The MCU Multiverse just got a lot smaller. Last season Marvel’s Loki expanded the multiverse, showcasing multiple timelines. The season finale ended with the Sacred Timeline splintering into multiple branches. However, the latest episode of the Disney+ streaming series quickly reminded us that nothing is safe. In fact, the second episode of Loki season 2 might have the highest death count of any Marvel Studios production. What went down and what does it mean for the Marvel Multiverse? Let’s dive in…

Warning: Spoilers ahead for the latest episode of Loki!

Marvel Multiverse massacre

The Time Variance Authority is a bit of a mess right now. Members of the organization recently discovered that they were amnesiac variants from alternate timelines. They also learned that most of their organization had been built on a lie, with the TVA serving the whims of He Who Remains aka Kang. It’s been a lot to chew on, with many of the TVA members unsure how to move forward. Do they continue their original mission and protect the Sacred Timeline?

The problem is, not every member of the TVA has the same idea on how to protect the Sacred Timeline. General Dox gathered an army of TVA soldiers to hunt for Loki’s variant Syvie, but in reality they had more sinister plans. Dox and her soldiers raided the TVA’s armory, gathering enough weapons to destroy all of the new timeline branches that emerged last season.

Loki, Sylvie, and Mobius were alerted to her plan, and rushed to stop her. Unfortunately, 30% of the timeline branches were already destroyed before Loki’s arrival. A big battle ensued, with multiple Marvel worlds dying every second. “They’re killing billions,” Hunter B-15 solemnly stated as she watched each world disappear from her control panel.

Thanks to Mobius, Loki, and Sylvie, Dox and her loyalists were captured before they could finish destroying the remaining branches. However, the damage was done. Back at the TVA the mood was far from victorious. The entire control room was silent, as everyone watched each world disappear into oblivion. “Those are people. Those are lives,” Hunter B-15 said with sadness.

Loki season 2 episode 2: What does this all mean?

Dox’s actions were catastrophic. She easily killed more people than Thanos ever did. Each of these timelines may have had their own Avengers, but now they’re wiped out. Multiple Captain Americas erased from existence without throwing a punch. The MCU might be building up Kang as the next big threat, but it’s hard to see how he tops a move like this. After the Sacred Timeline branched in Loki season 1, many people speculated on what those branches could become. Some theories suggested that one of those branches could contain 20th Century Fox’s X-Men timeline, and this development would help introduce them into the MCU. In fact, there have been multiple rumors that the TVA will play a role in Deadpool 3.

Now that many of these realities have been destroyed, those theories are looking less certain. It’s hard to say what was on those destroyed branches. Did Ben Affleck’s Daredevil and Nic Cage’s Ghost Rider meet their untimely ends? We know a few of those branches survived, and I would guess any timeline that contained a major Marvel production is safe. However, this could plant some seeds that we might see play out throughout Marvel’s Multiverse Saga in Phase Six.

Consider this – Dox’s actions were meant to raise the stakes and remind viewers how easily timelines could be destroyed. If Kang is meant to be the bigger threat, then perhaps Dox’s plan is foreshadowing something deadlier. What could be deadlier than most of the Marvel Multiverse being wiped out? The answers are pretty scary, but if this episode was a harbinger of things to come, then the next few years of the MCU just got more interesting.

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