system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[MCU] why do certain characters like the Ancient One say there is a multiverse when there should only be one universe because of the TVA ?
gpt
Popular misconception here is that the Sacred Timeline is only ONE universe.
  

  
Think of the Sacred Timeline as a rope. A rope is made up of many hundreds/thousands of threads wound together but all travelling along the same path in the same direction. Likewise, the Sacred Timeline has many universes that are very similar and parallel running along the same path (the sacred timeline) in a similar fashion as the rope.
  

  
Kang's goal was to eliminate only those universes where OTHER Kang's existed. This was to prevent the multidimensional war (but you know that)
  

  
It's only when a branch timeline exists and skews off that could POTENTIALLY result in another Kang being created, does it get pruned. That's why the branches the Avengers made during the time-heist in Endgame were allowed to happen... because they didnt pose a Kang threat.
  

  
This also explains why you have variants that exist. So many different Loki's (for example) came from their corresponding universes along the sacred timeline. We KNOW none of those are OUR Loki (just by looking at their photos) but we know they exist somewhere... well that's where. It's only when they deviated off into one of these "potential-Kang" branches, that a particular Loki, and his (or her) branch, got pruned.
  

  
There was already a multi-verse... but it was controlled along the sacred timeline.