Why Mjolnir Is In Loki Episode 5’s Void

Warning: SPOILERS for Loki Episode 5 – “Journey Into Mystery.”

Loki episode 5 revealed that Thor’s enchanted hammer Mjolnir is buried in The Void, but how did it get there? After he was pruned by Ravonna Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), Loki (Tom Hiddleston) was transported to the Void at the end of time, where he met multiple Loki Variants. Unbeknownst to the God of Mischief, a variant of his brother Thor’s hammer is deep in the earth leading to the Loki Variants’ secret sanctuary, an underground bowling alley.

Mjolnir has long been the weapon of Thor (Chris Hemsworth). In Thor: Ragnarok, Hela (Cate Blanchett), the Goddess of Death, destroyed Mjolnir and Thor later learned that his beloved hammer was only meant to focus the Thunder God’s innate power and it was never the source of Thor’s might. To kill Thanos (Josh Brolin), Thor had to replace Mjolnir and built a magical ax called Stormbreaker in Avengers: Infinity War, but when he time-traveled back to 2013 Asgard with Rocket (Bradley Cooper) to heist the Reality Stone in Avengers: Endgame, Thor took that era’s version of Mjolnir with him, which proved he was still worthy to wield it. Captain America (Chris Evans) also showed he was worthy to use Mjolnir and, after the Avengers beat Thanos once and for all, Steve Rogers returned Mjolnir to its proper 2013 timeline when he returned the six Infinity Stones the Avengers gathered from the past.

Given that the only two previous versions of Mjolnir fans have seen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe were destroyed and returned by Steve Rogers to its correct timeline, how did a variant of Thor’s hammer end up buried in The Void? Loki introduced the concept of Variant Lokis and there is an untold amount scattered throughout the Multiverse – several of whom were arrested by the Time Variance Authority and banished to The Void. So, it stands to reason there are also countless variants of Thor in the Multiverse as well. Indeed, a Thor Variant is seen trapped in the earth near Mjolnir: a frog Thor (possibly Throg) stuck bouncing inside a jar. It’s possible Mjolnir belongs to the frog Thor, who could have been shrunken and placed inside the jar, maybe by one of the Loki Variants.

It’s also likely that a Variant Thor was arrested and pruned by the TVA, which sent that Thunder God to The Void. Once there, the Variant Thor would have come face-to-face with the matter-consuming, living tempest Alioth, and, being a noble hero who slays monsters, Thor would probably have tried to fight it and lost his life in the process. That Thor’s Mjolnir could have simply ended up abandoned and covered by the dirt and muck of The Void since there’s no telling how long ago this scenario might have occurred.

Mjolnir is also buried with tons of trash, especially cafeteria trays presumably from the TVA. Another possibility is the TVA took possession of a Thor Variant’s hammer and later discarded it with the rest of their garbage. After all, Infinity Stones are powerless and used as paperweights at TVA Headquarters so Mjolnir may also just be considered useless junk and it could even be lifted by anyone in the TVA, which operates outside of the MCU’s normal rules. However, given the fact that Ravonna Renslayer collects artifacts taken from variants across time, one would think she’d keep Thor’s hammer in her office as a souvenir. But perhaps one of the office drones at the TVA simply tossed Mjolnir away and it ended up in The Void.

Unfortunately, even if someone finds the variant Mjolnir buried in The Void, it would take a Thor or someone equally worthy to lift Mjolnir and use it to escape the end of time. It’s doubtful such a person would be a Loki, but stranger things have happened (and keep happening) in the MCU. Perhaps there will be an explanation for Thor’s hammer in The Void one day, and it may even be the Mjolnir claimed by Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) in Thor: Love and Thunder.

Loki streams new episodes Wednesdays on Disney+.