Throughout Loki's six-episode run, audiences followed the God of Mischief across time from Pompeii to a hurricane-tossed Alabama of the future.
However, it was the locations outside the sacred timeline, such as the TVA and He Who Remains' Citadel at the End of Time, that may have been the most intriguing.
To design these truly unique destinations, Marvel Studios called upon Kasra Farahani to serve as Loki's production designer; and apparently, he began designing the citadel before receiving a script for the finale!
Now that the entirety of Season 1 is streaming on Disney+, the Marvel designer is sharing some of his original concept art for the home of the Kang variant and how it could've looked in the show.
LOKI'S ORIGINAL CASTLE DESIGN REVEALED
In a tweet, Vanity Fair's Joanna Robinson thanked Farahani for not only humorously speculating who helps with the citadel housework, but also for sharing his concept art for the citadel which looks a little different from what fans saw in the season finale.
Robinson posted the following in addition to three images of Farahani's and an actual photo from the set:
"Thanks to Kasra for sharing this great art with me and for making me genuinely belly laugh when he suggested Casey from the TVA cleans out He Who Remains' fireplace."
While it's true that the citadel contained fireplaces, and it's fun to imagine that TVA worker Casey could've been on fireplace detail, seeing an alternate version of this important Loki location is certainly revealing.
For instance, Farahani's artwork seen above is from the hall where the mysterious Miss Minutes startled viewers, as well as Loki and Sylvie, with that jump scare; and there are a few notable differences.
Apart from the three statues of the Time Keepers, the ceiling itself and the positioning of the windows are different.
In fact, the ceiling appears to resemble the inner workings of a clock and appears to have a merkhet, an ancient timekeeping instrument that uses a plumb line.
However, it looks like that intricate ceiling and its timekeeping tools failed to make it into the final episode, as the image above shows.
What is consistent is the statues of the three Time Keepers, plus the fourth that was reduced to rubble.
This next photo shared by Farahani offers another view of this set and specifically the design of the floor.
These details weren't visible during the episode, but they appear to represent a lunar calendar and include the Latin phrase "Omnia Tempus Enim Semper" — an echo of the TVA's mantra "For all time, always" — which happens to be the title of the finale.
Farahani's next piece is of He Who Remains' office where there are a number of differences, particularly in regard to the windows.
In the finished episode, as shown in the image above, the windows are less like those of a cathedral and instead resemble a wheel implying change or motion.
The design of the floor and style of the chairs is also different; and while the office is dark, those mysterious gold cracks seen both inside and outside the fortress are much more prominent.
This last image shared by Farahani shows another perspective of the office; but apart from the same clover-shaped cathedral windows shown in his other piece, there are quite a few similarities to the finished product.
The right side of the wall showing sketches and equations did make into the series, as well as his desk cluttered with items he's using to study and control time. The candelabras are also similar to what fans saw on screen.
TIME IS LITERALLY OF THE ESSENCE
Loki's production design has been praised from the very first episode, but Farahani's design of the Citadel at the End of Time isn't just important to the show, but for the greater MCU going forward.
Since it was the Kang variant's residence and is at the end of time, it's likely a location future films and/or series will return to.
Plus, this fortress holds a number of time-related secrets that remain unanswered, such as that gold element in the cracks of the structure to that mysterious smashed fourth statue.
Since Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness promise to explore the multiverse, not to mention Loki Season 2, fans hopefully won't have long to wait to find out.
