Loki Season 2 Episode 4: Protocol 42 Explained

Contains spoilers for "Loki" Season 2, Episode 4 — "Heart of the TVA"

"Loki" Season 2 has spent a lot of time diving into the past and exploring how He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors) ultimately became the ruler of the Time Variance Authority. Episode 4 gives fans a crucial piece of information that puts everything into perspective and reveals one of his most diabolical chess moves in his plan to control all of time and space. He calls it Protocol 42, and it's revealed in a recording shown to Ravonna Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) by the artificial intelligence Miss Minutes (Tara Strong).

In the recording, Renslayer learns that after winning the Multiversal War with her by his side and promising they'd spend eternity together, He Who Remains ordered Miss Minutes (Tara Strong) to wipe the memories of everyone in the TVA, her included. He refers to the wiping as "Protocol 42," implying that it was the plan all along. That's the reason none of the TVA members, including Renslayer, have any knowledge of their lives on the timeline before they were recruited.

Aside from demonstrating the Kang variant's ruthlessness, Protocol 42 could have some broader implications for the rest of the season. Many TVA agents feel betrayed upon finding out that they once had lives on the timeline, and they've been equally blown away to learn of He Who Remains' existence. What will they do when they find out they were all just pawns in a play for ultimate power?

Although the TVA agents learn that they were plucked from various timelines with their memories wiped prior to learning about Protocol 42, it's a revelation that could have an impact on the remaining episodes of "Loki" Season 2. Victor Timely meets an untimely end and Renslayer is pruned by the time Episode 4 concludes, but other variants of Kang may come into play who could do something with that information, not to mention Loki (Tom Hiddleston), Mobius (Owen Wilson), or Hunter B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku).

Interestingly, we learn about He Who Remains' Protocol 42 in Episode 4 of Season 2 — in other words, another 42. It's worth noting that the number 42 appears frequently in the Marvel universe: In the comic book series "Civil War," Iron Man, Mister Fantastic, and Yellowjacket build a prison called Prison 42; the suit of armor Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man wears for most of "Iron Man 3" is the Mark 42; and in the movie "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse," Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) finds himself on where else but Earth-42.