Warning! This article contains major spoilers for Loki season 2. If you've yet to catch up, turn back now!
With its planned 2027 release, Avengers: Secret Wars is still a long way off yet, but that didn't stop Marvel from teasing the upcoming movie in the Loki season 2 finale.
In 'Glorious Purpose', which landed on Disney Plus on November 10, Loki (Tom Hiddleston) – now able to control his time-slipping – travels back to the fateful day Team TVA failed to stop the Temporal Loom from malfunctioning, killing Victor Timely (Jonathan Majors), and resetting the others back to their lives on the Sacred Timeline.
The God of Mischief tries his best to make the mission work, for centuries in fact, but every time, his efforts prove fruitless. It's only when Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) sighs, "It's almost as if, as soon as the timelines started branching, this was doomed to happen" that he realizes what he must do: stop Sylvie from killing He Who Remains at the End of Time.
After watching Loki attempt to thwart Sylvie's murderous plan numerous times, He Who Remains (Majors) pauses time and addresses Loki directly, telling him that his death in the season 1 finale was never destined to be permanent and that he built a failsafe that will always branch the additional timelines to keep the Sacred Timeline intact.
The Kang variant goes on to say that without him keeping an eye on things, chaos will consume the universe. Most notably, though, he says that if the branched timelines aren't removed, there will be a devastating war between the different realities. Given the franchise's multiversal shenanigans of late, it's safe to assume that Secret Wars will follow the nine-issue miniseries of the same name, which was published in 2015 and centers on the collision of the Marvel 616 Universe with the Ultimate Marvel 1610 Universe.
Said issue's tagline was "Time Runs Out. Everything Ends," so it's hardly surprising that the timey wimey TV series Loki appears to have nodded to it in it's dramatic final episode.
'Glorious Purpose' concludes with Loki choosing not to kill Sylvie before she can kill He Who Remains and stepping out onto the gangway towards the Temporal Loom himself, rather than sending the ill-fated Timely out with his Throughput Multiplier. Using his magic, he manages to grab all the loose timelines, and make his way to a throne where he plonks himself down and holds the branches steady. Essentially, the former villain makes himself the World Tree, a motif from Norse mythology, that is said to connect the heavens, the terrestrial world, and, through its roots, the underworld.
Loki season 2 is streaming now on Disney Plus. For more on the show, check out our deep-dives on:
- When does Loki season 2 take place on the Marvel timeline?
- Loki season 1 recap
- How to watch the Marvel movies in order
- Marvel Phase 5
- Upcoming Marvel movies and shows
- Victor Timely comic book history explained
- He Who Remains comic book history explained
- The Time Variance Authority comic book history explained
- Mobius comic book history explained
- Sylvie comic book history explained
- Loki season 2 episode 1 post-credits scene explained
- What is time-slipping?
- All the differences between comic book Loki and show Loki
- Loki season 2 episode 1 recap and Easter eggs
- Loki season 2 episode 2 recap and Easter eggs
- Loki season 2 episode 3 recap and Easter eggs
- Loki season 2 episode 4 recap and Easter eggs
- What’s Sylvie holding at the end of episode 2?
- Brad Wolfe isn't the Zaniac fans know from the comics
- What is the Zaniac in Marvel Comics?
