The Space Stone Versus the Time Stone and How It Relates to the Time Variance Authority

This is something that I have been considering since the Loki series was announced or, perhaps more accurately, since we learned the Time Variance Authority was a component of the series — not only a component but central to the storytelling. The Time Variance Authority, based on the trailers, has captured Loki and believes he has disrupted the timeline, so the show, I’m assuming, is his/their effort to remedy that disarray.

There are a variety of problems here that I identify, the first of which is the insinuation that Loki has messed with the timelines. There is a clip in one trailer where something like a branch is shown, which could be inferred to be the various timelines branching off the original timeline. If you have read my first article I published here, I spoke about my theories regarding the multiverse and the lasting impact of time travel in Endgame before it is explained directly (if it ever is). I work under the assumption, since it has not been directly stated, that the events of Avengers: Endgame created these various, divergent timelines. The imagery in the Loki trailer seems to agree with this conclusion.

Again, the problem lies with the blame falling to Loki for the disturbance of the timelines, but I believe this inconsistency exists due to our comprehension of time versus space. Loki is in possession of the Tesseract, which houses the Space Stone. It is then reasonable to conclude that the power of the Space Stone allows Loki to move through space, which is seemingly self-explanatory, yet Loki is under investigation by the Time Variance Authority.

Bear with me with for this next part because, like my last article, it gets complicated. I recently read a novel called Dark Matter by Blake Crouch. It is essentially about a man who gains access to the quantum realm and the multiverse. You can read the book if you want to know more about how Crouch creates and defines the multiverse, because he does provide an explanation and his own definition of what the multiverse would be. The point is, there is a section of the novel in which the main character reads from his notes and he had previously written about the Tesseract.

The Tesseract implies we live in four dimensions, which the novel presents. It is easy to suppose the world is three dimensional: length, width, and height (an xyz plane) as that is physically what we can see in front of us but Crouch says that this is “static”. A fourth dimension adds time as a dimension — temporal instead of spatial — so this world that we see is no longer static or rooted in one physical place but can progress forward and backwards in time. We can physically go to a specific coordinate and likewise we can travel to a specific time as we would a place. (Disclaimer: this is my interpretation of what Crouch said in his book coupled with research about 3D and 4D space, so take all of this as an opinion at best.)

I might be doing an awful job at explaining this, because I feel as if I understand it, but now writing it out I am not so sure. Essentially, there are four points in the Tesseract: three spatial dimensions and one temporal dimension which make up the way we perceive reality. The way I understood this is essentially the 4D space is our singular timeline, but there is the possibility of a multiverse and multiple timelines. Crouch refers to this as 5D probability space.

To bring this back to Marvel and Loki, Loki is in possession of the Tesseract, which would allow him to move through this 4D space, physically and temporally. Seemingly, based on Crouch’s definition and the limited research I have done, this means he would stay in his timeline, but could, instead of moving to a different space, transport himself to another time (in that timeline).

This provides explanation to why Loki, who has the Space Stone, is being investigated by the Time Variance Authority. Time is essentially another “space” in the timeline and Loki is disrupting it by using the Space Stone in that particular way, obviating the fact that he does not have the Time Stone.

Then the question is presented of whether this use of the Space Stone would have a similar impact to the Avengers and their time travel in Endgame. Seemingly, if the TVA is involved, Loki transporting himself to new time is consequently creating new timelines from this specific 2012 branch of the multiverse. There are now multiple timelines projecting from the new timeline created as a result of Endgame, which is confusing and convoluted but I think (hope) it is understandable. Like a tree has a trunk and branches, but each of those branches separate into further, smaller branches and this continues until one ends in a leaf.

It seems then that though Loki has the Space Stone, it is influential on time. This creates a blurry line between space and time and their distinctions. The Time Variance Authority is investigating Loki because of what he has done with the Space Stone, when logically, it seems they would respond to issues that involve the Time Stone and, additionally, it seems reasonable to infer that the Time Stone would influence various timelines — not the Space Stone, though Loki reveals that these suppositions would not necessarily be correct.

Consequently, I began considering the difference between using the Space Stone to travel to different times rather than using the Time Stone to reverse/forward time as we have seen Doctor Strange and Thanos do. Perhaps the Time Stone does not necessarily have the power to take someone to a different time in the way the Space Stone does as if one is being transported to another space — physically. The reversal and progression of time, by use of the Time Stone, could only affect the timeline that one exists in rather than various other timelines in the multiverse, like the Space Stone seemingly does. What Infinity Stones then have influence on the multiverse and which do not?

As with my previous article, the existence of a multiverse complicates the various aspects of Infinity Stones and the TVA. Additionally, everything I am writing is simple conjecture and theories based on my own opinions of the events in the Marvel Cinematic Universe thus far. There exists a complexity to the MCU post-Endgame that I’m not entirely sure can be explained in the way I would hope. I spend far too much time attempting to reason through the various aspects of this franchise when perhaps I should be patient and see what the films reveal — though where’s the fun in that?

Perhaps there is simply an overlap between the Space Stone and Time Stone, then consequently what they are capable of doing. I don’t know, something seems wrong about that assessment though as if there should be a distinction between the two. I did argue for a difference between them earlier: the movement of time versus time as a dimension. Maybe I am just overthinking something that I should not be, but I suppose if it was not supposed to be reasoned or understood then it would not have made it into the narrative. I firmly stand by the belief that there is meaning in everything, which perhaps gives merit to overthinking, though that could be overthinking in and of itself.

Regardless, I seem to spend a lot of time going on tangents in these pieces, though the MCU tends to do that for me. I have watched the films far too many times and am too passionate about it, so a conversation about one thing turns into a greater assessment than necessary. To wrap up the discussion of the Space Stone versus the Time Stone, I think the concept of time is very confusing in the MCU. Whether it is related to time travel, the quantum realm, or the multiverse, there is a complexity to time and its influence, especially because it became so critical to the plot of the MCU after Infinity War. I suppose this piece is just my attempt to reconcile these struggles I have with various components of the MCU and places where I feel there are holes in the plot. I do hope the Loki series will address this and clarify the nuances of time. Only eight more days…