Warning: This post contains spoilers for Loki episode 1.

Tom Hiddleston's return to the MCU with Loki might have seen the new TVA rules attempt to wipe out all of Avengers: Endgame's timeline plot-holes, but one serious issue remains. Loki's creation of a new branch of the timeline thanks to his Endgame escape with the Tesseract that underpins the entire plot of his new Disney+ show simply doesn't make sense. Or at least, the idea that the TVA would criminalize it while overlooking everything else in the time heist is a problem.

In Endgame, as established in Loki, the God of Mischief was never supposed to escape. It was only Tony Stark's accidental loss of the Tesseract thanks to Hulk's angry intervention that allowed him to make his get-away, and the TVA deemed that a violation. The logic of why Loki became a temporal criminal was largely limited to the logic that "it wasn't meant to be" according to the dictation of the Time Keepers, much to Loki's chagrin during his "trial". It's a genius conceit for the new MCU show, because it appears there's no argument with it and as the show pointedly made clear, the TVA's authority is such that they even render the Infinity Stones largely irrelevant.

Related: Loki Episode 1 Asks 6 Big Questions About The MCU Multiverse

But Loki's escape can't be wholly disregarded as an abomination against the Sacred Timeline if the rest of the Avengers' time heist that followed it was allowed, which the TVA confirmed it was. Because, fundamentally, Loki's deviation from the Avengers' plan led not only to Captain America and Tony Stark heading back to the 1970s to steal the Tesseract, but it also made Captain America's return of the Infinity Stones possible. Without those additional particles, the restoration of the Stones to their own timelines - which the Ancient One confirmed was the only way to stop the emergence of doomed branches - would never have been possible, so Loki's involvement was key to the entire thing working and the timeline being preserved.

Loki grabs the Tesseract in Avengers Endgame

In Endgame, Ant-Man explained that there were only enough particles for two trips for each Avenger - one to their temporal destination and one home - plus two test runs (one of which he wastes, humorously). At that stage, without Hank Pym, there was no means for more particles, and without the Ancient One inspiring Bruce Banner to plot how to preserve the timeline by returning the Stones there was no plan to do so. It took Loki stealing the Tesseract from 2012 and escaping for the 1970s diversion and the opportunistic move by Steve Rogers to take the extra Pym Particles for the full plan to be set out.

Whether the TVA allowed the Avengers' time heist to happen without intervention for the sake of the timeline almost doesn't matter - it makes sense that Thanos was supposed to be defeated and for life to find a way to endure despite his evil, but Loki's part cannot be separated. Because of the causality of his escape on the Endgame time heist, Loki was as much a part of the plan, even without intent, as any of the other heroes. Undoing his escape would have undone a key part of the plan. But Loki's catch-all "because the TVA said so" rule makes no allowance for the nuance.

Next: Why Loki Always Says He's Burdened With Glorious Purpose

Loki releases new episodes every Wednesday, only on Disney+.

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