Of all the MCU shows, Marvel’s Loki is the strongest. The series took 2012 Loki from The Avengers during Avengers: Endgame’s time travel heist and removed him from his time period. At this point, Loki has yet to go through his redemption arc, and is still very much in his criminal mindset. However, Loki does not allow the character to remain an antagonist throughout the entire series. Instead, Loki must go through a different version of the redemption arc when he meets those in charge of ensuring the Sacred Timeline. Although Spider-Man: No Way Home is the first Marvel film to introduce the significance of the Multiverse, Loki is the first MCU show to actually portray it.

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Loki uses Variants as a way to have a better grasp of understanding how the Multiverse works. Sylvie, a Loki Variant, is a critical part of that. Loki is a mix of comedy and exploring undiscovered lore in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Loki understands the significance it has on the MCU as a whole, creating a story that, by the end, has created a massive shift in the universe. Loki allows the audience and title character to grasp how delicate the Multiverse can be and what could happen if each universe is not kept apart.

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Introducing the Multiverse Rules

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How does the Multiverse work? Loki spends the entirety of its run explaining the Sacred Timeline, Variants, Time Keepers, and other essential elements to keeping the universe in line. Next, Loki explains that when someone makes a choice separate from what the timeline says they are meant to do, such as the 2012 Loki escaping from custody, it is up to others to get involved and remove the person from the timeline to correct it. Next, Loki from 2012 learns what his future would have looked like had he not escaped, including the tragic death of his mother, redemption arc, and untimely death at the hands of Thanos. Finally, Loki spends its time answering questions about the universe’s inner workings. To portray how the other universes would appear, Marvel created What If…? as a way to show alternate versions of characters and events.

Sylvie and Other Variants

Finding out that Time Keepers will strip you from your home and everything you have ever known or loved is a hard enough pill to swallow. For Sylvie, it happened to her as a child. Sylvie is only a young girl when she is taken from her home, never to return. She grows up angry and bitter, desiring to kill He Who Remains for forcing her to live such a miserable life. Sylvie is a Loki Variant, which is why Loki was supposed to be a great help in tracking Sylvie down. However, Sylvie’s existence, along with many other Variants, or potential Variants, does the work to explain to viewers what to expect before What If…?, Spider-Man: No Way Home, or Doctor Strange in the Multiverse Of Madness gave a deeper dive into the complexities, similarities, and differences of the Multiverse.

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Loki-Centric Story Dives Deeper Into the Character

Loki may be a villain, but he is also a very interesting, exciting, and comical character. For the most part, Loki is presented as an antagonist to Thor’s heroic actions. But, in Loki, the long-time evildoer is given the spotlight, and Loki uses it to every advantage. Loki is given an in-depth character analysis for his actions up to The Avengers and then how his life would have turned out over the years afterward. What is Loki’s glorious purpose? Can its meaning change? How does Loki gain redemption without the initial actions that caused it? Loki explores the title character in ways the Marvel Cinematic Universe films never had the chance to do. By doing so, it adds essential depth to such an involved character.

The Major Cliffhanger

Although the other Marvel Cinematic Universe shows conclude with significant changes, Loki has by far the most massive cliffhanger of them all. Loki’s season one finale reveals many of the universe’s secrets, including how He Who Remains, and all his Variants, had nearly destroyed the world. To keep it intact, he separated the timelines, leaving one Sacred Timeline. Killing him would mean the end of everything. Yet, Sylvie does it anyway. When Loki returns to headquarters, the world is not as it was.

At least, that is the tease season one leaves in the air. He Who Remains had taken over with statues of him everywhere, a vast difference from the environment when Loki and Sylvie had left. Loki’s season one conclusion is a major cliffhanger for the greater MCU, rather than just keeping to the show itself. While other shows have left a decision that could seemingly go either way as necessary for the show or potentially movies, given Marvel’s storytelling toward the Multiverse, it seems that Loki’s conclusion could have a considerable impact on the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a whole.