In 2012, Loki seizes the chaos to escape with the Tesseract, using it to teleport to a desert. Shortly after, a mysterious team arrives, identifying themselves as the Time Variance Authority (TVA), an organization dedicated to apprehending those who disrupt the timeline. Loki is their target. To his surprise, the TVA agents are highly powerful—their attacks can slow targets down to one-sixteenth of normal time, catching Loki off guard. He is swiftly captured, and before leaving, the agents place a special device on the ground to restore the fractured timeline.
Loki is taken to the TVA headquarters. When he attempts to escape, an agent uses a time remote to reset him to a state from seconds earlier, leaving Loki astonished. He is then brought before a robot, which forcibly changes his clothes. Afterward, Loki is led to another room to sign a series of documents. A staff member takes a photo of his "temporal aura," and he is escorted to the TVA's main hall, where a promotional video is playing on a screen. The video explains that in ancient times, a multiversal war occurred where countless timelines intertwined, nearly destroying everything. Then, the Time-Keepers emerged, merging the multiverse into a single timeline known as the Sacred Timeline, thus restoring peace. Those who disrupt the Sacred Timeline are called "time variants," and if not dealt with promptly, they could cause greater chaos, potentially leading to another multiversal war. The TVA exists to prevent such catastrophes.
In 1549, in Provence, France, TVA hunters and Minute Men are ambushed while pursuing a time variant—the sixth such attack. Agent Mobius is investigating the scene when a young girl appears. When asked if she knows who killed the agents, she points to a devil-like figure on the window. Another agent arrives via a time portal and hands Mobius Loki's file.
Loki is put on trial in the TVA's courtroom. He continuously defends himself and attempts to use magic to escape but finds it ineffective within the TVA. The court declares him guilty. Just as he is about to be taken away, Mobius arrives and requests to speak with Loki privately. In the meeting room, Loki tries to escape again, but Mobius uses a time remote to reset him. Mobius proposes a collaboration and uses a projector to show Loki his past failures. For certain reasons, Mobius needs to understand Loki deeply. Loki seizes an opportunity to steal the time control device and escapes. The entire TVA mobilizes to capture him. Loki encounters a new TVA employee and threatens him into handing over the Tesseract. When the employee opens a drawer, Loki is stunned to find it filled with Infinity Stones. The employee explains that such items are common within the TVA. Loki takes the Tesseract and returns to the meeting room, where he uses the projector to replay the scene of his adoptive mother's death, overwhelming him with grief. He then watches projections of his entire life, including his death at the hands of Thanos. Mobius enters the room, and Loki asks if he can ever return to his timeline. He admits that he does not enjoy hurting others but felt he had no choice. Mobius offers Loki a chance to help track down a time variant. When Loki asks why he was chosen, Mobius reveals that the time variant they are pursuing is another version of Loki from a different timeline.
In 1858, in Oklahoma, USA, TVA Minute Men discover an ancient glowing weapon. Suddenly, a mysterious figure appears and kills all of them.