Loki! (spoiler thread)

[Maxperson]

yeah, the TVA nullifying Infinity Stone level magic and arbitarily pruning powerful beings from the timeline really does blow the whole MCU apart.

I did think it was cute that they addressed the issue of Avengers time travel but one would have to question where they were when Doctor Strange was playing with time too.

I dont think Mobius will be a villain but the TVA being a cover for the true BBEG is not farfetched. Burning the TVA would certainly help keep the MCU on the right track ...

The drawer full of Infinity Stones makes perfect sense if the story given is true. If there were a bunch of timelines(universes) and those timelines got merged, you're going to have a bunch of extra Infinity Stones left lying about and a big need to move them to somewhere that they won't cause harm. The one surviving timeline isn't going to need more than one set.

 

[Maxperson]

I’m definitely getting feminine vibes from the cloaked attacker at the end. I suspect that is the female Loki. Whether she is the show’s actual antagonist or a distraction remains to be seen. Based on the trailer, it seems fair to assume the two Lokis share at least a brief moment of rapport at some stage.

My theory is that Loki will successfully get out of this with his memories intact. That will allow him to "trickster" his way out of death at the hands of Thanos and survive. It will also allow him knowledge of the TVA with a reason(restore free will) to try and kill them all, thereby becoming the Loki that he has been enlisted to help stop.

 

[Tonguez]

The drawer full of Infinity Stones makes perfect sense if the story given is true. If there were a bunch of timelines(universes) and those timelines got merged, you're going to have a bunch of extra Infinity Stones left lying about and a big need to move them to somewhere that they won't cause harm. The one surviving timeline isn't going to need more than one set.

kinda, the issue is that the Eye of Agamotto for instance allowed Dr Strange to view All possible timelines and we now have Nexus beings like Scarlet Witch who exist across all timelines - what happens to them?

It would be okay if the TVA was doing something to actively neutralise Infinity Stones from pruned timelines, its unsatisfying when they've become a throw-away meme used as paperweights by the TVA clerks

 

[Maxperson]

kinda, the issue is that the Eye of Agamotto for instance allowed Dr Strange to view All possible timelines and we now have Nexus beings like Scarlet Witch who exist across all timelines - what happens to them?

I don't think anything happens to them. We saw a timeline diagram where one timeline was going red. There were several timelines all moving around each other and intersecting. I think alternate timelines are allowed so long as they don't diverge too much.

 

[MarkB]

The drawer full of Infinity Stones makes perfect sense if the story given is true. If there were a bunch of timelines(universes) and those timelines got merged, you're going to have a bunch of extra Infinity Stones left lying about and a big need to move them to somewhere that they won't cause harm. The one surviving timeline isn't going to need more than one set.

Also, it may not be a case of the TVA being so almighty that they treat all-powerful Infinity Stones as baubles, so much as these particular Infinity Stones actually being just baubles.

The Infinity Stones are the concentrated embodiment of the raw forces of the universe. So what happens when that universe - that timeline - is snipped out of existence? Wouldn't the stones simply become the concentrated embodiment of the raw forces of... well, nothing at all?

 

[hopeless]

Only if the TVA exists outside of any reality.
Now if they were plucked from the many fake gauntlets like the one Odin had then you would have a better explanation for their existence.
Personally I'd be more happy if they had sucked them dry first so they were rendered powerless because that power is being used by the TVA in their own version of a Gauntlet except its more like a Power Battery fuelling their abilities and they're keeping quiet about that part...

 

[Mallus]

Aren’t the Infinity Stones powerless (relatively-speaking) outside their native universe? I seem to recall that from one of Hickman’s Illuminati comics (Black Swan says it?).

 

[MarkB]

Only if the TVA exists outside of any reality.

That kind-of seems like a prerequisite for it to function at all.

 

[hopeless]

Aren’t the Infinity Stones powerless (relatively-speaking) outside their native universe? I seem to recall that from one of Hickman’s Illuminati comics (Black Swan says it?).

Which universe are these from because as far as I know they're all from alternate timelines due to alterations that the TVA had to step in and sort out so technically they're all in the right universe.
It just makes more sense that they acquired those stones to drain them of their power thereby keeping their TVA organisation operational.
Have they explained what happened to the space stone Loki used to escape in Endgame?

 

[hopeless]

That kind-of seems like a prerequisite for it to function at all.

No after all the reality stone has the ability to resemble that and if true wouldn't they be using the quantum realm if their form of time travel is anything similar to that?
I would have been more impressed if they had a stand with Thanos's armour on display as an exhibit highlighting the threats the TVA has to deal with and what they're protecting reality from.
But that's not the impression I'm getting from this.
If they were the organisation they said they were their first act should have been to return the space stone and Loki to where he disappeared.
Now had they picked him up and received a mayday call from that other team forcing them to go to their aid with Loki in tow and his presence is the only reason they survived THAT would drastically improve this series.
The very idea they bring them in to lock up to "judge" that's ridiculous if you're protecting the timeline you don't unnecessarily endanger it by bringing them in!
Why would Loki be vital?
Because their enemy knows him and the TVA don't!