Marvel's Loki director Kate Herron has confirmed that episode 4’s post-credits scene includes a specific Easter egg referencing The Avengers. As with many of Phase 4’s entries so far, Loki has been packed with fun nods and allusions to past moments in the MCU. Given the new show’s heavy focus on time travel as a plot device, it’s had even more opportunities to sprinkle in references to earlier parts of the franchise.

The end of Loki episode 4 is wild to say the least. After Mobius is pruned at Renslayer’s command, Loki and Sylvie are brought before the Time-Keepers, who are revealed to be nothing more than android puppets. A fight breaks out between the two mischief gods and the agents of the TVA, culminating in Loki being tragically pruned just as he’s about to confess his feelings for Sylvie. In a post-credits scene, however, it’s revealed that Loki actually survived. He wakes up in a strange field, and looks up to see a group of other Loki variants surrounding him.

Related: Loki: Every MCU Easter Egg In Episode 4

Eagle-eyed fans immediately noticed a visual parallelism between the post-credits scene and a moment at the end of The Avengers, when Loki looked up from defeat to see the heroes of the MCU all gathered around him with weapons brandished. The show’s director has now taken to Twitter to confirm the Easter egg was intentional. Herron said she and cinematographer Autumn Durald “couldn’t resist” the reference, and that composer Natalie Holt even included a musical homage during the scene as well. Check out Herron’s comment on a side-by-side comparison below.

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The scene’s blend of old and new is an oddly perfect metaphor for Loki’s current role in the MCU. After going through a multi-film arc in Phase 2 and Phase 3, by which he became a heroic figure and even sacrificed himself to help stop Thanos, the trickster god was reverted back to his Phase 1 villainy at the beginning of Loki, thanks to the time heist hijinks of Avengers: Endgame. However, after being brought face-to-face with his timeline-ordained fate at the TVA, Loki seems to be neither his old villain self, nor quite what he became by the end of Phase 3.

Hopefully, the new Loki variants he encounters at the end of Loki episode 4 will be friendlier than the Avengers were when they first defeated the god of mischief. With the Time-Keepers now proved to be fake, there’s no telling who or what could be behind the TVA and the creation of the Sacred Timeline. Depending on how those storylines play out, Loki might need all the help he can get in the show’s final two episodes.

Next: Theory: Kang Is Behind The Fake Time-Keepers

Loki episode 5 premieres Wednesday, July 7 on Disney+.

Source: Kate Herron