The first episode of Loki Season 2 brought back everyone’s favorite God of Mischief, everyone’s favorite TVA agent, and even everyone’s favorite Loki variant – albeit briefly, with most of what we saw of Sylvie taking place during the mid-credit scene. But among the many familiar faces, there was a new member of the TVA that captured fans’ interest and became the center of plenty of theories: Ouroboros or O.B. Here’s what you need to know about who plays Ouroboros in Loki Season 2.
Essentially, O.B. is the TVA’s chief engineer – or something like that, because one would think someone with his knowledge would not be stuck somewhere underneath the TVA HQ. He also appears to be the only engineer in a place that has never truly concerned itself with the day-to-day concerns of the TVA’s existence, so perhaps that explains why he is where he is. There might, however, be much more to Ouroboros than meets the eye – especially considering his name.
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Ouroboros (OB) Is Played by Oscar Winner Ke Huy Quan in Loki
Ke Huy Quan, who plays Ouroboros, is a familiar name for movie fans, or at least, he should be. He, after all, recently won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role in Everything Everywhere All at Once. But his career has had more ups and downs than the MCU, with the actor rising to fame as a child for the role of Short Round in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and later Data in The Goonies. As an adult, though, Quan had trouble finding work in Hollywood and took a 19-year break from acting.
His skills are perfectly on display in Loki Season 2, however, as Ouroboros – or O.B., becomes the audience’s new way of getting information in the absence of Miss Minutes. But how Ouroboros knows all he knows and how long he has actually been around are questions Loki Season 2 doesn’t truly answer, at least not yet.
What Does the Name Ouroboros Mean?
The name Ouroboros isn’t exactly common, so it’s not hard to reach the conclusion that for a show dealing with time travel, having a character named Ouroboros means something. The word has its origin in Ancient Egyptian iconography and Ancient Greek magical tradition, and roughly translates to “tail eater.” The symbol for it is often depicted as a snake eating its own tail.
But that’s not all, the symbol is usually meant to signify eternity and the cycle of life – two things that seem to go hand in hand with the show’s larger messaging. This probably means that, whoever Ouroboros is, he’s not just a jovial engineer there to give us and Loki the answers we need. This is, after all, the show that introduced Kang in an episode titled “For All Time. Always.” OB is likely just part of that big picture, even if we don’t have all the pieces of the puzzle yet.
If you’re looking for more, check out our review of the first four episodes of Loki Season 2.
