Until now, the Marvel Studios-produced TV shows have been one-season affairs, with series like WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Secret Invasion meant to flesh out certain characters arcs ahead of upcoming Marvel movies, or series like Hawkeye, Moon Knight and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law simply spotlighting/introducing various characters on the small screen for a brief period. The first exception to this has been Loki, with Season 1 premiering back in summer 2021, and Season 2 about to arrive to Disney+ subscribers.
Over two years is a long wait between seasons, so naturally many Marvel fans have already rewatched Loki Season 1 so they’re properly refreshed ahead of this next batch of episodes. But for those of you who didn’t have the time to do this, not to worry, we have you covered. Here are all the key details to remember from Season 1 before delving into Season 2, which will, among other things, introduce Ke Huy Quan’s OB and other new cast members, show Sylvie working at McDonald’s in the 1980s, and see the the Victor Timely variant of Kang the Conqueror coming to the forefront following his cameo in the Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania end-credits scene.
The TVA Is Made Up Of Variants
Most of the talking points in this piece detail events from the Loki Season 1 finale, a.k.a. “For All Time, Always,” but there is an important reveal that came in the third episode, “Lamentis” concerning how the Time Variance Authority works. While adventuring together on the moon Lamentis-1 in 2077, Sylvie shared with Loki that the TVA’s employees were not, in fact, created by the Time-Keepers, but rather variants plucked from countless timelines who’d had their memories erased. It wasn’t too long after that Mobius and Hunter B-15 learned about this, both of whom understandably felt betrayed. It also turned out that Ravonna Renslayer had been informed about the employees’ true nature by Hunter C-20, though she silenced the hunter shortly thereafter and kept the information to herself for as long as possible.
Loki And Sylvie Met He Who Remains, The True Founder Of The TVA
After successfully enchanting the creature known as Alioth and escaping the Void, Loki and Sylvie made their way to The Citadel at the End of Time, home to He Who Remains, a scientist from the 31st century and the true founder of the TVA who used the Time-Keepers as a smokescreen to mask his existence. He Who Remains is also the first Kang variant MCU viewers met, although it wouldn’t be until Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania until we met others. But what makes this version of Kang so special? Well…
He Who Remains Explained Why He Created The TVA
He Who Remains didn’t create the TVA on a whim, but out of necessity to protect his reality. Long ago, he met variants of himself from other universes, and most of them got along splendidly, sharing knowledge, technology and more with one another. However, a few of these Kang variants weren’t content with this beneficial exchange and tried to conquer the Marvel multiverse, which ignited a war that threatened to destroy all of reality. Harnessing the power of Alioth, He Who Remains ended the war, established a collection of isolated realities most similar to his own called the Sacred Timeline, and established the TVA to prune branched timelines and ensure that the rest of the multiverse could ever be accessed again.
Ravonna Renslayer Left To Find “Free Will”
Before we keep discussing He Who Remains, let’s go over where we left off with Ravonna Renslayer, who could be considered as the most dedicated TVA employee during Loki Season 1. Even after learning that the Time-Keepers weren’t real, she did her best to keep the organization running, as she felt that to let it collapse would result in death and chaos. By the end of the season though, Ravonna decided that it was time for her to search for “free will,” and thus departed TVA headquarters and headed to an unknown destination. Although Gugu Mbatha-Raw is reprising Ravonna in Season 2, we’ve barely seen any footage of her, which has prompted a theory that she’ll be on a solo mission that leads her to taking on one of her aliases from the comics.
Sylvie Killed He Who Remains And Unleashed The Multiverse
Although He Who Remains looked like a young man, he’d been controlling The Sacred Timeline from The Citadel at the End of Time for eons, and he’d grown weary of this task. So when Loki and Sylvie found him, he gave them one of two options: take over running the TVA in his place, or kill him and allow the multiverse to be unleashed again. Not believing anything He Who Remains’ claim and enraged at how his machinations has ruined her life, Sylvie killed the scientist, though Loki tried his best to stop her. With He Who Remains’ now dead, the Sacred Timeline started expanding, allowing for the other Kang variants to start wreaking havoc.
Loki Returned To A TVA Where He’s Not Remembered And Is Controlled By A Different Kang
Before killing He Who Remains, Sylvie used a TemPed to send Loki back to TVA headquarters, and he soon began searching for Mobius to share what he’d learned. Loki found his friend and Hunter B-15 in a room looking at a monitor showing all of the realities branching from the Sacred Timeline, and he attempted to tell the two about He Who Remains and his variants. However, neither Mobius nor B-15 recognized Loki, and if that wasn’t bad enough, this variant of the Asgardian God of Mischief saw that the statues of the Time-Keepers had been replaced by one of Kang the Conqueror, although it’s unclear if this is the same Kang from Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania or a different version.
So there you have it! You’re now all caught up and ready to experience Loki Season 2, which, like Season 1, will run for six episodes, each on dropping Thursdays at 6 pm PT/9 pm ET. CinemaBlend will keep you up to date on all the latest Loki goings-on week after week among our coverage of the other upcoming Marvel TV shows and upcoming Marvel movies.
