WARNING: Spoilers for Loki episode 6, "For All Time. Always."

Loki director Kate Herron didn’t know the Infinity Stones were in head writer Michael Waldron’s script. Marvel Studios’ latest Disney+ series has changed everything fans know about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, something that seemed inevitable from the start. Loki’s premiere episode saw Tom Hiddleston's trickster in 2012 arrested by the Time Variance Authority, the bureaucratic organization that maintains the Scared Timeline, following the events of Avengers: Endgame.

At first, the God of Mischief questions the TVA’s power and omnipotence. He then discovers a drawer of discarded Infinity Stones (being used as paperweights). Being that the Infinity Stones were deemed the most powerful objects in the MCU during its first three Phases, both the audience and Loki realize the TVA may be the greatest power in the universe. This moment effectively conveys the TVA’s might, making Loki and Sylvie’s (Sophia Di Martino) mission to take down the TVA and its creator seem all the more futile. That said, the finale saw the pair meet He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors) in his Citadel at the End of Time, a meeting the Kang variant not only saw coming, but planned.

Related: How Loki's Finale Confirmed An Infinity Stones Theory

In an interview with Variety, Herron talked about experiencing the same shock and horror as Loki when reading the script and realizing the Infinity Stones are powerless within the TVA. She didn’t know the Infinity Stones would be in the show until she first got Waldron’s script. Herron went on to say how much she appreciated the reaction from fans mirroring that of Loki’s. Read what Herron had to say below:

“That was in Michael’s script when I first got it to pitch [for the directing job]. I remember being like, ‘WHAT?! You put me through so much!’ But then I thought, ‘Oh, it’s kind of genius, because it shows how powerful the TVA are. Who are these people? What is this place?'”

“I was quite excited by it. It really shows you that there’s a new power in the MCU—and it’s not what we spent the last decade dedicating our lives to.”

Despite Loki cracking up the Multiverse and unleashing an infinite amount of Kangs on the MCU, all of which make the Infinity Stones seem like child’s play, each of Loki's six episodes are symbolic of a particular stone. For example, in episode one, Loki bares his soul (the Soul Stone), and in episode 6, the Multiverse is opened (the Space Stone). Whether or not this popular theory has any validity is up to the viewer. Regardless, the Infinity Stones have already been thoroughly explored, which made it all the more shocking to find out they were merely paperweights to the TVA.

Loki’s finale puts multiversal madness at the forefront, with Loki returning to a very different TVA staffed by freshly-wiped variants and ruled by Kang the Conqueror. As the most influential entry in Phase 4 so far, Loki outright redefines the hierarchy of power in the MCU. By rendering them useless and potentially having six episodes inspired by their respective powers, viewers can officially bid Thanos the Infinity Stones farewell.

More: Loki's Ending Sets Up A Secret Wars Adaptation

Source: Variety

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