Loki’s Battle Of New York Plans Make Him More Like Hela

WARNING: This article contains major spoilers for Loki episode 1.

The Loki series reveals the Asgardian Prince's grand plan after the Battle of New York, which makes him more like his sister, Hela. For years, it's only been Thor and his adopted brother as the sons of Odin and Frigga of Asgard. However, director Taika Waititi's Thor: Ragnarok introduced their eldest sister, Hela, who, apparently was banished by her own father after she fully turned evil.

Odin's demise gave the Goddess of Death the chance to re-establish herself and took over Asgard from Thor, who was poised to be its next king. During Ragnarok, Hela revealed the crimes of the former Allfather who went on a bloody quest to consolidate the Nine Realms with his kingdom at its center. At this point, Hela was a pivotal figure in this mission as she served as her father's executioner, as well as, the commander of their military known as the Einherjar. But, Odin eventually stopped, not wanting to go past the Nine Realm as he felt that he had established peace and acquired enough power to sustain his empire. This disappointed Hela, who believed that they could've done more.

In the Loki premiere titled "Glorious Purpose," Agent Mobius M. Mobius asked Loki what his goal was in launching an attack on Earth during The Avengers. The God of Mischief revealed that successfully invading Midgard would make him their king, but his ambition doesn't stop there. In fact, it was just the first step on his bigger mission which was to eventually take over Asgard, the Nine Realms, and then space. This is actually the first time that the trickster verbalized his plan; for the longest time, it's uncertain what the point of his attempt was to wreak havoc in New York other than a plot meant to hurt both Thor and Odin. It was also assumed that it's his attempt to establish his own kingdom knowing that he no longer has a place in Asgard. But apparently, he had loftier goals, and they're essentially a mirror of Hela's scheme to go beyond the Nine Realms.

All that being said, the difference between Loki and Hela's plans boiled down to their plausibility. Having a successful, albeit relatively brief conquest increased the chances of the Goddess of Death's accomplishing her goal. Had Odin stayed the course and continued their invasion, it's not outside the realm of possibility that they would have achieved Hela's dream of amassing more power. The God of Mischief, on the other hand, really had nothing to show at that point. Even with the help of Thanos with the loaned Mind Stone and Chitauri Army, he still failed. He went up against six individuals who didn't have any business working together and weren't keen on doing so, but the Avengers still handed him a humiliating defeat.

Both Loki and Hela are dead in the MCU Sacred Timeline, but it's curious what their dynamic would've been if they were given the chance to spend time together. The pair already had the same aesthetics and motivations, making Thor look like he's the odd sibling out of the trio. However, it's worth noting that that at his core, the God of Mischief is not as evil and ruthless as his sister — something that will be further explored in the Loki series. So perhaps even if he won the Battle of New York, he would've eventually halted his plans of cosmic domination anyway.

Loki releases new episodes every Wednesday on Disney+.

More: The MCU Finally Explains Why Loki Always Loses