WARNING: This article contains major spoilers for Loki.

In Thor, Odin’s lie about Loki’s Frost Giant heritage crushes the God of Mischief; however, Disney’s Loki makes the situation even sadder. Thor sets up Loki’s (Tom Hiddleston) entire character arc in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In the movie, Loki learns the truth about his lineage. He’s not the son of Odin (Anthony Hopkins) after all. Instead, Loki is the abandoned son of Laufey, the leader of the Frost Giants, and Odin rescued him as a baby. Though Odin grew to love him, he also took Loki in the hope of one day forging a peace with the Frost Giants. The reveal that he’s not an Asgardian destroys Loki, finally showing him why Thor (Chris Hemsworth) was always the favored son.

SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY

The truth about Loki’s heritage sends the God of Mischief down his villainous path, which leads directly to the Time Variance Authority in Loki. The TVA is in charge of keeping Marvel’s Sacred Timeline in tact, and anyone who steps out of line is immediately brought in by the agency for being a variant and put on trial for their crimes. So when Loki steals the Tesseract in Avengers: Endgame, the TVA is quickly alerted. According to the agency, he was never meant to escape from the Avengers.

Loki makes Odin’s lie about his son’s past even more devastating. In Thor, Loki is completely torn apart by the truth that he’s not Odin’s son, and he asks the Allfather, “You could have told me what I was from the beginning. Why didn’t you?” Odin replies, “You’re my son. I wanted only to protect you from the truth.” While it seems like an earnest response, it’s not entirely correct. According to the TVA, the lie always had to happen. Even if Odin wanted to reveal the truth to the God of Mischief, he couldn’t. The lie is part of the Sacred Timeline.

If Odin revealed the truth to Loki, it would’ve had dangerous repercussions. In the Loki premiere, a TVA video narrated by Miss Minutes (Tara Strong) shows that stepping out of your path on the timeline could be as drastic as starting an uprising or as small as being late for work. Since Odin was always supposed to lie to Loki, the truth would’ve alerted the TVA. Like the God of Mischief’s arrest in the Loki premiere, Odin and Loki could’ve both been taken away. Because of the truth, the pair could’ve been erased from existence.

See also  The Big Short Interview: Jeremy Strong and Hamish Linklater

Though it’s sad, there are additional reasons the Loki lie had to happen in Thor. According to the TVA, Loki’s purpose is to make others achieve their best. If he had a great life at home, Loki might’ve never turned into a villain, which helps the Avengers unite together. Loki has a gripping MCU storyline, which explains why Marvel continually brings the character back even after killing him. The MCU wouldn’t be the same without the God of Mischief, and fans can thank the TVA and Odin’s bad parenting.

Loki releases new episodes every Wednesday on Disney+.

Key Release Dates
  • Black Widow (2021)Release date: Jul 09, 2021
  • Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)Release date: Sep 03, 2021
  • Eternals (2021)Release date: Nov 05, 2021
  • Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)Release date: May 06, 2022
  • Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)Release date: Jul 08, 2022
  • Black Panther: Wakanda Forever/Black Panther 2 (2022)Release date: Nov 11, 2022
  • The Marvels/Captain Marvel 2 (2023)Release date: Feb 17, 2023
  • Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)Release date: Jul 28, 2023
  • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)Release date: May 05, 2023
Bridgerton Season 2 Originally Had More Sex (& Why Those Scenes Were Cut)

About The Author


Bill Bradley
(523 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.

See also  Stan Lee’s Answer to Every 'Hero vs Hero' Fight Is Brilliantly Simple

More From Bill Bradley