*Warning: Full spoilers ahead for Loki season 2 episode 6.*

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The Loki season 2 ending might need some explaining after that dramatic and unexpected finale on Disney Plus.

Episode 6 sees Tom Hiddleston's God of Mischief make a huge sacrifice in the finale after spending the episodes prior fighting to save the TVA alongside friends Mobius (Owen Wilson) and Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino).

The conclusion to the final episode of the second season marks a full circle moment for Loki, which has led many fans to wonder season 2 could be the last.

If you've been left scratching your head, read on to have the Loki season 2 ending explained, so you can learn once and for all what happened to everyone's favourite God of Mischief and what it all means for the future of the MCU.

Loki season 2 ending explained

Episode 6 picks up with Loki as he manages to control his time-slipping and return to the moment before Victor Timely steps into the radiation and goes all spaghetti on us. OB tells him they just have to go quicker - so he tries again, and again, and again, to no avail.

Eventually, he spends centuries getting to know OB's knowledge of mechanics and engineering so he can speed things along - again, to no avail. Timely realises that the branches are multiplying at an infinite rate, and there's no way to adapt the loom to deal with so many. The only option for Loki is to go back further in time and change things earlier.

Loki goes back to the end of the world with He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors) and Sylvie - the confrontation we saw at the end of season 1, when Sylvie killed He Who Remains. He tries and fails to stop her killing him various times before He Who Remains steps in and shows him how to pause time. He tells Loki that the temporal loom is only actually designed to protect the sacred timeline - and nothing else.

Sophia Di Martino as Sylvie in Loki season 2
Sophia Di Martino as Sylvie in Loki season 2. Marvel Studios/Gareth Gatrell

He Who Remains tells Loki that if he breaks the loom, a brutal war breaks out - and the only option is to have him remain on the throne at the end of time. Loki refuses to believe that and tells him he'll find another way. It seems like the only option is to kill Sylvie before she kills He Who Remains.

Loki goes back even further to get some advice from Mobius, asking him how he chooses who lives and who dies, with Mobius telling Loki that he just has to choose his burden.

Loki goes back to his meeting with his friends' variants on the sacred timeline, telling Sylvie it's the sacred timeline or nothing. She tells him that he may have to die fighting and that it's okay to destroy something if there's something better to replace it.

Does Loki become the god of time in season 2?

Yes. Loki goes back to the loom, transforming into the god we all know and (sometimes) love, and destroys it as his friends look on, telling them he knows what type of god he needs to be.

He finds himself entangled among the branches, physically gathering them and pulling them with him as he becomes the god of time.

What happens to the TVA in Loki season 2?

After Loki's sacrifice, which results in all of the branches running through him, we see the TVA back in action with Hunter B-15 in charge.

Ms Minutes is back as re-programmed version of herself, and Mobius tells B-15 that he has the files on He Who Remains's variants - referencing Kang the Conqueror as he explains that "one of them caused a little bit of a ruckus on a 615 adjacent realm".

For now, though, the TVA sees calm, with OB developing a new version of the handbook. This time, no one drops it through a young Victor Timely's window.

What happens to Mobius and Sylvie?

The end of the episodes shows Mobius receiving his own file and breaking the news to Hunter B-15 that he's leaving to see what his life is like on the timeline.

The pair say an emotional goodbye, with B-15 asking if Mobius is scared. "Oh yeah," he replies, before leaving.

We see him watching his variant, Don, with his two sons as Sylvie approaches him. He says he wants to stay there for a bit and "let time pass". Sylvie, meanwhile, appears to be enjoying her new-found freedom.

Owen Wilson in Loki season 2 wearing a grey shirt and brown suit jacket
Owen Wilson in Loki season 2. Marvel Entertainment/YouTube

What happens to He Who Remains?

It's made clear that He Who Remains's variants are still out there, with the TVA starting their mission to track them down.

As we know, Kang the Conqueror is in the future of the MCU, with Loki season 2 setting this up.

Where is Renslayer at the end of Loki season 2?

Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Judge Renslayer in Loki (Disney Plus) sat at a bench, with large wooden faces in the background
Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Judge Renslayer in Loki.

Renslayer wakes up in the void after being sent there earlier in the season. The wind brushes the grass aside to show an insignia that reads, "For all time, always," just like the one in the TVA.

However, it's clear Alioth is also there, making things look a little dicey for Renslayer's future.

Is Loki season 2 the last?

After initially indicating that this is the end for him in the MCU, Hiddleston has clarified what he actually mean in an interview with CinemaBlend.

He said: "I feel very satisfied with the finale of season 2, because it seems to contain echoes and resonances of the entire journey.

"It's almost like a piece of music, where in that last episode, you hear strains of, you know, whether it's in lines of dialogue, we are circling the same themes that I've always circled with Loki.

"But he's a character who is engaged with ideas of belonging, ideas of identity, ideas of purpose. That's who he was at the very foot at the beginning in the first Thor film, wondering where he belonged, which family he belonged to, wondering what his role was in all of this."

He continued: "Thor was destined to be king of Asgard. And who am I? Who is Loki? And I've been asking that question the whole way.

"Like, who does Loki think he is? Who's he think he is, and who is he really? And then through the series, in season 1 and season 2, I think the confrontation with Mobius and the mirror of Sylvie is another excavation, we go deeper into those ideas."

Meanwhile, Sylvie actress Sophia Di Martino recently indicated there could be more to come.

Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com about the season 2 ending, she said: "I don’t know if it felt like the end to me, because, I mean, [Loki’s] gonna be pretty busy holding the whole universe together."

For now, fans will have to wait and see whether season 2 marks the end for Hiddleston's character.

We asked a panel of pop-culture enthusiasts the great geek question of our time: Marvel versus DC – who is the king of superhero cinema? Watch the full debate show to find out who came out on top.

Loki is available to stream on Disney Plus. Sign up to Disney Plus for £7.99 a month or £79.90 for a year. Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.

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Authors

Louise Griffin is the Sci-Fi & Fantasy Editor for Radio Times, covering everything from Doctor Who, Star Wars and Marvel to House of the Dragon and Good Omens. She previously worked at Metro as a Senior Entertainment Reporter and has a degree in English Literature.

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