LOKI 601: He Who Remains

by Rebecca Kaplan · July 19, 2021

The sixth and final episode of the first season of Loki, “For All Time. Always.,” is currently available for streaming on Disney+! Have you had a chance to watch the episode yet, which was released on Wednesday, July 14th, 2021? If you haven’t, and you want to avoid spoilers, then you’ll want to open a Timedoor away from this page now!

He Who Remains

In “For All Time. Always,” Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) arrive at the Citadel at the End of Time, where they encounter the man behind the metaphorical curtain: He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors).

He who remains 💥 All episodes of Marvel Studios' #Loki are now streaming on @DisneyPlus. pic.twitter.com/Bi2zJDHXXK

— Marvel Entertainment (@Marvel) July 19, 2021

For the most devoted Marvel Blog Untrue Believers, the appearance of Majors was not too surprising. Just a few weeks ago, we covered the actor’s high-profile appearance at Golden Apple Comics (what is it with that guy and apples).

Photo: Marvel Studios

Majors was playing a very specific version of the character in Loki. In fact, he was essentially a Variant, who went on to experience ego-death at the hands of Sylvie (anyone who is enrolled in classes at Loki Academy is already familiar with the concept of ego-death).

However, this means that we are going to see more of Majors on-screen, as he will be playing the other Variants of He Who Remains, including appearing as Kang the Conqueror in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.

But will we see the forgotten man, Derek, in the Time-Stream? Photo: Marvel

Thor #245

Many of the events we saw in the season finale of Loki seem to have been adapted from a single issue of Thor #245 by Len Wein, John Buscema, Joe Sinnott, Gynis Wein, and Joe Rosen.

Thor #245. Photo: Marvel Comics

This issue included the location of the Temple at the End of Time, filled with old statues that were so dusty that one had to wonder if the structure was even occupied… and when the heroes do locate the person who occupies the structure, it’s He Who Remains!

Photo: Marvel

If you’re curious to know more, Thor #245 is currently available on the Marvel Unlimited App. But a key takeaway is this: in the panels of Marvel Comics, there are many different versions of Kang the Conqueror, including nearly-heroic incarnations like Iron Lad.

In the MCU, it seems as though the concept of Variants, introduced to us through Loki, will prove to be very important to understanding how the Kang of the Marvel Cinematic Universe operates!