Why Loki Fans Are Scratching Their Heads Over This Magic Detail

Contains spoilers for "Loki" Episode 3

In all of his appearances across the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Loki (Tom Hiddleston) has truly lived up to his nickname as the God of Mischief — doing everything from trying to overthrow both Asgard and Earth to faking his own death at the end of "Thor: The Dark World." And let's not forget the time as a child that he turned into a snake so he could trick his adoptive brother Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and stab him. While Loki's devious, conniving nature makes him plenty of fun to watch on screen, his skill set has largely been undefined ... until the Disney+ "Loki" TV series came along on June 9.

Sure, he's disappeared into thin air and transformed into Captain America (Chris Evans), but what are Loki's actual powers? Well, Agent Mobius (Owen Wilson) explains in "Loki" Episode 1 that the trickster god's powers "generally include shape-shifting [and] illusion projection." Loki himself chimes in thereafter about the definition of "duplication casting." 

So Loki's magic, and he can do mmischievous, magical things — cool. But Loki's also telekinetic. The last time Loki used telekinesis before the Disney+ series was in "Thor: The Dark World," when he used it to trash his Asgardian cell after learning about the death of his adoptive mother, Frigga (Rene Russo). However, now that the trickster's evidently started implementing telekinesis again in "Loki," some fans are a little confused by it.

In "Loki" Episode 3, the titular God of Mischief works with Sylvie/Lady Loki (just don't call her that to her face), played by Sophia Di Martino, to get off the doomed planet of Lamantis-1, which is about to be destroyed by a nearby moon. As the duo races to get on board an evacuation craft, asteroids crash into the streets and cause mass destruction. Loki uses his powers at the last second to stop a falling building from crushing both himself and Sylvie, then pushes the building back in place. Was this the result of his telekinesis?

Fans on Reddit discussing the scene have noted that it has a similar effect to how Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) reversed time in his 2016 solo movie. Not only that, but many fans also think that Loki might have managed to steal one of the de-powered Infinity Stones lying around the offices of the TVA that Casey (Eugene Cordero) and the other employees use as "paperweights." Obviously, once he leaves the bizarre pocket-reality that houses the TVA, he'd be able to use the Stones again. But surely, there would've some flashy green lighting effects around Loki's hand — much like when Doctor Strange uses the Stone — right? Hmm.

Loki's underused telekinesis is the most likely answer here, but it's also possible that Loki has turned Sylvie's own abilities back on herself, creating a sprawling illusion that she thinks is real in order to gain more information out of her. After all, there's a huge focus on her powers throughout the episode. If that's the case, it would make sense that Loki can control everything, including falling buildings, within the illusion, and can use his faked apocalypse event as a method of getting Sylvie to be honest about her plans.

Only time will tell. Thankfully, new episodes of "Loki" arrive every Wednesday on Disney+.