10 'Loki' Episode 4 Easter Eggs And What They Could Mean For The Marvel Cinematic Universe

The fourth episode of Loki certainly took a couple interesting turns that we weren't expecting at all. The last 10 minutes or so of the episode were some of the most thrilling moments we've had in the television expansion of the Marvel Cinematic on Disney+, but there are plenty of cool little details throughout that reference Norse mythology, Marvel Comics, and more. So let's dig into some Loki episode 4 Easter eggs.

Before we begin, we'd just like to clarify that Easter eggs are not clear and obvious references to the comics that Marvel Studios is adapting. Take a spin around the internet and you'll see articles labeling the mere appearance of Lady Sif, the Time Keepers, or the four Lokis as Easter eggs. Those aren't Easter eggs. For some real Easter eggs, keep reading below.

In the first scene, we're taken to Sylvie's version of Asgard, where she was apprehended at a young age by Revonna Renslayer, who was still just one of the Minutemen of the Time Variance Authority. When we see young Sylvie, she's playing with some toys, imagining a scenario where Valkyrie is flying on a winged steed to save Asgard. Even in Sylvie's version of Asgard, the Valkyrior were heroes and protectors of the realm.

As the camera zooms in on the reset charge left behind by the TVA to reset Sylvie's timeline, you'll notice that there's a wooden wolf sitting next to the ship. That's likely a reference to Fenris Wolf, the giant Asgardian creature who served Hela, the sister of Thor and Loki, who wreaked havoc on Asgard in Thor: Ragnarok.

No, the appearance by Lady Sif herself isn't an Easter egg. The Easter egg actually comes from Norse mythology, where there's a story from the 13th century in which Loki used a sleeping spell on Lady Sif and cut her golden, flowing hair. Sif's beautiful hair was a point of pride for Thor, who is her husband in Norse mythology, so cutting her beautiful locks was quite a mischievous blow to Thor and Sif. This is something that has also played out in classic Marvel Comics pages. Obviously, Lady Sif in the Marvel Cinematic Universe doesn't have golden hair, but it still works.

In this episode, Mobius briefly mentions dealing with Kree, Titans, and vampires through his work for the TVA. We've heard of the Kree thanks to Guardians of the Galaxy, and Thanos was a Mad Titan, but this is the first time we've heard about vampires in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and two of them will be coming to the big screen in the future.

The most obvious reference here is Blade. The character will be debuting in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Green Book star Mahershala Ali taking the role. We don't know when that Blade project is happening, but this is likely an early reference that will have fans smiling.

It's also possible that this could be a reference to Morbius the Living Vampire. Even though we don't have confirmation that the upcoming Morbius will be part of the MCU, Michael Keaton will be appearing as Adrian Toomes, who was the Vulture in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Could this be a reference to Morbius taking place in another timeline?

When Sylvie is brought into the TVA, she's placed in Time Theater 47. Coincidentally enough, Marvel's What If...? #47 is a story that imagines what might have happened if Loki had taken Thor's hammer, Mjolinr. We're not likely to see that happen with our Loki, but now that a variety of Lokis have appeared in this series, perhaps we'll meet the one who took Thor's hammer, and maybe it's that hammer-wielding Loki we see in the final shot.

Previously, we pointed out the attention paid to the pen that Revonna Renslayer uses in her office to sign paperwork. It says Franklin D. Roosevelt High School on it. Since there's no specific Marvel Comics reference to that school and it was featured so prominently, we're thinking it will be important. If you need any more evidence of that, in this week's episode, Mobius again took a glance at the pen after using it. Mark my words, that pen is going to have significance before this show is over, whether it's something from Mobius' life before he was in the TVA or maybe something from Revonna's past, indicating she's part of the TVA's ruse.

The way Loki is taken out in this episode reminded us of the demise of another character, one that the God of Mischief was actually responsible for. Loki gets stabbed in the back by the baton that the TVA uses to "prune" variants, seemingly disintegrating him out of existence. That just so happens to be how Loki dispatched Agent Coulson in The Avengers. How's that for karma?

In the mid-credits scene from this episode, Loki suddenly awakes in a strange place. He immediately asks, "Is this hell?" But Loki isn't asking if this is "hell," as in the opposite of heaven. Instead, as the closed captions confirm, he's talking about Hel, a region of Niffleheim, one of the Nine Realms. It is one of the many realms of death across the cosmos, and it has been ruled by Hela in Marvel Comics. But this place is not Hel. In fact, it might be worse.

Though much of our attention was certainly focused on the four new Lokis introduced in this episode, there's another detail that is worth pointing out. If you look in the top, far right corner, you'll see the remains of Stark Tower from New York City amongst other buildings. But why? Our best guess is that this is where people, places and things that have been reset by the TVA end up. They're not wiped out of existence, but rather placed in some kind of limbo that is outside of the Sacred Timeline. We're betting they won't be stuck there much longer now that the Loki we know has joined them.

This episode of Loki ends with the use of Brenda Lee's rendition of "If You Love Me (Really Love Me)," which seems appropriate since Loki was likely about to tell Sylvie that he loved her right before he was taken out by Renslayer. The lyrics to the song have an apocalyptic romance vibe to them, but they could also refer to the idea of simply letting the chaos of the multiverse happen in the wake of the new branch created by Loki and Sylvie being together. Perhaps love isn't a dagger, but chaos.

The first four episodes of Loki are streaming on Disney+ right now.