One of the most intriguing concepts to come out of the Loki series is the Time Variance Authority. The organization’s main goal is to maintain the Sacred Timeline and eliminate any branched realities that come out of nexus events. These events occur when a person or people disrupt the natural flow of time and create something new, which has led to a theory that helps explain one of the weirder lines from 2016’s Doctor Strange.
In the film, the Eye of Agamotto is powered by the Time Stone and grants the user dominion over time itself. But when Stephen Strange tampers with it, he draws the concern of Wong and Mordo, the latter explicitly warning, “Temporal manipulations can create branches in time. Unstable dimensional openings. Spacious paradoxes! Time loops!” Immediately after Mordo’s warning, Wong reminds Strange that it’s wrong to tamper with natural law in any facet.
While the theory has seemingly confused Mordo for Wong, one Redditor believes there is another layer to this concern that adds even more weight to Mordo’s threat. Because of the existence of the TVA, another consideration when using the Time Stone is the accidental creation of a nexus event. As a result, the TVA could quickly appear and erase the branched reality from existence.
Mordo isn’t an all-knowing character, but he does know what he should and shouldn’t meddle in. Whether or not he fully understands who or what the TVA is, he knows enough to understand that their power is beyond his. If he can help it, he never tries to tempt fate in that regard until Strange shows up. When the Doctor appears, a chain of events unfolds that puts everything he believes into question, except for his belief in the natural law. Strange uses the Time Stone to reverse the destruction of the Hong Kong Sanctum and to defeat Dormammu, but despite victory, Mordo believes that the consequences have yet to be seen, uttering the line, “the bill comes due.”
Avengers: Infinity War further adds to the theory of the sorcerer’s concerns with the TVA thanks to the scene where Strange tries to see all possible outcomes against Thanos. While going through over 14 million possibilities, it’s possible that the only one where the team comes out victorious is also the only one that doesn’t include the TVA. Since the Sacred Timeline shows that there is only one way that events should unfold, it wasn’t one outcome where the Avengers win; it was the only outcome possible. However, the other timelines most likely show those realities getting wiped out by the TVA, showing Strange why Mordo was so concerned about meddling with time in the first place.
Doctor Strange and the other sorcerers aren’t ones to try and control the world around them. Instead, they respect the natural order of things and borrow its power for their own needs. This is why Mordo is so cautious about how certain situations are handled. Thanks to Loki, the TVA shows that science and sorcery aren’t so different, and even magical characters like Mordo know that there are greater things to fear than paradoxes. The TVA not only recontextualizes what natural law means in Doctor Strange, but also shows how powerful it is in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
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