But How Strong Is the God of Stories in a Fight?
I’ve been browsing through mcu ‘who would win’ posts on social media (bc they’re unavoidable and I like to torture myself) and I noticed a few common themes when it comes to our new GOS!Loki. First, people act like it’s a given that he’s never gonna be able to get up from that chair, which is… highly unlikely.
There’s a nearly unanimous consensus among meta bloggers and theorists and industry leakers that he’s going to have a huge role in the rest of the multiverse saga (particularly Secret Wars), and one of the most reliable marvel leakers said recently that he’d likely rejoin the fight by timeslipping into a past version of himself (so that he can exist on the throne and in a seperate place on the timeline simultaneously without having to let go of the branches- think quantum superposition). And we know Loki retains all his new powers when he timeslips (see: citadel scene in 2x6), so my point is: it’s highly probable that we will see the new and improved Loki out of his tree and back in a fight setting eventually. (Now a lot of people have said that’s impossible bc he’s now so op that any fight with him in it would be either 2 seconds long or just unrealistic. I disagree- when he’s not on the throne, he’s not omniscient or omnipotent. Strong asf, yes, but still usable in battle as long as his opponent is also a multiversal being.) But that brings me to my next point:
Most people on marvel twitter/Tiktok/Youtube/etc seem to be missing the point a bit. Every argument I’ve seen for ‘Loki solos [insert name here]’ has been based on the fact that he’s currently holding all of time together. Stuff along the lines of “he can move his finger and delete ~so and so~ out of existence!!”. And I mean.. sure. Not.. entirely accurate. But ok. But like… him sitting in a chair, holding onto the branches is not what makes him badass. That’s not the feat. In fact, I would argue that there are several other op characters that could sit and hold just as good as he can. If that was the main takeaway from that ending. But it’s not. So what were his actual feats in the finale, if not that? Well-
EDIT: I rewrote a lot of this for accuracy (because my understanding of the complicated-ass mcu multiverse is still evolving & since initially posting this, I’ve realised that my first reading of it was wrong. In short, I thought Loki was holding the entire multiverse but have since discovered that that’s way off. He’s holding a multiverse- a section of the larger one- all the universes that used to make up the Sacred Timeline. Which was not every universe in existence, but rather the ones without dangerous Kang variants which He Who Remains was able to gather up & weave into the ST). Anyway! Feats in the finale:
first of all, he’s immune to temporal radiation. He’s also immune to spaghettification (see: 2x5 when everyone is stringing away except for him). This isn’t just a few gamma waves- this is the force that destroys entire universes (implying that no one in those universes can withstand it- not Thor, not Thanos, not Captain Marvel, etc). The fact that Loki remains, even when whatever universe he’s in ceases to exist, could imply that he’s a nexus being. But it could also imply he’s just really powerful.
his telekinesis (I’m guessing that’s what he used?) is strong enough to destroy the loom- the giant piece of technology that was responsible for controlling all of existence.
his magic is nearly infinite- he has a nearly limitless supply of energy. He was able to revive every universe in the Sacred Timeline collection- which, in itself, is a theoretically infinite mini multiverse (according to Victor Timely in 2x6) with ease, and is now acting as a battery powering the ever-expanding branches of time completely on his own, indefinitely. So, theoretically, it would be impossible to drain him of his power (like Agatha did Wanda, Wanda did Maria, etc) because his power isn’t finite. I’m assuming this has a lot to do with what Victor Timely explained about entropy & time (see: 2x3).
he can open a rift in spacetime to anywhere- even the end of time, which is supposed to be inaccessible. This is essentially a version of America Chavez’s powers. To clarify, America’s powers are space-based while Loki’s are time-based. He’s presumably able to go to parallel universes now, but this is because the Sacred Timeline has branched enough that the branches can act as bridges to other universes, and he can travel along them. It is possible, however, that he was able to do this even before the ST was freed, because of his ability to access the Citadel & TVA in 2x6- places existing outside of the multiverse.
he has a rightful place on the throne at the end of time- more so than He Who Remains, even. This is pretty obscure and wouldn’t really help in a fight- but it’s an impressive feat, nonetheless. When he starts toward the place where the citadel used to be, a staircase forms for him & the gold from the kintsugi cracks in the walls all flows to his throne, causing the remains of the citadel to break away- almost as if it had been waiting for him to arrive.
he was able to reorganise the structure of a section of the multiverse (theoretically infinite universes) to his liking. He changed it from its original linear shape to the shape of a tree, so that it could expand & grow infinitely (which was really clever of him actually).
Those were the bits just in that finale sequence that are impressive as hell. These are all things he can do when he’s not sitting on the throne, when he’s not holding the branches. That doesn’t even include his other time-related powers from earlier in the episode & ep 5. Such as:
He’s a living version of HWR’s master tempad. He can travel freely via interconnected timelines & beyond them, to any time and any place- even ones that don’t exist anymore/yet.
He can timeslip to any point in spacetime he wants with his current body or he can timeslip into a past/future version of himself (as I mentioned in the intro, that second part will probably be very relevant in upcoming movies).
He can read people’s temporal auras & use them as coordinates to locate those people (or those people’s variants) across the timelines (and even in places outside the multiverse).
He can time travel in places that theoretically have no time- or at least, they’re separated from the multiversal flow of time (the TVA, the citadel).
He can affect & even rewrite stories/timelines without creating a new branched reality. (Him timeslipping back & tampering with events in A.D. Doug’s lab or in the loom room or in the citadel didn’t create new branches with variants etc, it just changed the trajectory of whichever branch he was currently on.) He’s essentially the exception to the mcu’s established time travel rules.
When he goes back in time, he can choose whether to rewrite a timeline or simply allow a new branch to form. When he had his conversation with 1x1 Mobius in the finale, he created a branch which was then deleted, but at other points in the episode, he instead altered future events on a single timeline.
He can create variants without a nexus event. When he takes his friends from their timelines in 2x5, we can tell that those timelines didn’t branch any further because we see Don still talking to Loki right in front of them.
He can pause time, step outside of time, and presumably fast forward or rewind it. That big climactic moment in 2x5 when he learns to control his powers? That wasn’t timeslipping- that was him rewinding time. If you look closely, after he goes back a few seconds, you can see the spaghettification strands reverse & actually leave the frame while he’s talking to Sylvie, whereas a few seconds earlier we saw them entering.
He can delete entire timelines at will (even while he’s on them). He created a branch to go back & talk to Mobius in the finale, then when he was done, he deleted it. This is presumption, but there’s really no other explanation.
He can repel existence erasure (at least temporarily, on a small scale). Again, we saw him reverse the spaghettification strands & make them go away to protect his friends at the end of 2x5.
This one is theoretical, but since he was able to cause an entire timeline to spaghettify, it’s highly likely that he can spaghettify things/people at will. (courtesy of @emotionalflamingo <3)
Those are things directly related to him becoming God of Stories, but there’s also a few other new powers they introduced/old powers they expanded on throughout the course of both seasons:
Pyrokinesis. Setting the sword on fire (1x5). This is inconsequential in the way it was used, but it creates potential for Loki to do some pretty cool stuff.
Transmutation. Turned his TVA clothes into a guards’ uniform in 1x3.
Elemental Manipulation. Dried his clothes in 1x2. Also his story in Thor 1 about veiling himself & Thor in smoke/mist.
Energy blasts. This is one of those things that we all knew he obviously had to be able to do, but they never showed it on screen until this series.
Stronger telekinesis. We saw him use it a couple times in The Avengers & Thor The Dark World, but I would argue that catching an entire skyscraper about to fall on you is a lot more consequential than tossing a few chairs around.
Teleportation. This is another thing that was implied he could do but was never outright shown until the series. And it’s worth mentioning that he can also teleport other people/objects (see: him sending the asshole to the pig pen in 2x3)
Enchantment. Yes, I know he’s shown using mind manipulating powers in the movies, but I think enchantment is different because it essentially allows you to possess someone. Like you can just hop in & pilot their body. And the fact that he was able to help enchant Alioth on his first try implies that his enchantment is extremely powerful.
Shadow Casting. That’s just what I’ve decided to call it. Casting pseudo-autonomous shadows that can actually interact with the physical world… isn’t that sorta like a watered down version of what Gorr the God Butcher was doing? Very cool.
EDITING to add the other abilities he’s always had in the mcu:
Asgardian/frost giant strength, speed, durability, longevity, & regenerative healing. He’s extremely durable to all sorts of attacks
Extremely skilled combatant, proficient in knives/swords/spears. So if he’s up against someone who only uses magic- if their magic was somehow blocked or bound- he would have the absolute advantage
Illusions.
Shapeshifting. He can also shapeshift other people (hello turning Thor into a frog)
Astral Projection.
Duplications, Projections. Apparently they’re two different things
Presence Concealment. Strong enough to hide from Heimdall
Conjuration, Pocket Dimension.
Cryokinesis. And immunity to cold
Mind Manipulation. This is different than enchantment in that he doesn’t have to entirely possess somebody- he can just whisper suggestions to them, read their mind, force them to relive memories, etc.
Expert Trickster/Master Manipulator. Don’t discount it. It’s gotten him out of a lot of sticky situations so far.
So yeah. I honestly don’t even know where I was going with this, but I’m just annoyed with people acting like Loki sitting in a chair holding some vines is what makes him formidable, or that once he gets out of the chair he won’t be formidable anymore. The op-ness everyone’s talking about? That’s all about what happened leading up to his tree-sitting. Not the tree-sitting itself.
It’d be so nice to see debates about what he can do now that don’t just revolve around him holding timelines. :/
