The details of Loki's adventures in his upcoming Disney+ show remain a mystery, but promo spots and posters have offered fans a few clues about the world of the Time Variance Authority. But it's the TVA's mascot that's gripped fans, a cute cartoon clock called Miss Minutes. She even seems to have a Twitter account where she shares occasional "fun facts" about the TVA. But under her candy bright demeanor is the sense that it's a trap, and it's a feeling similar to the award-winning short story "'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman" by Harlan Ellison.

Miss Minutes is a new addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a happy mascot first glimpsed in merchandise sneak peeks and later making her appearance on the monitors of the TVA in the second Loki teaser spot. She's accompanied by the slogan "For all time. Always," and the unconfirmed Twitter account emphasizes an obsession with order and the smooth function of the sacred timeline. The show's most recent spot gives Miss Minutes a voice, a rockabilly Southern belle whose emotional twang is at odds with the plywood and beige DMV, where "bad" history goes to die.

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Miss Minutes, the TVA's bizarre mascot, on the Loki poster.

Behind the chipper mascot is a labyrinthine bureaucracy all too content to erase variances and secure the safety of a single, dedicated timeline. The clock's bright smile doesn't hide the TVA's armed guards and stony-faced judges, and this variant Loki's possible fate has already been made clear in the latest footage released by Disney+. If the TVA's judges or officers deem it necessary, he'll be violently erased from history. His fans have faith that the trickster will slip through even these cage bars, but with little confirmed in the way of Loki's future appearances, there's reason to fear the worst could happen.

Harlan Ellison's Harlequin is as unrepentant as Loki, though not as well-equipped to deal with the challenges he ultimately faces. The Harlequin, Everett Marm, is an ordinary man living in a dystopia where time is severely regulated, and he's chosen mischief as his weapon. To be late in this world is a crime, and the Ticktockman (also called a Timekeeper in the story) carries out the punishment. Whatever time has been "stolen" from this society's order is taken off a prisoner's remaining lifespan, up to and including their death.

The Harlequin's schemes are harmless but annoying, screwing up factory schedules and disrupting crowds. But it destroys the Ticktockman's new order, and for that, Everett Marm must be hunted down. Marm's clownish disobedience also leads to his downfall, as his girlfriend, Pretty Alice, is the one to turn him in. The regimented order has made people too comfortable to struggle against the regime, and Marm's civil disobedience has upset more than the Ticktockman. His fate is a cruel Twilight Zone twist; not death, but the end of his personality. Everett is sent off to be brainwashed into a willing minion of the state and later returns to the public to admit his mistakes.

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Loki and Mobius meeting at the TVA

Underneath the hood of this literary classic is a reminder of the hypocrisy of authority. That no matter how cheerful or orderly things are, there's something darker lurking behind the facade. "'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman" reveals this common truth in its last paragraphs, with the revelation that the Ticktockman himself is off schedule, and has the privilege to laugh it off. It's a dour but potent comparison with the TVA, where behind the bureaucratic browns and absurdly happy mascot is a lavish science-fiction world whose judges work in gilded offices.

Loki is a harlequin of special caliber, and it's unlikely he'll meet a fate as bittersweet as Everett Marm. But with his life on the line as he works with Agent Mobius, it's not hard to wonder how willing Loki is, and what the long-term effects of being under the thumb of the TVA will have on him. If anyone can retain his iconoclastic nature, it's Loki. But this is a new kind of fight, and it remains to be seen how hard the God of Mischief will have to struggle to retain his mischievous spirit. All while Miss Minutes smiles mindlessly down on him.

Loki stars Tom Hiddleston, Owen Wilson, Sophia Di Martino, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Richard E. Grant. The series premieres June 9 on Disney+.

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