What If Loki Handed Over the Tesseract to Thanos Immediately?

What If Loki Handed Over the Tesseract to Thanos Immediately? Loki's escape from an alternate 2012 and his immediate decision to hand over the Tesseract to Thanos have sparked an endless fascination among fans. Let’s dive into a potential alternate scenario where Loki hands over the Tesseract to Thanos immediately, and the ensuing implications this could have had on both the Avengers and the TVA.

Implications for Thanos and the TVA

Imagine a scenario where after escaping from an alternate 2012, Loki, initially free from the clutches of the TVA, immediately gives the Tesseract to Thanos. This decision would likely result in a different Thanos variant with an infinity stone. The TVA would certainly be on high alert, as this new variant would be a much more significant threat than Lady Loki. In fact, it's highly probable that the TVA would allocate an entire show or movie to tracking down this new Thanos variant, as their records would likely show that such a variant poses an unprecedented risk to the timeline.

Knowing the nature of Thanos, such a variant would very likely pose an even greater threat than Lady Loki. If Thanos were to lower his guard, the timeline would reset, but given Thanos' brutal history, it’s safe to bet that the TVA would face a prolonged and intense battle against this new Thanos variant. The implications for both the timeline and the characters involved would be profound.

The Tesseract and Thanos

In the original timeline, it’s noted that Thanos briefly traded the Mind Stone for the Space Stone inside the Tesseract. However, the TVA would likely intervene and prune the entire timeline before thanos had the chance to integrate the Space Stone. This intervention would prevent Thanos from achieving any significant action with the Space Stone, thereby preserving the integrity of the timeline. The question remains: why did Thanos choose to use the Tesseract to open a portal in the first episode of Loki over the Gobi Desert, when he had not yet achieved fine control?

It’s possible that Thanos simply used it in haste to escape, rather than to strategically deploy the Chitauri. Had he waited a bit longer, he might have teleported into the presence of allies such as Thanos himself or the Black Guard, which could have led to a vastly different outcome. This scenario raises the question: is there a possibility that there is a Loki who takes much more care in his escape?

Indeed, the logic of what-if scenarios is endless. Alternate outcomes of Loki handing over the Tesseract to Thanos immediately could have shifted the trajectory of Thanos’ plans and the broader narrative of the Avengers. Given that these manipulations would have unfolded outside the original timeline, the critical events in this scenario would likely be relatively consistent with those in the original timeline. The primary changes would revolve around the timeline's initial reactions and the prolonged pursuit by the TVA to eliminate this new threat.

Early Infinity War

In essence, if Loki had handed over the Tesseract to Thanos immediately, it could have led to an earlier and more catastrophic onset of Infinity War. This version of events would have mirrored the original storyline with slight variations. In the movie, Loki initially feigned surrender to Thanos, who then beat up Hulk, took the Space Stone, and killed Loki. In this alternate timeline, Loki hands over the Tesseract, Hulk intrudes as Thanos begins to remove his armor, Thanos still overpowers him, retrieves the Space Stone, and subsequently kills Loki.

Not much would fundamentally change in the broader narrative, even if Loki tried to kill Thanos. Given Thanos' brutal nature, he likely would have killed Loki as a form of punishment for previous failures.

While the basic events remain similar, the altered timeline between the two storylines provides an intriguing alternative that could have impacted the Avengers and the TVA significantly.

Excelsior!