Loki’s Cliffhanger Was Fantastic, Yet It Feels Inconsequential

The latest episode of Loki’s second season, episode four, “Heart of the TVA”, ended in what felt like a substantial cliffhanger. In normal circumstances, after watching this episode, it would feel natural to think that the very nature of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has changed forever. However, a current MCU problem has soured Loki’s great cliffhanger. Instead of thinking that this will impact the MCU for years to come, it feels like the cliffhanger will get resolved in one of the upcoming two episodes or not even impact the MCU outside of this show. 

The Disney Plus series doesn’t feel like it’s been pulling punches, as the quality has at least been as good as the last season. But it’s worth talking about the giant problem with Loki’s cliffhanger and the issue with the current state of the MCU more broadly. We will be discussing the cliffhanger and the implications of it from here on out, so if you haven’t watched the fourth episode and don’t want spoilers, turn back now because we will be spoiling it for you. 

What’s the Issue With Loki’s Cliffhanger?

Loki, Sylvie Mobius, B-15, Casey, OB, and Victor Timely spent the entirety of episode four of Loki’s second season attempting to stop the Time Variance Authority’s Loom from failing. Timely offers to journey closer to the Loom while wearing protection. Just when you think he’s going to save the timeline, he turns into spaghetti, just like Mister Fantastic in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The heroes are then overcome by a blinding explosion, with the timeline seemingly destroyed. 

The twist that the heroes failed is quite a good one. It’s a science fiction series, with its foundation entrenched in time, whether the characters travel between timelines or through time. It would seem obvious to speculate what could happen to the characters in the show. There are two episodes left. Did they all get transported to the Citadel at the End of Time, or is that destroyed as well? Or, did Loki time-slip right before he was killed, allowing him to prevent the impending explosion à la Groundhog Day? Either way, it seems like this will be resolved fairly quickly, and that’s the problem.

The MCU after Avengers: Endgame has been lacking in stakes, especially with the Disney Plus shows. It doesn’t matter that a Celestial is sticking out of the Earth after Eternals. It doesn’t matter that Doctor Strange has a third eye now. And it doesn’t matter that Maria Hill is dead (especially if you didn’t know that). So, why should we be impressed with Loki’s cliffhanger? Even if it isn’t fixed in the next episode, The Marvels isn’t going to reference it in just over a week. 

Does the MCU Have No Stakes?

Unfortunately, the best example of how the MCU feels like it has no stakes will probably be coming up in The Marvels. Multiple storylines for the characters in that film revolve around the Skrulls. Yet, because of the reception of Secret Invasion, as well as the ridiculous powers that G’iah now possesses, it seems unlikely that anything could come from it. This could be wrong, and Nick Fury could turn up in The Marvels telling Carol Danvers about how terrible the Skrull invasion has gone. But it doesn’t feel like that will lead anywhere.

On top of the lack of stakes, Loki itself has proven that it wraps things up too quickly. When Loki is pruned in the first season, we assume he’s a goner. But he is revealed to be alive in the very same episode. To further illustrate the fact that the MCU doesn’t have stakes, Sylvie destroying the Sacred Timeline seemingly had no implications for the rest of the MCU other than for Loki. Any multiverse shenanigans that occurred at the same time were due to other characters messing around and not because of Sylvie.

Hopefully, this is all wrong. How could this go anywhere else? Kevin Wright, one of the producers of the show, has teased that the last episodes go into some interesting places. He spoke to GamesRadar, “Not only did it allow us a really great cliffhanger, but where you go after that is totally new territory then.” It is great, but if it doesn’t have any substantial impact, we’re probably not going to remember it in a year. Hopefully, Loki proves us wrong, but we’ll see when Loki’s fifth episode comes out this Thursday on Disney Plus.