Breaking Down All of LOKI’s Reset Timelines

The second episode of Loki reveals that Lady Loki is the variant whom the TVA has been looking for. At the end of the episode, she throws a series of reset charges back into the past. This causes chaos in the time stream, leading to the TVA analysts freaking out as new timelines open up through history. While we only get brief glimpses of the locations and times that Lady Loki sends her charges to, we put our pausing-fingers to work and have broken down each of the timelines she’s launched. After all, what fun is a random number on a TV screen if we can theorize about it?

Marvel Studios

1492 Portugal

In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. Do we need to say more? Well, actually, yes. As any history buff knows, Columbus sailed from Spain. But his colonization of the West Indies in 1492 led to the creation of a treaty which granted Portugal all the lands “that might be discovered east of a straight line drawn from the Arctic Pole to the Antarctic, at a distance of 370 leagues west of Cape Verde.”

This is a vital historical moment in the annals of European colonialism, which inspired that treaty. There are plenty of reasons that Lady Loki might have wanted to rectify this part of history. Maybe she’s on a righteous campaign, fixing history from the future? Perhaps there was some unexpected Kang the Conqueror influence in this drastic moment in history? Or maybe she just wants to cause chaos! Either way, this is an intriguing inclusion.

2301 Vormir

If Vormir sounds familiar, it’s because that’s the planet where the Soul Stone was hidden in Avengers: Endgame. Yes, this is where we saw Black Widow sacrifice herself for the sake of Hawkeye. So we know it’s an important location in the MCU. But the year in question is particularly interesting. Maybe there was something else hidden on the planet that Lady Loki wanted? Perhaps she was hunting down the ghostly spirit of Red Skull, or maybe she was resetting the planet after Kang visited. Yes, get ready to hear a lot more about him here.

Marvel Studios

2004 Asgard

By now, everyone knows that Asgard was home to Thor and Loki. Destroyed during Ragnarok, New Asgard is now on Earth, run by King Valkyrie. But here we see that Lady Loki decided to reset the timeline in 2004. This is before we met Thor in the MCU. It could be a reference to the young Thor comic Thor: Son of Asgard, which came out in 2004. Or it might hint that Lady Loki was attempting to mess up the status quo of past Asgard as we know it.

1390 Rome

So there was some serious Papal drama occurring in 1390. Then Pope “Boniface IX saw to it that Ladislaus was crowned King of Naples at Gaeta on 29 May 1390.” So once again we’re seeing Lady Loki resetting an important moment in history. But what does it mean? Well, in the comics, Kang the Conqueror would regularly go back through history and set himself up to become a political power. Could this be an example of that? Is Lady Loki trying to reset Kang’s influence on history? And if so, then why would the TVA want to stop her?

Marvel Studios

1984 Sakaar

This is the battle planet we visited during Thor: Ragnarok, which had a very ’80s feel. It’s an interesting inclusion as there were a lot of big MCU births in 1984, but none on Sakaar. This could just be a cheeky Easter egg, but with Loki playing such a big part in Ragnarok, and Sakaar being run by the Collector’s own brother, we suspect there’s more to this choice.

1808 Barichara

The Cabrera municipality was set up during this date. This fits into the Kang theory that Lady Loki might be hunting down the time-traveling troublemaker. Could Nathaniel Richards have been hopping through time, causing chaos or setting up society in his own image? It’s definitely possible. Of course, there’s always the chance Lady Loki has her own reasons. However, she did tell Loki, “It’s not about you,” which hints at bigger ramifications.

1208 Porvoo / 1551 Thornton USA

These are two intriguing inclusions. While neither has immediate and obvious connections to the MCU they are both colonized lands which are dated pre-colonization. This could tie into some kind of bigger timeline mission on Lady Loki’s part. That would fit with the inclusion of Portugal and would play into the themes of colonization and war in Thor: Ragnarok. Is there a possibility that this Lady Loki is a true hero for humanity? This hearkens to Loki’s lesser cited title of God of Heroism and Truth. Could she be an amalgamation of more than one version of Loki? Her headdress does look most like Kid Loki’s, after all…

1382 Ego

Kurt Russell brought Ego the Living Planet to life in the MCU. While he was eventually defeated, this reset took place centuries before. Ego is millions of years old, so this is really just a random date, but it’s an interesting inclusion for one key reason. In the MCU, Ego is a Celestial. That just seems like an important thing to mention with Eternals coming up.

1982 Titan

This one is really interesting, as Titan is the moon orbiting Saturn, where Thanos hails from. As for the date, that makes this inclusion highly significant, as this was the year that Marvel published The Death of Captain Marvel, their first graphic novel. In the story, Mar-Vell spends his last days on Titan with Thanos’ father Mentor, brother Starfox, and a collection of Earth’s greatest superheroes who are unable to cure his cancer. Could Lady Loki have been trying to stop the death of Captain Marvel? Or perhaps have taken something from the hero? *cough* Nega-Bands *cough*

1947 New York

So if we’re looking at important history here, there was a smallpox outbreak in New York during 1947. Maybe Lady Loki is trying to save some lives. There’s also the small matter of Agent Carter. Eagle-eyed fans have already spotted someone who looks a lot like Peggy being taken through a time portal in the TVA. The fan fave pre-Disney+ show had a lot of action in 1947 NYC. Perhaps that’s why Lady Loki set her sights on this period?

Studio Ghibli

1984 Japan

There were multiple disasters and new incoming political figureheads this year. If we’re looking at a time that Kang might have made a power move, this is a very good option. But if we’re going for the heroic angle, there’s plenty of space for saving the day here too. Or maybe she was just going to watch Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind in theaters?

0051 Hala

The home planet of the Kree makes an appearance here. We don’t know the relevance of the date but it could be something to do with the Kree-Skrull War. If Lady Loki is a peaceful God of Mischief, she could be trying to alter the never-ending war.

Marvel Comics

1991 Xandar

We first saw Xandar, home base of the Nova Corps, in Guardians of the Galaxy. In 1991, the Fantastic Four teamed up with Quasar in Quasar #20, an issue set between Earth and Xandar. While we doubt the Fantastic Four will turn up here, this is another connection to Marvel’s First Family. And of course… Kang the Conqueror.

2005 Beijing

Certain Marvel Comic stories include a version of Beijing that holds the gate to the Eighth City. The mystical portal to the prison realm for evil beings seems like it could definitely come into play here. Perhaps Lady Loki is trying to free or rid the world of the prison? Or maybe it’s just a coincidence! Either way, we’re into it!

1999 Cookeville USA / 1999 Kingsport USA

Our two mystery dates that we couldn’t work out the relevance of… yet. But there’s always next week!

Featured Image: Marvel Studios