Loki Season 2 Episode 4 Ending Explained

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Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Loki season 2, episode 4
Summary

The explosive ending of Loki season 2, episode 4 has caused the entire MCU timeline to explode, endangering the TVA and everyone within it.
It is uncertain how the timeline will be fixed, but it is likely that there will be a path forward to restore it and stabilize the Temporal Loom.
The future of the Kang variant, Victor Timely, remains unclear as well, but it is possible that he will be resurrected alongside Loki and his allies.

Loki season 2, episode 4 ends on a massive cliffhanger with huge ramifications for the rest of the show and the MCU at large. Initially, the titular God of Mischief (Tom Hiddleston) and his allies had a plan to fix the TVA's Temporal Loom before it overloaded. However, a major plot twist has made things much more complicated going forward.
As seen in previous episodes of Loki season 2, the multiverse has been rapidly expanding ever since Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) killed He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors) in the finale of Loki season 1, the true founder of the TVA and creator of the Sacred Timeline. As a result, the influx of new branching timelines has endangered the TVA itself, forcing Loki, Sylvie, Agent Mobius (Owen Wilson), Hunter B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku), and more to seek out Victor Timely, a variant of He Who Remains who can help them stabilize the TVA's Temporal Loom. However, things have gone horribly wrong following Loki season 2, episode 4's explosive ending (literally).
Your browser does not support the video tag. How The MCU Timeline Exploded Explained

Although there was a plan to expand the Temporal Loom's rings to handle the influx of new branched realities using a "Throughput Multiplier", the entire MCU timeline shockingly exploded after the Temporal Loom overloaded before it could be installed. Apparently, there wasn't enough time to stabilize the Loom despite Victor Timely's attempt to fix it as the temporal radiation had become far too strong, tearing Victor to shreds before he could even make it across the gangway. As such, all Loki and his allies could do was watch as the timeline and entire TVA were seemingly decimated at the episode's end.
"Reality is gone." - Kevin Wright, Loki Exectuvive Producer
According to Loki producer Kevin Wright (via TechRader), exactly what happened when the Temporal Loom exploded was hugely impactful, setting up Loki and his allies' mission for the final two episodes: "Well... reality is gone. Loki's going to... have to bring reality back somehow, so I think time will tell how he figures out how to do that."
Is Loki And Everyone Else Dead?

Now that the entire timeline has exploded with massive amounts of temporal energy and radiation, there is a major concern that the entire TVA has been completely destroyed, along with everyone within. This was the very thing Loki and his allies were trying to prevent, and now it's happened. As such, it certainly looks as though Loki season 2's entire cast of characters has met their ends in the MCU. Intriguingly, Kevin Wright teased to TechRadar that "everyone" will be seen in Loki episodes 5 and 6, responding to the theory that the explosion may have acted the same way pruning does:

"We discussed it as being like a nuclear explosion met with a slow volcanic eruption. But temporal energy is the same technology used in the TVA's prune sticks, so you never know where everyone has gone."

It's also worth noting that Ravonna Renslayer killed General Dox and her Minutemen before the entire timeline imploded. Having refused to join her in her new mission to run the TVA herself along with Miss Minutes, Ravonna crushed General Dox and her soldiers using the TVA's cube-generating machine. The only survivor was Hunter X-5/Brad Wolfe who agreed to join Renslayer, having promised him the life he once had on the Timeline as an actor.
Can The Timeline Be Fixed?

It's more than likely that the MCU Timeline will somehow be restored in the episode to come. However, the exact means of repairing the MCU Timeline is currently unknown with such an ambiguous and surprising ending. The true shock of Loki season 2, episode 4's cliffhanger is the fact that there is no telling where the show will go next and how things will be set right going forward, seeing as how everything and everyone at the TVA looks to be no more (not to mention the entire multiverse itself). Kevin Wright's comments that Loki will have to fix reality

Related What's Going On With Jonathan Majors? After his MCU debut as Kang the Conqueror in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Jonathan Majors was arrested for assault. Here"s what"s going on now.
What's Next In Loki Season 2 After The Timeline Exploded?

The best estimation is that there will still be a path to restore the timeline and Temporal Loom via some sort of new time loop or paradox. After all, there are still two more episodes of Loki season 2 that have yet to be released. It follows that there will be a new way forward for Loki to hopefully get things back on track. At any rate, Loki season 2 is certainly following the classic Marvel Studios trend with its shows on Disney+. The fourth episode is almost always one of the best and most surprising chapters overall.
Everything The Loki Season 2 Trailers Reveal About What's To Come

It's worth noting that there are several different shots from Loki season 2's trailers that have yet to be seen such as B-15 appearing to be a doctor, Casey going down a narrow corridor, as well as Loki in a TVA jumpsuit (presumably a future attempt to stabilize the Temporal Loom). Likewise, there's also a shot of Loki outside a jet ski dealership, hinting that Mobius' beach will be revealed in the episodes to come. After so much talk about Mobius' reality and why he's yet to visit it, perhaps the implosion of the multiverse will put everyone at the TVA back on their original branch realities.

Related How To Watch the Marvel Movies In Order (By Release Date & In Order Of MCU Timeline Events) Want to catch up before the next release, or just revisit the universe for a refresher? Here"s the order to watch the entire MCU timeline.
Will Kang Return In Loki Season 2?

One of the most surprising elements beyond the entirety of the TVA being destroyed was the sudden and equally shocking demise of Victor Timely. As such, it does bring into question what kind of future this Kang variant will have going forward in the rest of Loki season 2 (if he has one at all). Considering some of the mysteries that still exist such as Victor's time paradox with O.B. and where their shared knowledge of time and the multiverse comes from, it stands to reason that Timely will be seen again before the MCU likely pivots to some other Kang variant.
Is Victor Timely Really Dead?

One can imagine that this is not the last that's been seen of Victor Timely, despite his vicious and very instant death via temporal radiation. Assuming Loki, Sylvie, and their fellow allies somehow survive (which they likely will), it follows that Timely will be resurrected as well. However, one has to wonder how said radiation might have affected Timely going forward in the MCU. Perhaps Timely will come back somehow altered, the next step in his evolution into He Who Remains or some other version of Kang the Conqueror.
New episodes of Loki release every Thursday at 6pm PT / 9pm ET on Disney+.
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