- "Your world may seem singular to you, but really, it's a teeny, tiny, weenie speck on a vast cosmic canvas. In reality, the only universe considered the true universe exists on the Sacred Timeline, and it is guarded zealously by all of us here at the TVA."
- ―Mr. Paradox to Deadpool[src]
The Sacred Timeline was the term designated to the collection of realities that were isolated after the Multiversal War by He Who Remains. These realities shared the same baseline despite being different from one another as they all only led to the birth of He Who Remains and thus, prevented the birth of any evil Variants of him.[1]
Therefore, the Sacred Timeline followed a strict script, which meant their inhabitants did not truly have free will since, if their choices caused a branch within the Sacred Timeline that deviated from the sacred path, the Time Variance Authority would arrive to prune it. These divergences were referred to as Nexus Events. The TVA had to prune those branches before they reached a certain point of no return, since after that, the timelines could not be reset and the Multiverse would spiral into chaos. However, the TVA would allow for alternate realities to exist as long as these did not deviate from the baseline and thus generate the slightest chance of a new evil variant of He Who Remains being born.
The Sacred Timeline is also prominently used to refer to a singular timeline, the main baseline, also known as Earth-616, which is the starting-point for all the timelines that the Time Variance Authority monitored.[2][3][4]
History[]
Isolation[]
- "Once I isolated our timeline, all I had to do was manage the flow of time and prevent any further branches."
- ―He Who Remains[src]
Once the Multiversal War was brought to an end, He Who Remains isolated a certain collection of realities from the rest of the Multiverse,[5] like if they were an island completely hidden from everyone.[6] The realities he chose followed the same baseline, they all led to the birth of himself and only him, no other Variants would be born from it. To protect this collection, the Time Variance Authority was created.[7]
63 Branched Realities[]
The TVA observes the now broken Sacred Timeline
He Who Remains had openly controlled the TVA and had the TVA aware of his existence. At some point, he allowed 63 branches to occur. Loki, who had time-slipped into the past, found Mobius M. Mobius and Hunter B-15 and tried to warn the two of "Kang", only for Mobius to ask who Loki was.[5][2]
A Fake Story[]
The TVA's fake narrative
- "But then, the all-knowing Time-Keepers emerged, bringing peace by reorganizing the multiverse into a single timeline, the Sacred Timeline. Now, the Time-Keepers protect and preserve the proper flow of time for everyone and everything. But sometimes, people like you veer off the path the Time-Keepers created."
- ―Miss Minutes[src]
He Who Remains soon erased the agents' memories and created the story of the Time-Keepers.[5][8] The members of the Time Variance Authority believed that the Time-Keepers ended the Multiversal War, and then merged all the realities into one single timeline to prevent another war from happening.[7] With their own barometer, the TVA was able to sense the realities that branched off and deviated from the Sacred Timeline's baseline causing a disruptive event, a new path that could lead to the birth of another variant of He Who Remains.[1] When the reality was sensed, the TVA arrived to prune it. This divergence from the baseline received the name of "Nexus Event".[7] However, there were some instances where the timelines created within the Sacred Timeline were not severe enough to be pruned and were either allowed to exist for a certain period of time or never be pruned.[9] For example, Sylvie Laufeydottir and Classic Loki's timelines were both allowed to exist until the Nexus Event deviated those realities from the baseline.[10] In the case of Classic Loki, his reality was pruned several years after the branch happened, which was Loki faking his death during the Attack on the Statesman, as the Nexus Event was instead Classic Loki trying to see his brother again.[11]
Capture of L1130[]
Loki's escape allegedly caused a Nexus Event
During the Time Heist, the Avengers time traveled to the past and created several timelines.[12] This was all meant to happen, howsoever, the escape from a Loki Variant during the Battle of New York caused a Nexus Event in the Sacred Timeline. The Time Variance Authority arrived, arrested Loki and erased the reality. This Loki, assigned to the name code L1130, was taken to the Time Variance Authority Office where he was judged by Ravonna Renslayer. Before he was sentenced to be pruned, Mobius M. Mobius intervened for him. Loki finally opted to work for the TVA after witnessing how powerful the agency was that even the Infinity Stones were powerless inside their office. While his secret plan was to overthrow the Time-Keepers and control the TVA, Loki worked alongside Mobius to chase another Variant of Loki.[7]
Proving a Theory[]
As this evil variant was not so easy to capture, Loki saw a pattern in his variant's actions and noticed that the variant used apocalyptic events to hide the time travel effects within the Sacred Timeline, as the branches and their Nexus Events were not detected because the apocalyptic event erased all the changes. Loki and Mobius M. Mobius time-traveled to the year 79 before the eruption of Mount Vesuvius while Loki made slight alterations in the timeline, Mobius was shocked to see the divergence was not detected as this new timeline had not deviated from the Sacred Timeline's baseline.[13]
Bombing of the Sacred Timeline[]
The Sacred Timeline suffers from several branches
- "Branches rapidly forming at a slope..."
- ―Analyst 1182-E[src]
In her quest for revenge against the Time Variance Authority, Sylvie Laufeydottir, who Loki and Mobius M. Mobius were chasing, had stolen several Reset Charges from the Minutemen and planned a massive attack on the Sacred Timeline. Sylvie's plan was to drop all the reset charges in the Sacred Timeline to cause several branches and keep the TVA busy while she infiltrated their headquarters to kill the Time-Keepers. After a brief skirmish in 2050 in a Roxxcart Mall, Sylvie's plan was almost successfully executed, howsoever, she did not count Loki would pursue her.[13] They both eventually got trapped in an apocalyptic event in Lamentis-1, frustrating Sylvie's scheme. The TVA then pruned all the branches in the Sacred Timeline, restoring harmony in the Multiverse a bit longer.[14]
An Unusual Nexus Event[]
The Time Variance Authority registers the nexus event
- "No wonder you have no clue what caused the Nexus event on Lamentis. Both of you are swooning over each other."
- ―Mobius M. Mobius[src]
Giving up on escaping their upcoming demise along with the destruction of Lamentis-1, Sylvie Laufeydottir and Loki sat next to a lake. Due to them developing a strong bond with each other, a romantic one, they both held hands, sparking a nexus event within their location. The Sacred Timeline suffered from the most rapid branch to have ever been recorded due to two Variants of the same being falling in love. The Time Variance Authority detected the nexus event and arrested both Sylvie and Loki.[10]
Freeing the Timeline[]
The Multiverse is unleashed and fractured
Sylvie Laufeydottir and Loki found the creator of the Time Variance Authority, He Who Remains. At the Citadel at the End of Time, both Lokis were told of the truth of the Multiversal War and how the Sacred Timeline was scripted to follow a path where no other variant of He Who Remains would be born. While Loki wanted to take over He Who Remains' role to avoid the return of evil Variants, Sylvie did not trust what they were told and decided to kill He. After a brief fight, Sylvie sent Loki back to the Time Variance Authority Office and killed He. With his death, the Sacred Timeline was now allowed to have free will, multiple branches of the isolated realities began to branch off, connecting with the rest of the Multiverse.[15]
Attack on the Branching Timelines[]
To be added.[16]
Liberation of the Multiverse[]
To be added.[4]
| This section requires expansion |
Trivia[]
- For the first-season finale of Loki, the Sacred Timeline was designed as a circular timeline with the Citadel at the End of Time in the center of it to simulate the citadel as "the needle on a record player".[17]
Behind the Scenes[]
- Since the release of Loki, the term "Sacred Timeline" has been used by Marvel Studios to describe what delimits the canon of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.[18]
References[]
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- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Creator Michael Waldron Answers Our ‘Loki’ and ‘Heels’ Questions
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Loki: 2.01: Ouroboros
- ↑ Loki: 2.03: 1893
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Loki: 2.06: Glorious Purpose
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Loki: 1.06: For All Time. Always.
- ↑ Director Kate Herron Reveals Secrets of the Loki Universe (Spoilers Ahead!!)
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Loki: 1.01: Glorious Purpose
- ↑ Loki: 2.04: Heart of the TVA
- ↑ Was Captain America's Avengers: Endgame Ending a Nexus Event? Loki Director Responds (Exclusive)
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Loki: 1.04: The Nexus Event
- ↑ Loki: 1.05: Journey Into Mystery
- ↑ Avengers: Endgame
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Loki: 1.02: The Variant
- ↑ Loki: 1.03: Lamentis
- ↑ EXCLUSIVE: ‘Loki’ Director Kate Herron Explains Marvel’s Interconnected Multiverse
- ↑ Loki: 2.02: Breaking Brad
- ↑ Loki series director Kate Herron weighs in on fandom’s big incest question
- ↑ Marvel Studios' The Marvel Cinematic Universe: An Official Timeline