Tom Hiddleston Came Up With Loki’s Final Line

Last year, Loki Season 2 seemingly wrapped up Tom Hiddleston’s 12-year run as the Norse God of Mischief. Although with the Marvel multiverse, there’s always the possibility that Loki, or a different Loki variant, could eventually return. But for now, Hiddleston is treating it as his farewell to the character. And in a new interview, the actor revealed that he came up with Loki’s final line in the series.

Hiddleston was paired with Shogun’s Anna Sawai for Variety‘s annual Actors on Actors feature. During their conversation, Sawai praised Loki’s last words–“I know what I want. I know what kind of god I need to be–for you. For all of us.”– before Hiddleston explained how the line was a callback to one of his scenes in 2011’s Thor.

“Our brilliant directors found me and said, ‘What do you think you might want to say?’ I remembered at the end of Thor, the last thing he says is, ‘I could have done it, Father–for you. For all of us,'” recalled Hiddleston. “It’s full of need, desperation, yearning for acceptance, and misguided intention. It’s full of his own broken heart. I thought, ‘I wonder if I should say that again?’ But it has a completely different meaning, which is full of love, sacrifice, selflessness, and generosity.”

After saying those words, Loki left his friends at the TVA behind and used his own godly powers to hold the multiverse together on his lonely throne at the end of time. Hiddleston reiterated his belief that it was a happy ending for Loki that represented his personal growth and the culmination of his character arc.

“In his last moment, he gets agency,” said Hiddleston. “He gets to decide what his life has represented up until this point. His final utterance is one of profound love and generosity. That the journey of a thousand miles has led us here. It was very satisfying and moving for me too, because it’s been such a long journey.”

Hiddleston also added that saying goodbye to Loki was like “This wash of relief because it had been a very meaningful experience. That sense of … the exhale.”

Both seasons of Loki are streaming on Disney+.