How is Victor Timely a variant of He Who Remains in the 19th century?

Question

In his speech at the end of Loki Season 1 He Who Remains explains that he:

lived on earth in the 31st century [and] discovered that there were universes stack on top of each other.

And that he then wiped out all other variants of himself shortly thereafter.

However in Season 2, the main characters search for a variant of He Who Remains and find it in Victor Timely a man who lives in 1893. We even see him before that as a young boy, also living in that time era. The show then goes out of its way to confirm that Victor is indeed a variant of He Who Remains, not just because he looks similar (and is played by the same actor), but because the TVA computer systems recognize his DNA as being that of He Who Remains.

But what I don't understand is, how is it possible for Victor to be a variant of He Who Remains if he lives in the 19th century, while WHR lived in the 31st? Online I could find a lot of information about Timely's comic counterpart who has a different backstory. But does the show ever explain how Timely is a variant that lives in the past? Aren't variant's supposed to be born at the same time as their counterparts?

Timely also lives on the sacred timeline, which is another oddity, as there is only supposed to be a single version of every person on each timeline and the one for the sacred timeline is clearly He Who Remains. I know that HWR has somehow set up the whole Victor Timely thing, giving instructions to Ms. Minutes and Renslayer about it, but how did Victor end up in the 19th century? Was he born there? Did he Time Travel as a child? Did He Who Remains send him there?

Answer 1

The creation of Victor Timely as a variant of He Who Remains in the 19th century is a result of a timeline divergence that occurred when Renslayer threw the TVA Handbook through young Victor Timely's window in 1868 on the Sacred Timeline. This action created a branched timeline featuring a Victor Timely who possesses knowledge of the TVA—the version we follow throughout Loki Season 2.

The Loki Season 2 finale provides a contrast between the two Timelys, showing us the Sacred Timeline's Victor Timely looking at his window, notably without the TVA handbook in sight. This distinction underscores the divergence between the two Timelys and their respective timelines.

It’s important to note that variants aren’t necessarily born at the same time as their counterparts across different timelines. The concept of variants is far more flexible, allowing for differences in race, species, and even planet of origin. We’ve seen this diversity in action with the non-human variants of Kang the Conqueror in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, the delightfully unexpected alligator Loki, and the upcoming dog variant of Deadpool in Deadpool & Wolverine. These variants, with their vastly different lifespans and evolutionary paths, demonstrate that timeline matching isn’t a prerequisite for variant status.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has also established that timelines can exist in various eras. For instance, in the What If...? TV series S02E08, "What If... The Avengers Assembled in 1602?" we encounter a universe where the Avengers and other Marvel characters exist in the 17th century. This concept extends to Loki, where the Sacred Timeline's Victor Timely hails from the 19th century, in contrast to He Who Remains' 31st-century origin. This demonstrates the flexibility of the multiverse concept in the MCU, allowing for variants to exist across different time periods.

It's also worth noting that while He Who Remains protects the Sacred Timeline, it wasn't explicitly established in Loki that he originates from it. In fact, he might have chosen to protect this particular timeline precisely because his variant there—Victor Timely—exists in the 19th century, and will not be a threat to the Sacred Timeline, as seemingly confirmed in the Season 2 finale.

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Addressing comments:

And how can Victor have the same DNA as HWR, did he have the same parents back in 1868?

Loki uses the term "temporal aura" rather than DNA. This concept allows for greater diversity among variants, as evidenced by Loki's alligator variant and his variant who is a Black man, and even Deadpool's dog variant in the upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine film. While these variants might not share identical DNA, they possess the same temporal aura, which is the key identifier in the TVA's systems.

Also, the MCU has shown that not all variants of Kang the Conqueror / He Who Remains are human. The scene from Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania depicting the Council of Kangs reveals a diverse array of beings, many of whom are unlikely to share the same parents, DNA, or even planet of origin.