement phenomenon.

Has Time Displacement Stopped?

However, OB’s plan encounters a major obstacle: the Temporal Loom is overloaded due to the multiplicity of timelines seeking integration with the sacred timeline. To restore order, OB must close the blast doors and ensure proper processing of these multiple timelines. They have a tight five-minute window to execute this complex maneuver. In a twist of fate, Loki accidentally shifts through time, leaving Mobius and OB to complete the operation without him. As Loki reaches the Temporal Loom’s control room, he realizes that he is in the future and must find a Temporal Rod to prune himself. In a tense climax, Mobius successfully connects the Extractor to the Temporal Loom. However, without a Temporal Staff, Loki’s fate hangs in the balance. OB, sensing the urgency, rushes to close the blast doors and save the AVT from imminent destruction. Just when it seems like OB’s theory has failed, Loki reappears, crashing into Mobius. Together, they return to the control room, with the blast doors closing behind them. Loki asserts the need to find Sylvie, setting the stage for the next chapter of their adventure.

Sylvie’s Whereabouts and Developing Drama?

Meanwhile, in the halls of AVT, Hunter B-15 observes General Dox leading an army of hunters through the Gates of Time. His mission is not only to recapture Sylvie but also to prune the branches of the timeline, following his deep-rooted training. In a post-credits scene, Sylvie emerges in Oklahoma in 1982, entering a branching timeline. Opting for a simpler life, she takes a job at a McDonald’s restaurant, apparently wanting to escape the chaos of the multiverse. However, her actions have consequences, and she cannot avoid AVT for long. General Dox, Loki, and Mobius are approaching her.

The mysterious appearance of a future version of Sylvie within the AVT raises questions about her intentions. She may be ready to confront the institution that ruined her life. As Loki Season 2 unfolds, it promises more time-related adventures, complex character dynamics, and the relentless search for truth in a multiverse on the brink of chaos. With Loki’s time-displaced dilemma at the forefront, the stage is set for a thrilling journey into the heart of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, filled with twists and mysteries. Stay tuned for more Loki, where time is never what it seems and the consequences of choices resonate for eternity. The God of Mischief’s antics are far from over, and the multiverse is full of endless possibilities.