I have a question about Endgame: Rewritten, how does Loki remember talking to Thor from the future if in the chapter "Time Heist" made it clear that going back in time only creates alternative timelines? How does Loki have the memories of an alternative version of himself?
(Anon is asking about my Endgame rewrite, which you can find here: @endgamerewrite )
Happy to answer!! It's a bit hand-wave-y, but no more so than anything else in the MCU in my opinion lmao. Essentially, the situation with Loki and Thor is an exception, because of magic.
Thor going back in time is a fixed point that happens in the actual main timeline, and explains the events at the beginning of Infinity War.
-2023 Thor goes back in time to 2013 Asgard.
-He realizes when speaking to Rocket that maybe, just maybe, Loki said "the sun will shine on us again" because he planned everything that happened in that moment with Thanos, and he faked his death.
THORI need to go talk to someone. Iāll be right back.
ROCKETWe just talked about thisā
THOR(still backing away)You said āfix what we can fix,ā right? And I think I already Ā fixed something, but if I donāt fix it now, Iāll actually ruin Ā the timeline because then it wonāt be fixed in the future. So if I donāt Ā go have this conversation, I might be starting World War III, making this ... very important.
-So, 2023 Thor goes to talk to 2013 Loki. His logic is this: if Loki told him "the sun will shine on us again," maybe Loki faked his death in 2018 because Thor told him in the past. A time loop. So he warns past Loki, just in case.
This is why Thor says this to 2013 Loki:
There will come a time when we and our people will be in danger, facing the worst situation and the most loss of life we have ever encountered. You will know because I will be restrained and powerless to stop it, and it will only be the beginning of the suffering to come. You need to survive. Find a way to survive secretly, and come to my aid later. Do you understand?
-His hope is this warning in 2013 is the reason for 2018 Loki saying "the sun will shine on us again," and maybe it means he survived and can show back up in 2023. It's a complete shot in the dark, and one based on him not yet knowing that the alternate timelines they created will later be erased by Nebula using the stones.
-It shouldn't have worked. The time traveling, and their presence in the past, was erased when Nebula used the stones.
BRUCE BANNER(to Nebula)And remember, focus on both things: send everyone in this room back to 2018, and send everything but the soul stone back where they came from to fix the timelines.
-So, 2013 Loki should have entirely forgotten he was ever visited by a future Thor. That entire thing should have been erased from the flow of the timeline. Except, after Thor talked to him in 2013...
He walks off, and focus remains on Lokiās face. Heās contemplating what just happened. After a moment, Loki rolls up his left sleeve, and with a flame on the edge of a fingertip he draws something on the inside of his wrist. A rune glows, and then fades from view, sinking into his skin.
-2013 Loki used magic to keep the memory, even if later the event was erased, and the event technically never happened.
So, in 2018 when they reunite:
THOR(confused)You remember that? But you shouldnāt. They said itād be undone.
Loki smirks and rolls up his sleeve, touching his forearm. The rune he drew there glows.
LOKIIām sure it was undone, but I kept the memory with a simple spell. My future time of death seemed worthy of remembrance.
THORWhat? I donāt... Ā I donāt understand.
LOKIWell, if youād traveled back to tell me not to die, obviously I always planned to die anyway.THOR(frustrated)Did you... Would you have died to spite me? Loki.Loki sighs, rolling his eyes.
LOKIThor, by trying to tell me to survive... all you reallyĀ did was tell me when to sacrifice myself. Iāve lived with that knowledge for years. I had to die, so that you would live to make things right.
LOKI (CONTāD)(waving a hand)...Maybe just take my word for it.
Thor shakes his head and puts a hand to his forehead, thinking.
THORNo, no... Ā you warned me, at the time. I thought at first you faked your death again, but... Maybe this is what you meant.
LOKIOooh, that was clever of me. How did I warn you?
THORYou said, āThe sun will shine on us again.ā
Loki grins at Thor, mischievous but sincere, and splays his hands to gesture at the two of them.
LOKIAnd was I not correct? Indeed it shall.
-So the explanation is this: 2023 Thor went back in time. He spoke to Loki, thinking he would warn Loki in a way where 2018 Loki would fake his death at the hands of Thanos. 2023 Thor later finds out that they're erasing their time heist jaunt entirely, so that conversation didn't matter at all, and he's going to get to see Loki and the Asgardians again in 2018 anyway.
But it turns out... that conversation was remembered. Loki always knew it, in the context of the MCU. And it's why he died in Infinity War: to make sure Thor would "live to make things right."
Thor, by trying to tell me to survive... all you reallyĀ did was tell me when to sacrifice myself. Iāve lived with that knowledge for years. I had to die, so that you would live to make things right.
Essentially, this entire thing exists to explain Loki's line of "the sun will shine on us again" in canon lmfao. He said it because he knew he'd have to die, he knew that his death would cause Thor to go back in time trying to fix it, and he hoped that Thor's time traveling would work to resolve the problem.
Which is why, when they reunite in 2018, he recognizes 2023 Thor and says... "Oh, hello again. Did it work?"
So here is a helpful diagram:
"1 2 3 4" is color-coded so you know the order to read the arrows in.
I hope this helps! The hand-wave-y part is the magical rune, but otherwise, it's a time loop that should make sense.
