Mind-Blowing: How the MCU Shattered its Own Unbreakable Time Travel Rule!

WARNING: This Article Contains SPOILERS For Loki Season 2, Episode 1

Summary

Loki season 2 disregards a crucial time travel rule introduced in Avengers: Endgame, which played a vital role in the plot of the 2019 Marvel film. The concept of time travel in Loki season 2 differs from the established rules in Endgame, potentially due to the variation in how time operates within the TVA.

The existence of the multiverse in Loki season 2 has led to the breaking of established rules in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, specifically regarding time travel. Avengers: Endgame first introduced time travel, wherein the Avengers sought to reverse the destruction caused by Thanos. Utilizing Tony Stark's brilliance and Scott Lang's understanding of the Quantum Realm, they successfully harnessed time travel to acquire the Infinity Stones and ultimately defeat Thanos. However, Loki season 2 challenges these rules by introducing a new dimension of possibility through the multiverse.

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In Endgame, a set of time travel rules were established, with the most significant being that altering the past would not have any impact on the present. As Smart Hulk clarifies, "When you travel to the past, that past becomes your future, and your previous present becomes the past, which cannot be altered by your new future." This scene also highlights the fallacy of time travel depicted in movies like Back to the Future and The Terminator, where changing the past results in changes to the future. However, the Loki season 2 premiere completely disregards this rule in a substantial manner.

Loki Season 2 Breaks Endgame's Major Time Travel Rule

In Loki season 2, episode 1, Loki experiences difficulty with time-slipping, which entails being pulled randomly between the past, present, and future. This becomes advantageous when Loki and Mobius seek the assistance of the TVA's chief engineer Ouroboros, also known as OB, to resolve the time-slipping issue. Loki encounters OB in the present timeline before time-slipping to the past, where he engages in a conversation with the engineer about resolving his time-slipping dilemma. As a result, the past OB develops a Temporal Aura Extractor in order to address the problem in the present. By observing OB remembering the conversation with Loki as it occurs in the past, it becomes evident to the audience that Loki's actions in the past are altering the future.

However, this contradicts the principles established in Avengers: Endgame and Smart Hulk regarding the functioning of time travel in the MCU. If altering the past impacted the future, the Avengers' time heist would have caused widespread consequences upon their return to the present, resulting in a substantially different outcome. Thanos may have never achieved the snap, ultimately leading to an anticlimactic conclusion to the Infinity Saga. Nonetheless, Marvel's constant retroactive change of the established time travel rules post-Endgame in various movies and shows has only created more confusion. Nevertheless, Marvel can easily provide an explanation for Loki's deviation from Endgame's time travel rules.

How Marvel Could Explain Loki Season 2's Time Travel Retcon

In Loki, the concept of time in the TVA is emphasized, explaining why the God of Mischief could alter the future by altering the past. Season 1 consistently emphasizes that time operates differently in the TVA, a theme that carries into season 2. If time functions differently as a whole, it follows that time travel would also operate differently. This offers a plausible explanation for Loki's ability to defy the rules set in Endgame, as his time-traveling abilities break even the TVA's known rules. However, the episode also reveals that the way time works in the TVA is changing, possibly due to the creation of the multiverse.

As Endgame occurs prior to Sylvie killing He Who Remains, the MCU existed within the confines of the Sacred Timeline, where any alterations would have been eliminated by the TVA. Hulk's time travel rules may have been accurate for the Sacred Timeline, due to undisclosed factors, but with the existence of the multiverse, time travel no longer functions in the same manner. This explanation allows the MCU to deviate from the rules established in Endgame without explicitly retconning the film.

Of course, it still entails that Marvel must establish anew the time travel rules within the MCU and ensure the adherence to them in all movies and shows. Given the alluded massive multiversal war in Loki and the post-credits scene in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, it is imperative for audiences to have a clear understanding of how time travel and travel between multiverses operate—not solely within a single film or show, but across the entire franchise. Endgame's convoluted time travel rules had already caused confusion and have only been further complicated due to numerous retcons, leading to it becoming a recurring joke. Even Loki season 2 joined in on the lighthearted mockery.

Loki Season 2's Time Travel Rule Break Has A Major Diss Against Endgame

During their conversation, Loki, OB, and Mobius come to the realization that Loki has the ability to alter the present by altering the past. Mobius astutely acknowledges this fact, while OB cleverly remarks that there is no flaw in Loki's logic. Although the dialogue doesn't explicitly reference the Avengers or the film Endgame, it subtly appears to poke fun at the 2019 MCU movie, which has faced scrutiny for its time travel logic. This witty comment is presented as a humorous moment, further emphasizing the contrast between the established rules in Endgame and the scene at hand. Ultimately, it positions the Avengers movie as the target of the joke.

With that being said, the premiere of Loki season 2 is unlikely to intentionally be disrespectful towards Endgame, considering its popularity and success within the MCU. However, the time travel rules in Endgame have been widely debated and criticized since its release, lacking coherence even within the film itself. By allowing Loki to redefine the time travel rules in the MCU and playfully mocking Endgame, Marvel demonstrates their awareness of the issue and their efforts to rectify it.

This also highlights the extensive impact of Endgame's time travel problems, as evidenced by Loki's ongoing mission to address them, enabling the MCU to progress into its Multiverse Saga. If Loki does indeed alter Marvel's time travel rules once again, there is hope that future MCU movies and shows, such as Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars, will possess greater clarity. Although this is yet to be seen, it is noteworthy that Loki has already broken a significant time travel rule established in Avengers: Endgame, all while playfully teasing the Marvel film.

Loki season 2 continues next Thursday, Oct. 12 at 9pm ET on Disney+.