To start with, the revelation that everything we've seen up until this point was pre-destined to happen by alien space-lizard lords completely ruins the stakes of the universe. It doesn't mean anything now that Tony changed from being a selfish arms dealer to a hero willing to lay down his life to save the universe, or that Cap chose to miss his dance with Peggy in order to save the world from Hydra, since neither of them ever had any control over their destiny. They were pawns on a multiversal chessboard being pushed around with no agency of their own.
I don't think this will be the case. We already know there was and will be a multiverse in meta-time, so even in the past there was freedom of choice (as evidenced by timelines such as Zombie Cap and Peggy Cap and the Hydra Stomper armor from What If...? being created at earlier points in time). Right now we know nothing about the Time-Keepers in the MCU except for what their own organization has told us. This will almost certainly not be the (whole) truth. This will probably be based in part on the "If Asgard Should Perish" and/or "Avengers Forever" stories.
And furthermore, the gag about the Infinity Stones in the drawer was downright insulting. We spent ten years being hyped up about the Stones and Thanos getting them, experiencing the Snap and then the efforts of the Avengers to bring everyone back, including Natasha's sacrifice. But its all meaningless now since we know some nerd had MULTIPLE of each stones in his desk the whole time.
I don't think that makes it meaningless. It has always been the case that the stones exist in multiple realities in both comics and the MCU, and in the comics it is the case that they don't function outside of reality, so this just seems like how this would normally go.
Whilst I enjoyed the episode, I absolutely hate the concept that there is one timeline that's essentially been predetermined, which as stated before me, means that the stakes our heroes go through has been all but planned from day one, and was always destined to happen.
Why then does Loki escape? How is it that time plays out almost perfectly except until the point at which Loki escapes? What went wrong with the big plan then?
I think the fact that Loki was able to escape is actually a hint towards the fact that the "big plan" is far from perfect. Even in the episode it's questioned who the Time-Keepers are and why they should have authority regularly. It seems pretty obvious that there'll be more going on with that and TVA propagandist 'Miss Minutes' should perhaps not be taken at face value.
What about Gamora? The 2014 Gamora is on the main line. Was it supposed to happen? How? TVA is going to come after her and restore?
Probably the timekeepers want that Gamora to exist in their "Sacred Timeline" for whatever reason.
So the timekeepers probably pick the sacred timeline but it's because the other timelines are pure bad place. Imagine a timeline where D-Day fails or Abraham Lincoln isn't elected.
I don't think the timekeepers would select their sacred timeline on the basis of something like one US President or one earthly war. I don't think they'd care about that stuff, as long as what they perceive as the right flow of time happens. And what they think is 'right' certainly doesn't seem to depend on our morals for what makes something 'good' or 'bad' to us.
This is going to be a big one so bare with me peeps..
If a series of events must occur through a selection of people, then by that very definition, if those events unfolded as they were meant too, then there's no choice - it's already been chosen for them, thus the role of hero and villain has already been selected by an author if you will..
Okay but why do these authors have authority? And given that variants can go against the author's wishes and the fact that we know there was and will be a multiverse (What If?, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Multiverse of Madness, etc.) means that there certainly is more than a single way things can go because they are 'meant to'.
Totally agree on this. She's out of place, and out of time - so was Thanos and his entire army when he showed up. I didn't see the TVA jump in then, but apparently
that was supposed to happen. 
What criteria make them 'out of place' though? Sure, they arrived there through timetravel, but we already know the timekeepers believe timetravel can be part of the plan. It's already established that they want things like the Avengers getting stones from the past to happen so why could they not want Gamora from the past to be there? As far as we know the timekeepers only care about things happening as they think they should, timetravel accounted for. I feel like this response presumes that the "proper flow of time" or "Sacred Timeline" means "No interference through timetravel or bringing things to another time", but that doesn't seem to be what the Time Keepers actually care about from what we've seen so far.
If everything has already been planned though then how do variants even occur? I mean if we believe that the avengers were supposed to have gone back in time like that they in the same breath why couldn't Loki of the past escaped in the way that he did?
Exactly. This shows the Time-Keepers are not infallible. They're not omnipotent. They just have an agenda for having things happen a certain way but clearly aren't in absolute control.
Well what makes one timeline "sacred" over the others? If the sacred timeline is a hellhole what's the point of protecting it?
What makes it "sacred" is that it is how the Time-Keepers think it should be. Who is to say why they do, but I think it's naive to presume they want a timeline because it is "the most morally right according to human ethics". It may well be the case that this timeline happens to be ideal for their own self preservation or even rise to power and that's why they want to maintain it. I don't understand why many people here hear "these mysterious beings say it's sacred" and just go with it and think "okay, well I guess if they say it this must mean this timeline is actually objectively the best".
