You can’t break a loop because there is no start to it, but somehow, the detectives put an idea in Elias, which resulted in him being changed. He tells his younger self not to activate the bomb, and that’s how he erased himself.
But how? Why would Elias not want to be in this loop?
How did the loop break in Bodies?
The reason Elias wants to be in the loop is to get love. From his childhood, he never finds love. The reason why Elias didn’t get love is because of himself; he is the reason why his younger self never got love. It’s ironic that his 1941 self said to his 2023 self, “You always thought it’s your fault, but no, it’s not your fault.” Elias’ old self was deeply in love with Polly, and that’s why he wanted to live that time again and again. He doesn’t care about the future; it’s a lie.
In episode 7, Shahara told Iris about what Elias’s stepdad Andrew said to her. Andrew told Shahara that Elias died in regret for killing all those people. Iris made a plan; she will time travel to the past and confront her and sow doubt in his mind. Iris travels back to 1890, but due to her disability, she can’t walk.
The police take her to the station; she tells the police she wants to talk to Hillinghead. Hillinghead lied about the murder and put his name instead of Henry. The police arrest Hillinghead and put him in jail where he meets Iris. Iris explains everything to him. At first, he didn’t believe it, but then Iris showed the symbol on her wrist.
Hillinghead makes a plan to kill Hillinghead and talk to him. Hillinghead knows everything as Iris already told him. Hillinghead talked to him and said, “You thought people would love you, but no, they all hate you. People will never love you.” Iris’s plan works as he started doubting every day, which results in Polly hating Elias, which kind of breaks Elias’s heart, so he secretly records an audio for Young Elias to not activate the bomb.
In 1941, Elias gave that recording to Whiteman and asked him to give it to Shahara. Elias said that everything would be changed if he gave this to Shahara. Whiteman hid it in the police bar and wrote a clue on Long Harvest Lane E for Shahara. Future Shahara saw it and traveled to 2023.
Shahara became successful in breaking the loop as Young Elias heard the recording and didn’t activate the bomb. That’s how they broke the loop.