We’re now halfway through Loki season 2, and the series feels like it’s treading water. The multiversal war still seems impossibly far off, while the character are running around dealing with time slipping and a broken loom. The series could still surprise us, though. (In fact, at this point I’m begging it to.) One amazing fan theory in particular seems a little more likely after the release of a new Loki season 2 poster.
In Loki season 1, Loki and Sylvie set out to destroy the Time Variance Authority and kill the Time Keepers, three god-like figures who supposedly govern the order of time. In season 2, after having found out that the Time Keepers are fake, Loki is trying to keep the TVA in place to prevent He Who Remains’ rise to power.
Back in August, Loki fan Kat, who goes by @LovingSylvie on Twitter, proposed an intriguing theory: What if the Time Keepers turn out to be based on Loki, Mobius, and Sylvie? What if, thanks to the time loops we’ve already seen in season 2, the three of them are the original Time Keepers?
“During s1 Loki and Sylvie teamed up and worked together to reveal the truth about the TVA and timekeepers and then in s2 they find out they are the ones, the ‘gods’ who actually inspired the tale,” Kat proposes in what they describe as a “good, silly little time loop theory.”
Kat goes on to compare pictures of the Time Keepers from Marvel.com and the TVA orientation video to Loki, Mobius, and Sylvie. They point out that one Time Keeper has a mustache, one has antennae that look like horns, and one looks like a woman. (Yeah, I’m tired of “woman” being a defining trait, too, but it is what it is.)
Last week, Marvel debuted a new poster in which Loki, Mobius, and Sylvie bear an awfully striking resemblance to the Time Keepers.
In the poster, designed by artist Jem Ward, Loki, Mobius, and Sylvie are shown in the same mosaic that depicts the Time Keepers in the season 2 premiere. With Victor Timely’s eyes looking down on them, the trio poses like the Time Keepers, with Miss Minutes emerging from Loki’s hands. Whether or not the poster is a clue to a future plot development, it’s beautifully done.
But even if I’m reading too much into the poster, here’s some more evidence that Loki and his friends may turn out to be more involved in the TVA than they ever imagined: one quick shot in one of the trailers seems to show Loki time slipping back to the beginning of the TVA, indicating that he has a hand in its creation.
Is Kat’s theory true, or are we all so hungry for something interesting to happen this season that we’re looking for breadcrumbs that don’t exist? We’ll have to wait and see. The next episode of Loki season 2 drops this Thursday at 6 Pacific/9 Eastern.
(featured image: Disney+)
