Ke Huy Quan's Character Name In Loki Season 2 Comes Full Circle (Literally) In Episode 4
The following article contains spoilers for "Loki" season 2 through episode 4.
Like Odin's legendary eight-legged horse Sleipnir, "Loki" season 2 gallops on apace. It's hard to believe we're already in the second half of the season. Of course, it was clear by episode 1 that the season's MVP is Ke Huy Quan's character Ouroboros, or OB as everyone calls him. Why is that his nickname? Because Loki (Tom Hiddleston) called him OB in an earlier time after hearing it in a later time from OB himself, and that's how he got the nickname and ... you may want to take ibuprofen preemptively for this article.
The name Ouroboros comes from the ouroboros symbol of a snake or a dragon eating its own tail. It's a symbol that has been used in ancient Greece and Egypt, a gnostic symbol, and one used in alchemical writings. Its meaning can vary, but mostly it's the cyclical nature of life and death and rebirth, the constancy of change (and that change ultimately renewing things so they can happen again). It can also mean that things don't disappear from the world. Matter just continues to change form. For instance, a mouse is born out of matter in its parents, grows up by taking in food matter from the earth, and dies, its matter decomposing back into earth that grows plants that nourish the next generation of mice.
Let's take a look at why the name symbolism of our new favorite engineer, and what that might mean for the show's final episodes and the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
'Like a snake eating its own tail'
OB getting his nickname by telling Loki the thing that Loki told him in episode 1 certainly goes along with the meaning of Ouroboros. However, we really get the full blast of the snake eating its own tail in episode 4. If you recall, when Victor Timely (Jonathan Majors) was taken to OB's office in the Time Variance Authority (TVA), he recognized OB as the person who wrote the TVA handbook that Ravonna gave him in the mid-19th century. OB says he learned everything he knew from "a brilliant 19th-century inventor named Victor Timely," saying he could have been bigger than Einstein if he'd had the equipment. Then OB realizes that Victor is that very inventor.
It isn't just brain-addling for the audience. Loki wonders aloud about OB's work being based on Victor's and Victor's work being based on OB's, with OB actually saying, "It's like a snake eating its own tail!" Then they want the other to sign their TVA handbooks and Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) finally calls an end to the weird time loop fan club. It's a very funny scene, slowed down only by Major's sort of Captain Kirk-style speech pattern, but what does it mean for the show and the MCU?
Timey wimey ... oh wait ... wrong franchise
At the risk of angering fans by using the wrong franchise, this is all very wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff. It's also different than the MCU's earlier description of time travel from Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) who says that when you visit the past, that past is now your present and it can't change the future because you're now in a new timeline. When Loki timeslips, however, it does change the past, like giving OB his nickname. We can explain this by assuming that the rules are different in the TVA. (We could also say it's different because ... plot.)
So what could this mean for the future? It implies that what Loki and company do in this series could set things back to zero in some way, like going back to where it all began for the MCU. Yes, I'm implying a reboot of some sort. Perhaps a new Iron Man will emerge into a world that doesn't know about superheroes anymore. Maybe we'll start again in a different time stream (meaning with new and younger actors who sign new contracts). That would certainly follow with matter changing forms with the characters changing forms. It's the perfect symbol for Hollywood's constant cannibalization of its own work, rebooting and redoing and repacking, whether audiences want it or not. Either way, I need to go stare at nothing for a while and stop thinking of circles. I apologize for your migraine.
"Loki" is currently streaming on Disney+.