Loki is currently in the midst of exploring a whole area of uncharted territory for the MCU, delving into time travel and the multiverse in great detail. Within the series premiere, Marvel fans were introduced to the Timekeepers, a group of three beings who put an end to a war of the multiverse by unifying everything into one sacred timeline. Ever since then the TVA has protected said timeline by enforcing the will of the Timekeepers upon reality.
Despite having seen the upbeat Miss Minutes propaganda video which explained the origin of the TVA, many are still left wondering, is there more to this mysterious group than meets the eye? The premiere episode, “Glorious Purpose,” is littered with reasons to distrust the Timekeepers, and in classic Marvel fashion, it seems there may be some cryptic hints throughout the episode that teases something more sinister going on.
COURTROOM MURALS TEASE TIMEKEEPERS ORIGIN
During the premiere episode of Loki, the God of Mischief stood trial for his crimes against the sacred timeline in front of Judge Renslayer. Throughout the scene, a multitude of murals are visible on the courtroom walls which seem to showcase the origin of the Timekeepers.
One mural demonstrates the creation of the sacred timeline as the three Timekeepers and several workers are shown to be trimming branches from the tree. As two of the infamous Timekeepers are holding branches, the third, presumably the leader, grips both a knife and what looks to be a reset charge.
Displaying time as a tree even prior to the creation of the sacred timeline raises some interesting questions surrounding the functioning of the multiverse in the MCU. The metaphor of a tree seems to imply that there was always one main flow of time, with others acting as skewed versions of reality.
While visualizing these universes as branches distances followers from the reality of the situation, what the Timekeepers and the TVA are essentially doing is destroying entire universes and billions of lives with them using these reset charges.
"Are the Timekeepers are truly as heroic as they seem?" is certainly an interesting question. The Miss Minutes video that was shown to Loki during the first episode has a strong sense of propaganda behind it, as if the TVA may have something to hide, or is simply blindly following the trio of “space lizards.”
Additionally, the positioning of the workers being below the Timekeepers channels many examples of historical art in which slave labor was used by powerful figures to do their bidding since these figures bear no clear resemblance to any other TVA employees.
While the second mural of the three Timekeepers clearly has less to draw from it, it shows the three in great detail and continues to build on the godlike impression being created. The true nature of the almighty trio is likely to be further explored in the episodes to come as the secrets of the sacred timeline continue to be revealed.
Aside from the teases of a murderous Loki variant on the loose, the Disney+ series has yet to reveal any kind of larger-than-life antagonist, as would be expected from a project of this scale. Perhaps the God of Mischief may go up against the Timekeepers at some point, bringing the chaos he loves so much back to reality, therefore allowing the timeline to descend into madness, something Doctor Strange may need to step in to resolve.
LOKI REVEALS THREE TYPES OF TVA WORKERS
As Loki walks through the courtroom to stand trial, viewers are shown art that demonstrates the three different groups of TVA workers that feature within the episode. The most prominent of which being the Minute Men, the TVA's time police force that handles all Nexus events and arrests variants.
Additionally, the series premiere treated fans to a behind-the-scenes look at the reality of time bureaucracy. It was within these offices that audiences were introduced to Casey, a low-level receptionist and office worker who seemed to be wielding more infinity stones than Thanos.
Naturally positioned at the top of the TVA's hierarchy are the judges, the group which places the multiverse's criminal variants on trial before a court, but with no jury seemingly present. Prior to Agent Mobius' intervention, Judge Renslayer placed the series' Loki variant on trial for his crimes before sentencing him to be reset.
It remains to be seen what other punishment a variant could be sentenced to, outside of being reset. With no way back to their original timeline, the only obvious possible action for an innocent variant to take is to join the TVA in some kind of working role.
Throughout the series it's likely fans will continue to learn more about the deeper running of the TVA as viewers continue to be introduced to more employees and departments.
Loki's premiere episode is streaming now, with new installments debuting every Wednesday exclusively on Disney+,
