What Happened To Kid Loki At The End Of Episode 5?

WARNING: Spoilers for Loki episode 5, "Journey into Mystery."

What happened to Kid Loki at the end of Loki episode 5, "Journey Into Mystery?" After much trickery and shenanigans, Loki found himself pruned but, shockingly, not dead. Instead, he landed in a sort of dumpster realm at the end of time, which is, as it turns out, where the TVA sends the variants they prune so they can't cause any further damage to the timeline. While there, he was greeted by the Council of Lokis, comprised of Classic Loki, Boastful Loki, Alligator Loki, and Kid Loki, the apparent ruler of the realm.

Boastful Loki was taken care of early in Loki episode 5 when he revealed he'd betrayed the other Lokis by teaming up with yet another variant, President Loki, in order to take Kid Loki's throne. A mass brawl broke out and Loki snuck out with Classic Loki and Kid Loki, who was clutching Alligator Loki. Classic Loki found his "glorious purpose" and went out at the end of the episode in a blaze of glory, projecting an immensely powerful illusion of Asgard in order to fool the Alioth and distract it long enough for Sylvie and Loki to get close. All that was left was a charred horned helmet, indicating that he'd met his end–for now.

Kid Loki's whereabouts and what happened to him, however, are up in the air. He, along with Classic Loki, decided to stay in their realm when offered the chance to leave with Mobius. He gifted Loki with the flaming sword, Laevateinn, then split. It's extremely likely that Kid Loki will reappear, however, if not in the Loki finale, then surely somewhere down the road in the MCU. Like all Lokis, he's a survivor, but it would appear he's perhaps a bit more of a survivor and more about his own self-preservation than some of the other Lokis, hence why he didn't return to help in the fight against Alioth. After all, his Nexus Event was killing his brother, Thor, at a young age, and the other Lokis respected him as the ruler of the realm despite him being just a kid. Being a Loki, he either went to ground and is hiding our, or he snuck back to their headquarters to see if any of the other usurping Lokis were left alive. Now that the Alioth has been vanquished–and a number of the other Lokis potentially dead–ruling his kingdom will be far easier.

Still, he is just a kid, and now that his friends are gone, Kid Loki may find that ruling over an empire of nothing isn't the glorious purpose he thought it would be. Classic Loki was older and wiser and had realized that bringing pain to people in order to rule wasn't what he wanted for himself. In "Journey into Mystery," Kid Loki isn't quite there yet and he still wants a throne, which is why he stayed. But there's no telling what the realm will be like by the end of Loki episode 6 or even if the realm will still exist–who knows what will become of the Sacred Timeline and multiverse? Kid Loki wanted no part of the battle against Alioth, preferring to survive and stay in his realm, but he may not have that choice soon. At some point, viewers can expect he'll leave that realm, not the least of which because of what Marvel has been setting up.

The pieces are clearly being put in place to assemble the Young Avengers, which a number of young heroes from the comic book team having been or soon to be introduced in the MCU Phase 4. That includes Cassie Lang/Stature in the Ant-Man movies, Billy Kaplan/Wiccan and Tommy Shepherd/Speed in WandaVision, Eli Bradley/Patriot in The Falcon & The Winter Soldier, Kate Bishop/Hawkeye in the upcoming Hawkeye, America Chavez in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, even Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel and Joaquín Torres/Falcon if the MCU changes the lineup. Kid Loki is an integral member of the Young Avengers in the comics, and it's certain that's where his future lies beyond Loki, even if he doesn't know it yet.

Next: Loki Shows MCU Loki Was Never Truly Redeemed (Not Even After Death)

Loki releases new episodes every Wednesday on Disney+.