How Loki Knew About Endgame’s Time Heist In 2012

Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Loki episode 1, “Glorious Purpose.”

Loki reveals that the God of Mischief knew about the Avengers’ time heist in Avengers: Endgameall along. The debut of Loki on Disney+ has finally answered what happens to Tom Hiddleston’s character when he disappears in Endgame. The series picks up with Loki escaping with the Tesseract and winding up in the Gobi Desert in Mongolia. There, he’s picked up by the Time Variance Authority, an agency charged with keeping a sacred timeline. It seems like Loki is in a sticky situation, but he still has some tricks up his sleeve.

The new Disney+ series immediately throws the God of Mischief off his game. Thus far in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Loki has believed he’s had a glorious purpose, but the TVA makes him question everything. After being apprehended for breaking off and creating a new timeline during his Tesseract escape, the TVA puts Loki through processing, taking his clothes, making him sign forms acknowledging everything he’s ever said, and sending him to a trial in front of Judge Ravonna Renslayer, played by Gugu Mbatha-Raw. However, things don’t go as smoothly as anyone planned.

When put before Judge Renslayer, Loki pleads not guilty to crimes against the Sacred Timeline, with a good reason why: it’s the Avengers’ fault. Loki apparently knows all about the Avengers’ time heist in Endgame. He tells Judge Renslayer the only reason he came into possession of the Tesseract is because of the Avengers’ time travel shenanigans, and they are the ones the TVA wants. When Judge Renslayer says Loki is making “quite an accusation,” it turns out he has good reason. “Oh, believe me, you can smell the cologne of two Tony Starks,” Loki responds. However, this plan doesn’t work, as the judge is fine with the Avengers’ time-traveling adventures. But the scene is crucial in that it makes it clear that Loki knew about the time heist, at least in as far as being able to tell more than one Tony Stark was present during the series of events that took place.

This massively changes the way the Avengers’ time traveling in Endgame appeared to affect the original Avengers scene. While Loki doesn’t know the superheroes’ exact plan – he tells the judge the Avengers were time jumping to stop him from becoming a God King – the fact he knew something was afoot is decidedly new information. This revelation now alters how audiences will look at the Avengers’ time travel trip to 2012 in Endgame. But changing how viewers look at a scene isn’t anything new for Marvel. 

With so many MCU movies and shows, Marvel regularly retcons moments to make them work in new projects. For instance, in Captain America: Civil War, Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark introduces an expensive retro-framing technology as B.A.R.F., which Spider-Man: Far From Home repurposes as motivation for Jake Gyllenhaal’s Quentin Beck, a former Stark Industries employee who doesn’t appreciate the acronym given to his life’s work. Even small moments, such as Loki’s mysterious muzzle in 2012’s Avengers, can get addressed. Endgame shows Loki getting the mouthpiece to stop his constant talking. As long as retcons in Loki and other projects don’t betray the integrity of the story, they’re a useful tool for the MCU. Though, they do often lead to more questions: If Loki knew about the time traveling in Avengers: Endgame, were other characters aware of it too? If so, did other characters also somehow break out of the timeline like Loki? And most importantly, just how strong is Iron Man’s cologne anyway?

Loki releases new episodes every Wednesday on Disney+.

About The Author

Bill Bradley
(524 Articles Published)

Bill is an experienced reporter who’s covered entertainment and fandom since 2014. He’s done everything from unearthing the discarded Game of Thrones pilot script in a library in Texas to finding out why Steve left Blue’s Clues. He also enjoys eating Taco Bell and drinking chocolate milk.

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