This article contains spoilers for episode 3 of Loki.

Disney Plus’ Loki introduced the Time Variance Authority into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Governed by the Time Keepers, three extremely powerful beings, the TVA monitors the sacred timeline and punishes those who try to tangle the chronological events. Seems simple enough, but fans have been suspicious of their existence since the first episode of the series.

Before Loki, there has been no mention of the TVA in the MCU. Thousands of people, if not more, seem to be working in the giant facility in different capacities. Where did they all come from? It was a mystery, until episode 3, “Lamentis,” came out with a huge reveal that confirmed a dark fan theory that has been doing the rounds on social media for the past two weeks. 

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It seems a bit odd that an entity so powerful, which has the ability to render the Infinity Stones completely useless, has never come up in any of the MCU films so far. But, the minute Loki uses the Tesseract to escape captivity in Avengers: Endgame, the TVA Minutemen show up to arrest him for his “crimes against the sacred timeline.” Within the initial few minutes of the first episode, Loki is transported to the TVA’s facility, his costume is obliterated, and he is deposited into a waiting room in a dull prison jumpsuit.

loki walks through a robot detector in his disney plus series

While he waited to see the judge for his trial, which seemed to be moving at an extremely fast pace, the TVA’s mascot Miss Minutes informed him of the history of the authority and the Time Keepers. The animated video gives an overview of Nexus events, which is essentially an individual breaking the set timeline, and the TVA’s role in ensuring that no branch realities form due to them, in turn avoiding a multiverse war in the process. The variant is arrested and the timeline is reset, with any events occurring outside the realm of the Time Keepers’ approved reality being wiped entirely. 

However, the video never confirms what happens to the variants after the timeline is reset. Even when Judge Ravonna Renslayer announces the verdict in Loki’s trial, the fact that the said variant will be reset, fans are never offered an explanation as to what that means. Are the variants killed or sent back to the original timeline with their memories wiped, to live out their ultimate destiny

Loki Miss Minutes Commercial

This gap in the show’s timeline raised several questions in the viewers’ minds, leading to multiple theories being spun. One very dark theory stood out the most, with many fans believing that the TVA wiped the memories of the variants and then forced them to work for them. If the theory were to be believed, all the TVA employees, including Owen Wilson’s Agent Mobius M. Mobius, were actually individuals who at some point lived a normal life. Their only mistake was to do something that potentially affected the timeline and wasn’t approved by the Time Keepers.

In episode 2, “The Variant,” Wilson’s Mobius reveals that the TVA employees were created by the Time Keepers to protect the timeline. But, similar to how Loki was left confused by the concept, fans had been wondering where the TVA’s employees, investigators, and Minutemen were all coming from. They couldn’t just be created from thin air, right? Additionally, they all seem to be at the office all the time, with no mention of any families or social life. Mobius is the only one who seems to have some normalcy in his life, which is his love for jet skis. But, apart from that, it all seemed like a perfect world that never sleeps.

All these consequences had many fans convinced that the employees were in fact mind-wiped variants that were proven guilty and sentenced to be reset. Loki would have faced a similar fate, if Mobius hadn’t stepped in at the right time. Just as the God of Mischief is sentenced, Mobius intervenes and asks to speak to the trickster. Fans later found out that he was seeking Loki’s assistance on a unique case that involved another Loki variant

While the conspiracy train was running ahead full steam, the third episode changed its course by proving that all this while, fans were right. While trying to escape Judge Ravonna at the TVA, Loki transports himself and Sylvia to Lamentis-1. The two then get stuck on the planet during an apocalypse after the TemPad that Loki used runs out of battery. During their journey across the planet, Sylvie tries to “enchant” Loki into handing over the TemPad so that she can escape, leaving him behind. But, Loki claims that his mind is too strong to fall under her spell.

Loki and Sylvie talking bisexual

Later on, Sylvie explains how she used the same form of magic on Hunter C-20 to get her to reveal the true location of the Time Keepers. The process requires physical contact, which allows Sylvie to form a connection and create a fantasy for the individual using their memories. In the case of C-20, Sylvie claims to have had to dig through hundreds of years of memories, even before she worked at the TVA. Turns out that C-20 was just a normal person with a love for margaritas. 

That’s when the big reveal happens, with Sylvie explaining to Loki that everyone at the TVA are “all variants, just like us.” The conversation is cut short due to the fact that the two need to get off the planet before it is destroyed, but fans are holding onto those words. While WandaVision waited till the end to reveal that the fan theory about Agnes actually being Agatha Harkness was in fact true, Loki seems to have ripped the band-aid on the dark theory halfway through the series. Of course, Sylvie, who is potentially a Loki variant and another version of the God of Mischief, could be lying. But, it seems highly unlikely. 

Loki and Sylvie stranded in Lamentis

This revelation has now cast doubt over the TVA’s entire existence. Fans are now questioning whether the Time Keepers are even real. So far in the series, only Judge Ravonna seems to have access to the three beings. Nobody else has ever seen or met them. Additionally, if all the TVA employees are in fact variants, it means that their timelines have all been reset, and they have no place to return to. 

Fans will remember that in the second episode, after Mobius finds C-20 at Roxxcart, she is heard repeating “I want to go home.” This could potentially be a moment where she remembers her real life, after having seen a glimpse of it during the fantasy that Sylvie created for her. But, where is home? With only three episodes remaining, Loki has a lot of fan questions that it needs to answer. 

Loki is now streaming on Disney Plus.

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