Theory: Loki’s Time-Keepers Don’t Exist – TVA Secret Revealed

Caution: Spoilers ahead for Loki episode 2

Are Loki‘s Time-Keepers real… or is there some Wizard of Oz-style deception afoot? Tom Hiddleston’s Disney+ solo series marks the MCU debut of the Time Variance Authority. Seemingly omnipotent, the TVA dictates the proper flow of time and enforce that vision by chopping off deviating branches. Loki is one such deviation, and given the amount of variant Lokis in the TVA’s filing system, seizing the Tesseract clearly wasn’t his first (or last) offense. Naturally curious, Loki wants to know exactly who’s running the show at the TVA, and quickly learns how everything is dictated by three sacred beings called Time-Keepers.

According to Miss Minutes’ informative video package, the Time-Keepers stepped up when a multiverse war threatened to erase all reality. They consolidated everything into one big Sacred Timeline, creating the TVA and its employees to ensure no branch realities would sprout ever again. Elusive and unseen, the Time-Keepers are revered by the likes of Mobius and Judge Renslayer, but every time Loki probes for more, he’s greeted with vague answers and misdirection. Supposedly, the Time-Keepers are busy figuring out how life, the universe and everything finally comes to an end.

There’s obviously something amiss with the TVA’s Time-Keepers. Loki refuses to believe a trio of immortal reptiles benevolently saved all creation, made their own time-bending civilization, and now anonymously dictate how history should play out, and neither should an inquisitive viewing audience. Not only does Loki leave plenty of hints that the Time-Keepers aren’t quite what they seem, but the Disney+ series looks to be setting up a grand reveal for the finale – the Time-Keepers simply don’t exist.

The Time-Keepers Are The MCU’s Big Brother

The Time-Keepers’ modus operandi will feel eerily familiar to those who read 1984 in college. George Orwell’s dystopian classic depicts a world ruled by “Big Brother,” whose presence casts a shadow over the entire population, threatening citizens into obedience with phrases like “Big Brother is watching you.” 1984‘s government maintains the illusion that Big Brother is a real man – an all-powerful ruler never to be questioned – and Loki‘s Time-Keepers are giving off exactly the same vibes. The statues and posters littered around TVA HQ afford the Time-Keepers an overbearing visual presence that’s impossible to avoid, helping to maintain a fearful and compliant workforce. Mobius is proof of this in action – a worker who holds the Time-Keepers in high esteem, even though he’s never actually met them.

Although not stated directly, Orwell heavily suggests Big Brother is not a real person, but rather a manifestation of an evil, tyrannical dictatorship. Loki is very probably planning something similar with its Time-Keepers and, unlike 1984, the MCU will actually have to reveal the truth sooner or later. Echoing Big Brother, the Time-Keepers could be a concept, rather than actual living beings.

The TVA presenting the Time-Keepers and their story as absolute fact maintains control and order that otherwise wouldn’t exist, and gives recruits a sense of divine purpose, clouding their ability to think freely. For this ploy to succeed, the Time-Keepers must be a fallacy. If the space lizards did exist, they’d either rule in full view, making speeches and declarations like Thanos, or they’d simply run things from the shadows without fuss, similar to the Celestials. That the Time-Keepers have such a looming presence without actually being present all but confirms they don’t exist.

Loki Is Dorothy

In The Wizard of Oz, the wonderful titular realm is ruled by a mysterious Wizard, who decrees his will through a holographic green face, a booming voice, and tons of pyro. The L. Frank Baum story eventually reveals the “wizard” to be a regular man triggering special effects from behind a curtain. Like 1984‘s Big Brother, there are clear parallels between Oz’s Wizard and the TVA’s Time-Keepers, with both using showy, overblown techniques and wild stories to lull ordinary people into mindless worship. The Wizard of Oz was so “wonderful” people sang his name in the streets. Mobius isn’t belting out jaunty numbers about the Time-Keepers just yet, but he’s not far off.

The biggest hint that Loki could copy The Wizard of Oz‘s dramatic reveal is how similar Loki himself comes to assuming the Dorothy role. Tom Hiddleston and Judy Garland’s characters are both whisked from their normal lives and fall from the sky into an unfamiliar, wacky world (Oz/the TVA) full of happy and obedient citizens (the people of Oz/the TVA’s employees). Each protagonist then goes on a journey to save this strange land from an evil witch (Elphaba/Lady Loki). Ultimately, it’s Dorothy who forces everyone to see the reality behind the curtain, and Loki is on his way to doing the same with the Time-Keepers, repeatedly questioning their role in universal matters. We’ll let you decide whether Mobius is the Scarecrow, Lion or Tin-Man.

One might be considerably better at singing than the other, but the correlation between Dorothy and Loki as great liberators from other worlds is undeniable. With no sign whatsoever that the Time-Keepers actually exist, the God of Mischief is liberating the TVA not from three powerful lizards, but from one big lie – just like Dorothy before him.

Mobius’ Jet Ski Sets Up The Time-Keepers Being A Lie

Loki drops plenty of hints to suggest the Time-Keepers aren’t what they appear, but the biggest is Mobius’ jet ski in episode 2. Discussing the Time-Keepers during a canteen break, Loki mocks Mobius’ blind faith in three beings he’s never even seen, let alone spoken with. An unflappable Mobius calmly compares his own beliefs to Loki’s Asgardian heritage, arguing that both would sound ridiculous to an outside ear. Crucially, Mobius concludes by assuring Loki (and perhaps himself) that so long as he believes the Time-Keepers are real, they’re real enough.

But does Mobius protest too much? If Loki conclusively reveals to Mobius that the Time-Keepers do not exist, poor Owen Wilson would be devastated. Everything he ever worked for, not to mention his entire existence, would be thrown into turmoil – and this is where the jet ski comes in. As soon as Mobius mentioned his dream to Loki, it became inevitable that the character will ride a jet ski before season 1’s end. Once Loki pulls back the curtain on the Time-Keepers and their rules, Mobius would be free to ride the waves, helping him realize that there is life beyond the TVA’s doors, and although his sudden freedom from Time-Keeper rule might be scary, it’s also incredibly exciting. Why else set up Mobius’ jet ski ride, if not to use it as a breakout moment?

The TVA Agents Could Be Reset Variants

As Mobius tells it, the Time-Keepers are responsible for creating each TVA agent, but if the lizards are just a fairy story, where do TVA agents really come from? In Loki‘s first episode, one captured variant gets himself disintegrated before making it to Judge Renslayer’s bench. Loki gets a little further, but Mobius steps in to recruit the God of Mischief before his judgement is carried out. Consequently, Loki hasn’t yet revealed what happens when a guilty variant is “reset.” Maybe the TVA wipes the memories of each condemned variant, fills their heads with a pre-made Sacred Timeline backstory, then churns them back out as loyal TVA employees. Realizing this truth may be Loki’s key to unraveling the Time-Keeper mystery. Does he find the real, non-variant Mobius somewhere in history to use as proof he wasn’t born into the organization.

What’s Really Happening At The TVA?

If the Time-Keepers aren’t in charge of the TVA, who’s dictating what counts as a timeline variation and what doesn’t? And if the whole Sacred Timeline backstory is just manipulative bunkum, what’s the TVA’s true purpose? With only 2 episodes released, it’s too early to say for sure. Perhaps higher-ups such as Renslayer are the TVA’s actual, less mystic, leaders, or maybe there’s a bigger villain hiding in the shadows, pruning the timeline to their advantage. Fans of Star Trek or Doctor Who might expect the “Time-Keepers” to be nothing more than a giant computer giving anonymous commands.

Whoever’s weaving this web of deception, they’ve made a monumental effort to change history, and that can only mean one of two things. Either the TVA agents are unknowingly complicit in some dark, evil scheme, or the true founder of the TVA is searching for a way to avoid a future tragedy. This could be personal in nature, such as the death of a loved one, or a threat to the multiverse even bigger than Thanos’ snap. Judge Renslayer herself teased this in Loki‘s second episode, claiming the Time-Keepers have been feverishly trying to figure out how the universe ends – maybe a cover for the TVA’s true founder desperately mapping out which events must and must not happen in order to avoid a specific outcome in one big game of temporal trial and error.

New episodes of Loki release Wednesdays on Disney+.