The following article contains spoilers for episodes of Loki.
The God of Mischief has returned in Disney Plus’ Loki and apparently so have some of his missing powers. In the comics, the trickster possesses super strength and resilience that is far superior to humans and even some of the Marvel heroes. He is considered the most powerful sorcerer in Asgard and his magic tricks consist of astral projections, the ability to shapeshift, and telekinesis, among others.
However, fans have always complained that they don’t get to see his entire skillset in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It obviously would be helpful if Loki used all his powers, especially in battle, but the God of Mischief has always relied more on his mental strength and his style has always been more about manipulation. But, a moment in Loki’s episode 3, “Lamentis,” forces the trickster to tap into a forgotten power.
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In 2013’s Thor: The Dark World, fans get a glimpse of Loki’s telekinetic abilities when he discovers that his adoptive mother, Frigga, has died. Locked away in a cell, he finds an outlet for his emotions by using telekinesis to trash the place, which literally looked like an explosion of anger. But, most of the time, he seems to be sticking to tricking people, mostly his own brother Thor. He has faked his own death more than once, disappeared into thin air and transformed into other characters.
When Loki first arrives at the Time Variance Authority, after being arrested by the Minutemen, he learns that it is a place where his powers are useless. Not just that, but all magic is worthless as long as he is in the TVA facility. In another attempt to escape, he goes on a hunt for the Tesseract and ends up finding a drawer full of Infinity Stones that the staff apparently uses as paperweights. When Owen Wilson’s Agent Mobius M Mobius discovers him, fans find out that Loki tried to use the Tesseract “several times,” but failed.
The fun begins in the second episode, when Loki goes on his first mission alongside the TVA’s Minutemen and Mobius, on a hunt for the other Loki variant, who fans later discover is Lady Loki, or Sylvie. Stepping outside the walls of the TVA means that he would be able to use his powers again. He starts small by using his powers to dry himself off after the team arrives at Roxxcart. This scene was a glimpse at his powers of transfiguration, the ability to change appearance.
Loki’s telekinetic abilities come into play during the climax of the second episode when he goes up against Sylvie and her enchanted puppets. When one of them is about to attack him, he uses telekinesis at the last second to pull a robot vacuum and block the attack. The scene is reminiscent of all the times Thor stretches out his hand to summon Mjollnir, his hammer. Getting a taste of his telekinetic abilities, fans wanted to see more of it in the series, and Marvel delivered.
In the latest episode, Loki and Sylvie are seen stranded on Lamentis-1 during an apocalypse and the world around them is collapsing, literally. They seem to have 12 hours to get off the planet, or else it gets destroyed and everyone on it dies. But, the easiest way to get off is to use the TVA’s TemPad, which gets ruined after Loki is thrown off a moving train. The next best way is to get on the Ark, an evacuation craft that is preparing to take off, but according to the sacred timeline, the mission is not meant to succeed.
As Loki and Sylvie are running towards the Ark at the end of the episode, a building gets destroyed by a falling meteorite. This is when Loki uses his powers of telekinesis again and pushes the building back into place, stopping it from crushing them. This has been the strongest display of his ability in the MCU thus far. Throwing furniture and home appliances around seems like child’s play for a literal god, but his ability to move an entire building has left many fans impressed.
On the other hand, fans are now suspicious of that scene and everything around it. Some keen-eyed fans on Reddit have pointed out that in that specific scene, it looks like that building is reversed into its original shape, which makes it seem like Loki did not move the building, but instead reversed time. The effect was similar to how Doctor Strange manipulates time during his appearances in the MCU. So, how did Loki manage to do that? There could be several reasons for that.
To begin with, it could be possible that it was in fact just telekinesis and fans are just being overly cautious. However, if Loki did manage to reverse time in that scene, it means something bigger is at play. Loki is a master of manipulation and nothing he does happens by accident. There is a possibility that when he came across those Infinity Stones at the TVA, he managed to steal one of the Time Stones. Inside the TVA the stones are useless, but Loki is now on Lamentis-1, which means he should be able to use the stone’s power. If he is in possession of a Time Stone, he should be able to replicate Doctor Strange’s powers, which will come in handy to totally mess up the sacred timeline moving ahead in the season.
Another possibility relies on Loki’s intelligence. Earlier in the episode, Loki learns how Sylvie is able to enchant people. She needs to make physical contact before she creates a fantasy from the individual’s memories. While the two are on the train, Sylvie decides to rest and is seen taking a nap. Before she falls asleep, Loki is seen dressed in a guard’s uniform, which he transforms into as a plot to sneak onto the train. But, when she wakes up from her nap, Loki is back in his TVA jacket and seems to be singing in a drunken stupor.
Loki’s actions from thereon seem a little suspicious. The trickster who is excellent at manipulating opportunities seems to have something up his sleeve. He is an expert combatant, and never misses when he throws his knives. In the comics, he is also able to enhance the force of his daggers using his powers of telekinesis. But, during a battle with the guards on the train, he throws one of the daggers and it lodges into the door frame instead of hitting his opponent. Of course, it could be because he was drunk (sorry, "full"), but it is still something to think about.
Fans believe that there is a strong possibility that Loki has managed to learn a new trick courtesy his counterpart and managed to create an illusion to learn more about Sylvie, or the Loki variant as the TVA calls her. It could be a part of his grand plans of helping the TVA and getting an audience with the Time Keepers.
Loki is now streaming on Disney Plus.
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