How Loki's Time Variance Authority Works, Including Miss Minutes

Well howdy there, fellow time travelers! While this isn’t an official rundown on how the temporal flow works in the Disney+ sensation Loki, what I’m about to share with you is just as important; if not moreso. You see, since the events of Season 1’s ending have kind of thrown everything into catastrophic stakes, now is as good a time as any to reestablish normalcy and decorum.

Which means I’m going to lay out how the Time Variance Authority, even Miss Minutes herself, works. Now obviously with Loki Season 2 heading our way, you’re going to be worried about spoilers. For the moment, you’re free and clear, unless you haven’t used your Disney+ subscription to check out Season 1. 

However, when big updates occur, I’ll be tweaking this mini-handbook to reflect what’s going on. The Sacred Timeline is in a massive state of flux, so we need to roll with the punches as they come. So for now, here’s how the TVA works in its current state! 

The Time Variance Authority’s Official Mission

There was once a multiversal war so great, it threatened all of time and space. That was, until the Time-Keepers narrowed everything down to the Sacred Timeline. The one true continuity, Time-Keepers created the Time Variance Authority to keep things running smoothly, “For All Time. Always.” 

Everything the TVA was founded for comes down to maintaining the integrity of the Sacred Timeline. Duties entailing everything from arresting rogue Variants, like our Loki (Tom Hiddleston), are part of the game. While the Time-Keepers “dictate the flow of time,” as Judge Ravonna Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) so aptly pointed out in Loki’s first episode, “Glorious Purpose,” someone needs to dictate from those dictations.

Positions Of Authority & Importance In The TVA

Here’s where all of the folks that work for the Time Variance Authority come into play. In the world of Loki, those responsibilities dictated by the Time-Keepers are handled by different persons in positions of authority and importance. Much like the perfect slice of Key Lime Pie, all of the right ingredients are present to make one hell of a team.

Think of the TVA as your typical bureaucratic law enforcement agency, with the Time-Keepers sitting right at the top. That’s going to be important at the end, so put a pin in that statement for safe keeping. From there, one moves down to the Judges of the TVA, who rule over matters of Variants and any sort of deviations from the Sacred Timeline. 

The next level of responsibility down would be the Hunters, like B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku). They head out into the field to prune tangential timelines, and either apprehend or eradicate rogue Variants with the help of their Minutemen. If you’re lucky, you’ll be be brought in alive by these imposing-looking folks and stand trial with a Judge! 

Should you be really lucky, you might wind up working as an Analyst, Archivist or any of the other office-based roles at the Time Variance Authority. The bad news is you’re only doing the gruntwork of the TVA, ranging from research and investigations to tech support. The good news? The wardrobe is much more forgiving than the Hunters/Minutemen’s all-black ensembles.

If you want to be in the least dangerous place in the Loki universe, working away at TVA headquarters is the place to be. Though it’s still pretty dangerous, especially with what we’ve seen from Loki Season 2’s trailer. C’mon, this is the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a realm where even the “safest places” are bombarded by temporal radiation from time to time.

Just Who, Or What, Is Miss Minutes?

Even after watching Loki Season 1 explain who or what Miss Minutes (Tara Strong) happens to be, it’s a Kang-sized question that still intrigues. Part mascot, part AI interface and all sass, Miss Minutes serves several purposes. The most observable being the mascot and propaganda tool for the Time Variance Authority uses to keep its employees and prisoners in check. 

In fact, our rather wound-up friend has demonstrated her knowledge yet again thanks to a recent promotional video. Take a look below, and try not to take the tone of Miss Minutes too close to your heart: 

A bit brash, isn’t she? Don’t let her design fool you, this gleeful-looking timepiece has secrets of her own, like how Miss Minutes is how He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors) has been connecting with any party he chooses. She’s so juiced in that in the Season 1 finale, Minutes convinced Ravonna Renslayer to leave her post “in search of free will.” 

There are still some more fun and theories to be played with in terms of this anthropomorphized stopwatch, like the possibility of Miss Minutes being a real person. For now, Miss Minutes seems to be quite the antagonistic presence, and she's purely digital. At least she's fair and hates everyone, but at the same time, how do you come back from being burned by a rogue AI in the form of a timepiece? 

What The Time Variance Authority Has Really Been Doing

Ok, so all of the carefully constructed reality above was masterminded by one actual agent of change: He Who Remains, a.k.a. one of Kang the Conqueror’s many Variants. As it turns out, he created the Time Variance Authority to keep himself from wreaking havoc on… well, himself. 

After winning the Multiversal War in Loki’s backstory, He Who Remains found a way to control all of time and space. His aim was on par with what the Time-Keepers were supposed to do, though the current form of those beings are animatronics that are designed more for show than leadership. 

Running the whole operation this whole time, He Who remains has used Variants from various timelines as his employee pool. Wiping their memories when need be, the TVA’s workforce come from various backgrounds and stories that just may have seen them leaving behind families, lovers and various attachments to things like jet skis. 

It wasn’t going to last forever though, and thanks to Loki variant Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) killing He Who Remains, the next Multiversal War looks to already be on its way. Loki Season 2 has separated our Loki from the variant he’s kinda/sorta in love with, and just as a lot of chaos is heading down the pike. 

Will the TVA be able to regroup and turn itself around in the face of utter disaster? Could Loki actually be more heroic than we expected? Will the universe of upcoming Marvel shows be so impacted by this next season of fun that it'll motivate me to catch up on the rest of Disney+'s Marvel projects? There's only one way to find out, as Loki Season 2 kicks off on Thursday night, and will debut a new episode every subsequent week.