Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Loki episode 2.
Loki episode 2 has just created the Multiverse of Madness, paving the way to Doctor Strange 2. The MCU embraced the concept of time travel in Avengers: Endgame, but that film wasn't too clear about its model of temporal mechanics - in fact, even the writers and directors disagreed about how time travel worked in the MCU. Amusingly, it has fallen to Loki - a Disney+ TV series starring Marvel's most chaotic individual - to explain just how time works in the MCU, and to set up the Multiverse of Madness ahead of Doctor Strange 2.
It has done so by introducing the Time Variance Authority, an organization dedicated to policing what they call the "Sacred Timeline." According to the TVA, the timeline is naturally chaotic, with countless moments - so-called "nexus events" - capable of creating whole new branches of reality. This led to the creation of the first Multiverse, but when some of the timelines became aware of one another the result was a Multiversal war. When this interdimensional conflict was over, three powerful entities known as the Time-Keepers emerged and attempted to bring an end to the chaos. They ensure there is only one single timeline, using the TVA to destroy branches and prevent a new Multiverse from developing.
It was always clear the Time-Keepers and the TVA were destined to fail, simply because Marvel is working on other Multiversal stories. Marvel's What If..? will explore alternate timelines the TVA claim shouldn't exist, with tales where Peggy Carter becomes a super-soldier, T'Challa is taken to the stars as a child instead of Peter Quill, and the Winter Soldier goes up against a zombie Captain America. What's more, the Doctor Strange sequel is officially called Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which pretty much seals the deal. But Loki is moving quicker than anyone could have expected, with the Multiverse of Madness created by the end of episode 2 - by a variant of Loki no less.
A time traveling variant of Loki has been causing major problems for the TVA, setting up minor nexus events so she can ambush their field agents and steal the reset charges they use to destroy branches in the timeline. This variant left a clue in France in 1549, an anchronistic piece of "Kablooey" bubblegum that ultimately pointed the TVA to her hiding place at a Roxxcart facility at Haven Hills, Alabama, in 2050. She correctly realized she could hide from the TVA in a place that was about to be destroyed, because none of her actions there would generate a branch in the timeline. But, of course, the bubblegum was a trap - a way of drawing out the TVA and their own Loki.
The evil Loki variant enjoyed taunting the TVA's Loki, before stepping out of the shadows to reveal herself - Lady Loki, played by Sophia Di Martino. In the comics, Lady Loki was created as part of the Ragnarok cycle, with the trickster god's psyche possessing the body destined to be reincarnated as Sif, but trailers for Loki have suggested the MCU's Lady Loki has a simpler origin; Loki has been confirmed to be gender-fluid in the MCU.
The TVA thought Lady Loki had only accumulated six or so reset charges, but they had seriously underestimated this ruthless Loki variant; she'd collected at least a dozen or more, and set portals to transport them throughout the timeline when she was ready. Once she'd gotten enough of these reset charges, Lady Loki's plans escalated and she kidnapped a TVA agent at what should have been a routine nexus at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, in 1985. She used sorcery to delve into the agent's mind at her leisure, learning the location of the Time-Keepers.
As she'd expected, the TVA and their own version of Loki followed the clues to 2050 - and Lady Loki's plan moved to its next stage. She released the primed reset charges throughout the timeline, creating dozens of branched timelines in the resulting destruction (that bubblegum proved amusingly prophetic - "Kablooey" indeed). Lady Loki only had a limited number of charges, so it's reasonable to assume she carefully chose these locations to cause the maximum disruption to the timeline. Making matters worse, because these reset charges were transported through the timeline right before they detonated, the TVA would struggle to put matters right - and some of their agents, rushing to the scene, may well have been caught up in the destruction. And, of course, other nexus events would be spontaneously occurring in the background, easily missed in the chaos Lady Loki has caused.
Lady Loki has created a number of new branches in the timeline, and some of them already seem to be approaching redline - the point at which they cannot be reset - by the time the TVA began to respond to her attack. The Sacred Timeline is in chaos, with the Multiverse of Madness coming into existence. The majority of Lady Loki's targets appear to be centered on Earth, and she's focused particularly on the twentieth century, presumably because she knows the most about that part of the timeline. But there are also a number of key extraterrestrial locations targeted by Lady Loki:
- Hala, the Kree capital world, in 51AD, and Xandar in 1001, both affecting the history of galactic civilization
- Ego in 1302, meaning the living planet was destroyed centuries before traveling to Earth and siring Star-Lord
- Nifleheim in 1606, which would have presumably killed Hela, who was imprisoned there by Odin - and thus could potentially have created a timeline in which Ragnarok never happened
- Sakaar in 1984, presumably killing the Grandmaster
- Asgard in 2001, creating a timeline in which all Asgardians - and even Loki himself - were destroyed
- Vormir in 2301, suggesting what Nebula called "the center of Celestial existence" will become important again in the future, even though its Infinity Stone would be long gone by that point
The TVA impose an artificial order upon the timeline, and any variant of Loki would find this offensive, considering themselves a force of chaos. It's reasonable to assume, then, that Lady Loki sees herself as an insurgent fighting against the tyranny of the TVA, rejecting the destiny they are choosing for the MCU's Multiverse. She began with basic guerilla tactics, launching ambushes on the TVA in order to acquire their precious reset charges, and now she has created a nascent Multiverse to keep them occupied. There can be no doubt she is now aiming to take out the Time-Keepers themselves, having learned their location. But Lady Loki knows far too much about the timeline, and she possesses a lot of advanced technology she shouldn't really have access to, notably the portals she opened throughout the timeline. That suggests she is not working alone, but rather has an ally - perhaps Jonathan Majors' Kang the Conqueror, a time traveling villain from the comics who will appear in Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania.
The most intriguing question, though, is just what she wants from the variant of Loki who has been working with the TVA. She allowed this variant to draw her out, and left her escape portal open for a suspicious amount of time, suggesting she intends to recruit him to her cause. It will be interesting to see whether she succeeds - and whether the TVA soon find themselves dealing with two rogue variants of Loki rather than one.
Loki releases new episodes Wednesdays on Disney+.
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