Warning: SPOILERS for Loki episode 6, "For All Time. Always."

Loki's finale introduced the Big Bad of MCU Phase 4 but there are calculated reasons why the villain portrayed by Jonathan Majors was called He Who Remains instead of by his true name, Kang the Conqueror. Regardless of what he's called in Loki or in his future appearances in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Kang has been established as a fearsome Multiversal threat who may even prove to be more dangerous than Thanos (Josh Brolin) was.

Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) found He Who Remains at the Citadel at the End of Time, a stronghold that was guarded by the matter-eating space-time entity called Alioth. The two Loki Variants intended to kill the true creator of the Time Variance Authority, but they were shocked when He Who Remains instead offered a proposal for Loki and Sylvie to take over the responsibility of overseeing the Sacred Timeline and the TVA. Otherwise, if they did kill He Who Remains, the temporal mastermind promised a Multiversal War would commence because his even-more-evil Variants would try to assert dominance over the entire Multiverse. Although Loki tried to talk her out of it, Sylvie followed through on her mission and killed He Who Remains. This resulted in the Sacred Timeline branching out uncontrollably as a harbinger to the Kang Variants' arrival, as He Who Remains predicted.

Related: Loki: Every MCU Easter Egg In Episode 6

Loki dances around the true name of He Who Remains for a couple of reasons. In the real world, Marvel Studios still wants to preserve some semblance of secrecy regarding Kang the Conqueror and his ultimate role in MCU Phase 4. It was already announced that Jonathan Majors was cast as Kang, who will be the villain in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, so that cat was out of the bag long ago. Indeed, many Loki fans read the clues throughout season 1 and correctly guessed Kang would be revealed as the true creator of the TVA. But within Loki's reality, there is also the fact that He Who Remains, by his reckoning, has been running the TVA for "eons" and that he is "older than he looks", which means the first Multiversal War between the Kang Variants happened a long time ago. At this point in his existence, it's possible the sole victor of the Multiversal War no longer thinks of himself as Kang, especially after fighting and killing so many Variants of himself.

Loki, Kang, and Sylvie in episode 6 of Loki

Before they met Kang, Loki and Sylvie encountered Miss Minutes, who called the master of the Citadel at the End of Time "He Who Remains". However, Kang was amused that Miss Minutes still uses that moniker: "'He Who Remains.' Does she still call me that? Creepy. I like it." At no point did He Who Remains offer up his true name to Loki and Sylvie, but he alluded to what Marvel fans already know by calling himself "a Conqueror" with a snicker. While this may be frustrating to some fans, whether or not they knew He Who Remains is Kang or to viewers who have never heard of Kang but wanted clarification on who the villain is, Loki's aim was to preserve the mystery and a measure of doubt for both Loki and Sylvie as to whether or not He Who Remains was lying.

It's also important to note that until He Who Remains reincarnates like he claimed he will, that version of Kang is dead thanks to Sylvie. But other versions of Kang the Conqueror are indeed coming, and one of them will be the villain Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) will face in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. The immense statue of He Who Remains Loki sees in the last moments of the finale is likely of a different Kang (it's wearing Kang's comic book-accurate uniform) and the God of Mischief was possibly thrown into a different timeline by Sylvie, which explains why Mobius (Owen Wilson) didn't know who Loki was. So, He Who Remains was definitely Kang, even if Loki never said his name, but it's a safe bet that the Variants that fans will meet in Loki season 2 will be prouder to go by the name Kang the Conqueror.

Next: Why Marvel Used Loki To Introduce Phase 4's Thanos

Loki will return for season 2 on Disney+.

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