Loki Season 2: What's The Temporal Loom - Can Norse Mythology Give Us Clues?
"Loki" Season 2 starts with a bang, as Mobius (Owen Wilson) and O.B. (Ke Huy Quan) use the Temporal Loom to rip the titular God of Mischief from the time stream, ridding Loki (Tom Hiddleston) of his time slipping issues. While it's clear the Temporal Loom — and its overloading energy — will be a crucial plot point in Season 2, what exactly is the Time Variance Authority device?
According to "Loki," the Temporal Loom is a device the TVA uses to convert raw time into a physical timeline, sustaining the Sacred Timeline. Unfortunately, with the death of He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors) at the end of Season 1, the creation of countless branching timelines overload the Temporal Loom, causing it to radiate energy in the Season 2 premiere and forcing O.B. to adjust it to handle all of the new timelines.
Much like many things related to Marvel's Thor and Loki, the Temporal Loom has an origin rooted in Norse mythology. In the Germanic myths, the Norns, also known as the three Fates, weave the Loom of Norns, shaping the lives and destinies of all living creatures. Although Marvel Studios' Temporal Loom isn't a direct adaptation, the connection between the TVA and the Fates seems abundantly clear.
Will Loki destroy the Temporal Loom?
Can Marvel Cinematic Universe fans look to the comics to get an idea of how the Temporal Loom may fit into "Loki" Season 2? Kind of.
In Marvel Comics, the Three Norns guard the Loom of the Fates, which holds the destinies of everyone on Asgard. During a 2004 issue, Thor destroys the Loom. This frees his people from Those Who Sit Above in Shadow — a group of gods of gods — who were siphoning energy from the Asgardians. However, Thor's actions also effectively destroy everyone within Asgard (including the Norns), leaving only Midgard standing.
"Loki" Season 2 could take a similar approach to the Temporal Loom, ending the season with Loki destroying the TVA device much like his brother handled the Loom in the comics. While TVA tech guy O.B. and Mobuis were able to fix the Temporal Loom in Episode 1, something tells us it's not the last we've seen of the timeline-maintaining device. With Loki and Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) set on saving the multiverse by allowing branching timelines to thrive, the destruction of the Temporal Loom could be the catalyst for an even more expansive creation of the multiverse, setting the MCU barreling toward "Avengers: Secret Wars."