So, it turns out Thanos wasn't wrong when he declared that there would be "no resurrections
this time" for Loki.
Still, that doesn't mean much where Infinity Stones and trickster gods are concerned; Loki
manages something in Endgame with potentially huge ramifications.
Spoilers from here on out!
Quick recap: When the Avengers go back in time to get the Infinity Stones in Endgame,
one team heads to Stark Tower just after the team has captured Loki in Avengers.
In part because of the interference of the Avengers from the future, the captive Loki
gets his hands on the Tesseract and disappears in a blue flash.
The big question is, where did he go?
The most immediate concern about Loki is whether or not he creates an alternate timeline, split
off from the main MCU continuity, in which he escapes the Avengers with the Tesseract.
When Captain America brings all the Stones back to their respective times, does he return
everything to normal and stop any timelines from branching?
Or is Loki still out there with the 2012 Tesseract?
If Loki does create an alternate timeline when he escapes, and it still exists, then
that opens a whole world of possibilities.
Free from the Avengers and in possession of the Space Stone, there's no limit to where
Loki might go.
He might bring the Tesseract to his benefactor Thanos.
The Mad Titan's emissary, the Other, makes it perfectly clear what Loki risks if he fails
Thanos, and none of it is pleasant.
"There will be no realm, no barren moon, no crevice where he can not find you."
With the Chitauri forces Thanos gave to Loki destroyed, the God of Mischief might see getting
the Tesseract back to the Titan as the only way to save his life
However, Thanos probably wouldn't be Loki's first stop.
Losing the Chitauri forces to the Avengers would not necessarily sign Loki's death warrant.
But there's something we know now that we didn't know when Avengers was released, that
Thanos gave Loki an Infinity Stone to get an Infinity Stone.
He trusted the Mind Stone to Loki, and in Endgame Loki leaves it behind when he escapes.
How does it help Thanos' plans if he gains one Stone just to lose another?
Unless Loki is uncharacteristically foolish, he won't run to Thanos.
Doing so would just get his neck broken six years early.
Whatever deal was struck between Thanos and Loki, it all happens off-screen.
We don't know the extent of Loki's knowledge regarding Thanos, his plans, and his other
allies.
When Thor confronts Loki in Avengers, Loki tells his brother he knows all about the Tesseract.
"I have seen worlds you've never known about.
I have grown, Odinson, in my exile.
I have seen the true power of the Tesseract."
So unless he's lying, he knows quite a bit.
If we assume by 2012 that Thanos and Ronan the Accuser are already allies, and that Loki
knows about the alliance, Ronan could be Loki's first stop.
At that point, Ronan is in no position to challenge Thanos, and that's because he doesn't
know what Thanos is after.
When Thanos tasks the Kree with capturing the Orb, Ronan doesn't know it contains the
Power Stone.
If Loki knows more about Thanos' machinations than Ronan, then he has much to offer the
Kree warlord and a potential ally to protect him from Thanos' wrath.
In the now classic mid-credits scene of Avengers when Thanos is first revealed, the Other is
warning the Mad Titan against any further action on Earth.
He tells his master that to challenge Earth is to "court death."
If Loki guesses at this apprehension on the part of Thanos' underlings to mess with Earth,
then the trickster might decide the best place to be is right on Earth.
As long as he stays under the radar of the Avengers, he could remain on Earth for as
long as he wants, with his own superhero enemies acting as a shield against Thanos' wrath.
Or, alternatively, he could stay on Earth with the intention of recapturing his scepter
to give it to Thanos.
Loki probably knows if he returns to Thanos without both Infinity Stones, the Mad Titan
will do a lot worse to him than the Hulk ever would.
In 2012, Loki's greatest weakness is his passion for revenge.
With an Infinity Stone at his command and his knowledge of the secret ways into and
out of Asgard, his first trip after Endgame might be back home to claim what he sees as
his rightful throne.
In the proper MCU timeline, he doesn't have to worry about Thanos; Loki's failure to conquer
Earth leads him straight to an Asgardian dungeon.
As soon as he escapes in Thor: The Dark World, he fakes his own death and disguises himself
as Odin.
The disguise allows him to rule Asgard, yes, but it has the added bonus of hiding him from
Thanos.
What's easier than conquering a world ruled by your adoptive family?
Conquering a world ruled by no one, of course.
After 2011's Thor, we don't hear much from Jotunheim, the land of the Frost Giants.
Thor and Malekith visit it briefly and involuntarily during their battle in 2013's Thor: The Dark
World, but we don't exactly get a good picture of the political situation there.
We know after initially offering to help assassinate Odin, Loki betrays and murders his biological
father, and then he attempts to use the bifrost to destroy the frost giants' world.
"It was just a bit of fun really."
So, when Loki escapes the Avengers in Endgame and needs a place to hang his horned hat,
a potentially leaderless Jotunheim might be the perfect choice, and the throne could be
his for the taking.
He is the biological son of their dead king, and he has an Infinity Stone to back up his
claim.
Not to mention that with intimate knowledge of Asgard and its most powerful leaders, he's
in a unique position to satisfy any frost giants hungry to make war on Odin once more.
The mid-credits scene of Thor: The Dark World sees Sif and Volstagg sent to Knowhere to
deliver the Aether to the Collector.
It's one of the most deceptively important moments in the MCU, because of this line:
"The Tesseract is already on Asgard.
It's unwise to keep two infinity stones so close together."
Without some as-of-yet unrevealed connection between Loki and the Collector, it's a moment
that doesn't make much sense.
It's Loki disguised as Odin who sends the Aether to Knowhere, and the power hungry Loki
is not someone we expect to send an Infinity Stone to someone else.
Not unless there's a plan behind it all.
A connection between the Collector and Loki could also explain the Grandmaster's friendship
with the trickster in Thor: Ragnarok, as Grandmaster and the Collector are brothers.
If this connection between the Collector and Loki ever proves to be more than speculation,
then it could be that Knowhere was Loki's first stop after Endgame.
Although, granted, that's one of the least likely outcomes.
One thing that's easy to forget about Loki is that, before Thanos finally rounds them
up in Avengers: Infinity War, Loki has more encounters with more Infinity Stones than
anyone in the MCU.
In Avengers, he possesses both the Mind Stone and the Tesseract.
After usurping Odin at the end of Thor: The Dark World, he has access to the Reality Stone
until he sends it to Knowhere, and has as much access as he wants to the Space Stone.
Loki knows the Infinity Stones, at least, he knows something about them.
We don't know how much, if anything, Thanos tells him about them, but the trickster god
has a way of getting information whether you want him to or not.
Armed with the Infinity Stone that has the power to bring him anywhere, Loki may decide
to go on an Infinity Stone quest of his own.
Not only would the completion of such an endeavor feed his hunger for power, but again, would
provide him with the muscle to destroy Thanos should the Titan come for his vengeance.
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