Just Me, myself, and I. And like, three more mes.
Last time on Loki, Loki and Sylvie had a moment on a dying
world. This was apparently a hell of a moment, as it created a Nexus Event on
an Apocalypse. The two were saved and arrested. Loki is put into a Time Loop
where he’s repeatedly punched in the face by an angry Sif. He was able to let
Mobius know an important tidbit he learned from Sylvie, that all the TVA Agents
are Variants. Mobius, hurt by Loki’s betrayal, doesn’t believe, but the
information eats at him until he has to accept it. Mobius frees Loki, but gets
pruned by Renslayer. Loki and Sylvie are taken to the Timekeepers. They’re
sentenced to death, but B-15 arrives and arms them. They’re able to defeat
Renslayer and her guards. Sylvie decapitates one of the Timekeepers, where it’s
revealed they’re Androids. While absorbing this information, and Loki
attempting to admit his feelings for Sylvie, Loki is pruned by Renslayer. He
wakes up in a ruined city and meets four more of himself, three human Loki’s
and an alligator in a Loki helmet. Enough recap, let’s get to it, shall we?
Episode 5: Journey Into Mystery
We open at the TVA, it’s a weird
panning, twisting shot to the Timekeeper elevator, shifting into the floor of
the Timekeeper chamber and showing the severed android head, and then to the
ruin cityscape where we find Loki meeting himselves. There is a massive storm
cloud behind them that seems to let out a bestial roar as Loki asks where he
is, what that is and who they are. Classic Loki tells him this is the Void, the
ominous monster cloud is Alioth, and they are his lunch, so come on. We see as
they run a monstrous, serpentine head form in the storm cloud, it opening its
maw and roaring.
Just alone at the end of time with himself.
For simplicities sake, I think I’ll
refer to the Loki’s as CL (Classic Loki), KL (Kid Loki), BL (Boastful Loki) and
AL (Alligator Loki).
Back at the TVA, Sylvie forces
Judge Ravanna Renslayer to give her Renslayer’s TemPad and demand to know who
is behind the TVA. Renslayer claims to no nothing, even after Sylvie steps on
her wounded shoulder. Apparently, Sylvie somehow moved them from the chamber to
the TVA courtroom, apparently for the symbolism of killing Renslayer there. The
judge throws out the potentially life saving information that Loki might still
be alive. Renslayer offers to tell Sylvie everything she does know, claiming
that she wants to know who is at the top of her organization as well. Renslayer
explains that while the Reset Charge is potent, it’s not powerful enough to
destroy an entire branch realities matter. The matter that isn’t destroyed in
the initial burst is moved to a place in the timeline where it won’t continue
growing, the apparent End of Time. The Reset Charges really just shifts the
matter there, not resets it. It’s the point where every instance of existence
collides at the same point and stops. She explains that the dogma tells that
the Timekeepers are still writing the end of time, trying to turn it into
Utopia. Renslayer offers to help if Sylvie trusts her, which Sylvie seems to
show by handing back the TemPad.
Alioth is the scariest cloud creature I've seen since
the cloud Rhino in James and the Giant Peach.
Loki and the Lokis march across the
ruined landscape, which has everything from skyscrapers, to pirate ships, to a
flying saucer just laying about. Loki demands to get answers, but his other
selves main focus is simply on not dying. “Dying isn’t a plan, it’s a general
demand of living,” Great observation, Loki. He freaks out and demands answer.
He points out that it’s been a very trying… length of time since New York, and
the last few minutes have been so strange that he is heartbroken to report that
he didn’t find the alligator in the Loki helmet all that strange. His freak out
is ended when KL pulls a knife on him and tells him to shut up before he calls
Alioth. KL explains that The Void is where everything that gets pruned goes,
and that Alioth makes sure it never comes back. BL elaborates that Alioth is a
living tempest that devours matter and energy. And CL puts it the simplest,
that they’re “in a Shark tank. Alioth is the Shark.” He also reveals that he
can understand AL. It’s a Star Wars thing, where he can apparently just get
snarls and grunts. Loki asks why so many of him are here, and CL just shrugs
and says that Lokis survive. Loki tries to come up with a plan, but, as CL
points out, they’ve all tried to do that and gone nowhere, so they’ve given up
trying. They’ve no TemPad to get to another point in time, and because they’re
at the end of time, they can’t create a Nexus Event to try to lure the TVA to
them. KL decides they’re done talking and the other Lokis leave. Loki asks why
KL seems to be in charge, and learning the youngest seeming of them’s Nexus
Event was killing Thor.
The quintet march past a downed
missile and a helicopter with Thanos across the side before entering a bunker.
We get a neat shot of all the things buried atop their hidey hole as they pan down,
including a Mjolnir and Throg, Thor magically transformed into a frog, in a jar
trying to get at it. In the bunker, CL asks why Loki wants to get back to the
TVA so bad, and BL jokingly asks “did you leave your Glorious Purpose there?”
to which Loki replies “Something like that.”
Symbolic, I like it.
Back at the TVA, Renslayer asks
Miss Minutes to give them access to restricted files, the beginning of time and
the founding of the TVA. Sylvie asks about the Void and wonders if perhaps
there is something beyond it. Renslayer has Miss Minutes pull up a
representation of the Sacred Timeline, depicted as a solid white line, and the
End of Time, a much thicker Rainbow of colors. Sylvie postulates that anything
out past the Void is just a new Timeline. Much like hiding in Apocalypses, it
renders a person undetectable beyond that point. Renslayer says it’s impossible
to get passed the Void, as there’s no destination for the TemPad to lock onto.
Sylvie decides to try to go through the Void, to which Renslayer says is
impossible, and then Sylvie decides her usefulness is over. Miss Minutes steps
in and suggests a Void Spacecraft, a prototype ship to go through the temporal
void. Sylvie is willing to work with Renslayer, shaking her hand, but Sylvie
doesn’t let her go, asking where the files are on this ship. Miss Minutes is
clearly stalling for time, and then the doors burst open and TVA Agents come
pouring in. Sylvie shoves Renslayer back and stealing her TemPad. They have a
standoff, which ends with Sylvie pocketing the TemPad and then dramatically
pruning herself. Renslayer thinks things are over and walks away.
He has maybe 5 minutes of screen time, but I swear
this is the variant that got the most advertisement time
after Loki himself.
In the Void, BL is telling a story
about how he defeated Captain America and Iron Man before claiming all six
Infinity Stones. Judging by Loki’s face, he’s not buying it. Neither is CL or
AL, CL explaining AL’s growl is alligator for growling and saying liar at the
same time. BL makes a crack about AL’s Nexus Event being eating the wrong
neighbor’s cat and AL attacks him. Loki and CL separate them. And KL asks for CL
to tell Loki his story, which Loki is super interested to hear, as CL is
obviously significantly older than him. Given they were supposed to die at
Thanos’ hands, that strikes him as odd. Keep in mind, Loki is over a thousand
and still looks like he’s in his 30s-40s, so for CL to be visibly old, he’s got
to be tens or even hundreds of thousands of years old. CL explains that he used
his magic to create an illusion so perfect that it fooled even Thanos. He tells
the others that he means no offense, but blades only make a Loki suck more at
magic. He faked his death, hiding as debris, and spent years drifting through
space. He realized that everywhere he went, he caused suffering, so he decided
to remove himself from everything and hide out on a remote planet for millennia.
He stayed there until he finally got lonely, as he actually started missing
Thor, but was pruned right when he was starting to make plans to leave his
planet. He dubs them the God of Outcasts, which the others agree. Loki decides
he’s going, figuring that they’re as good at escaping as surviving so that
gives him a decent chance. He tries to give them a rallying speech, talking
about Sylvie. CL has a great line where when Loki asks if they’d met a female
Variant of them and he says, “That sounds terrifying.” Loki tells them that
SHE’s the different one, and that she needs them. He believes that if Alioth is
alive, it can die. He’s going to kill the shark, and could use their help. All
three human Lokis laugh at him, and AL makes a noise that sounds dismissive. He
goes to leave, calling them monsters. He opens the hatch and is surrounded by a
dozen or more Loki Variants, the lead one being also played by Tom Hiddleston.
This one is wearing a suit and a “Loki” voting button and is thus dubbed
President Loki (PL). PL asks “which one of us are you?” And Loki sighs and says
“This is a nightmare.”
Meanwhile, Sylvie wakes up in a rusted-out
bus in the Void. She breaks out of it, and is almost immediately attacked by
Alioth. The great smoke serpent disintegrating the bus as she runs. While
running, Sylvie touches a bit of Alioth’s form, tries to Enchant it, and gets a
vision of a castle floating in the void of space. She keeps running and runs
into a pizza car honking and driving toward her. She gets in when it pulls up,
it’s being driven by Mobius. YESS! Mobius! They argue as they drive around the
landscape avoiding Alioth’s smokey form and driving around a Sphinx and great
Pyramid.
Back with the Loki’s, President
Loki and his gang are inside. CL blames Loki for leading them to their hideout,
just for BL to reveal he did it. Apparently, he made a deal to betray KL to the
Loki gang, and in exchange he’d be in charge. But it turns out PL was lying
about that, shocking, and is betraying BL too. Then the other Lokis betray
President Loki. Huh, so apparently a… Pandemonium of Lokis work together about
as well as a Fleet of Starscreams. Good to know some traits are universal. Loki
just stands to the side and looks like he’s fighting a migraine. AL bites off
PL’s hand, and pandemonium breaks out as the Pandemonium all fight each other,
with CL using his illusions to add to the confusion, allowing him, KL, AL and
Loki to escape. CL laments the fact that Loki’s are a bunch of savage, power
hungry backstabbers, and KL adds to it by pointing out that any Loki that tries
self-improvement is sent here to die. Loki tells them that that is why he needs
to get back, as ending the TVA is the only way to end this. He trusts Sylvie
and thinks she can end it. The others are willing to work with him, CL saying
they’ll get him to Alioth, but that’s all they can do.
Sylvie and Mobius are driving
around, looking for Loki. He laments realizing that he worked for the bad guys
for eons, to which Sylvie does point out that that should have been a tad
obvious. Sylvie thinks that Alioth probably got to Loki, and that the only
thing that matters is getting out of there. She wants to go back to the angry
cloud, which Mobius is hesitant to do, but agrees to.
CL asks if Loki has a plan, which is
mostly just attack Alioth and try to kill it. KL says it’s a bad plan, as does
CL. Loki thinks AL is on board, but CL explains he’s actually praying as the
reptilian Variant thinks they’re going to die. At that moment, KL uses a device
to bring a battleship to drop off in front of them. Loki think that in the time
it takes Alioth to eat the ship, they can attack it. But then Alioth eats the
ship and crew in about 15 seconds, ruining the plan. A moment later, a car
pulls up. KL says that usually means either Cannibalistic Marauders or
Cannibalistic Pirates. Thankfully, it’s just Mobius and Sylvie. He runs up to
meet them, with the elder Loki not getting it and asking if “he’s being a
coward or being brave?”
Loki introduces himselves to Sylvie
and Mobius, the non-Loki saying that you could throw a rock around there and
find a Loki. Which, ya know, isn’t wrong. He tells them the plan to kill
Alioth, and she is unimpressed. She believes that Alioth is the “guard dog”
protecting the leader of the TVA and whatever is beyond the void. Her plan is
to Enchant Alioth. Which feels only slightly less suicidal than killing it.
Loki isn’t sure of this plan, but Sylvie and Mobius are.
Back at the TVA, Renslayer enters a
Time Cell and pulls out B-15. B-15 wants to know why she is in there. B-15
wants to know why she’s in there and being charge with disloyalty, as she
points out, when the Timekeepers aren’t real. Renslayer tells her that that
doesn’t change anything and that the TVA needs stability. She demands to know
what B-15 knows. B-15 saying that revenge and killing the Timekeepers are what
drives her. And since they aren’t real, she’ll go after who made them. B-15
deduces that it’s not about protecting the TVA, but about Renslayer wanting
answers too. B-15 knows Renslayer won’t find them before she does, as Renslayer
only wants it, while Sylvie needs it. Renslayer pulls up Miss Minutes and has
her bring all the files on the TVA and founding of time.
Just some Loki bonding.
Back in the Void, Mobius is
chatting with CL and KL. Apparently, while Mobius has arrested a lot of Lokis,
he’s never seen an Alligator Variant. There’s a pretty funny line about how do
they even know AL is a Loki, maybe he’s pulling a long con, but that would just
make it more likely to be a Loki. He respects the fact it’s always the game
within the game for Lokis. KL asks what Mobius is going to get himself into if
he gets back to the TVA, and Mobius just says that he’s going to tell the
people the truth. Meanwhile, Loki and Sylvie are having a private chat. She has
decided Mobius isn’t so bad, and Loki agrees. Loki magics up a blanket for
himself. Apparently, Sylvie knows about Mobius theory about their Nexus Event
and they both agree awkwardly that it’s rubbish. They bond over not really
having much beyond the mission, and Loki shares his blanket with her when she
shivers. Sylvie asks how she can trust Loki won’t betray her at the last
moment. He explains that he’s betrayed everyone that has ever loved him, his
father, his brother, Asgard, and he knows why he did it, but he’s not like that
anymore. He asks her what she’ll do when this is over and neither of them know.
He suggests that they figure it out together and she seems to at lest entertain
the idea.
The five gather on a hill and wait
for Alioth. Sylvie explains that she caught a glimpse of something when she
touched Alioth, and she thinks she can enchant it and it can bring her to who
is behind this. Loki is staying to help her, even after she hands him the
TemPad. Loki passes it Mobius. Mobius offers to let the Loki’s out, but they
want to stay, as the Void is there home now. KL offers Loki his dagger, which
he takes and makes a sheath for it. CL wishes them luck and the three Lokis
leave as Mobius opens a Time Door. Mobius tells them he’ll burn the TVA to the
ground. The two men hug, with Mobius looking at Sylvie and whispering you’re my
favorite, before leaving. Sylvie and Loki prepare to battle Alioth.
GLORIOUS PURPOSE!
They’re going to wait for a branch
to appear and then she’ll enchant Alioth. The three Loki’s make it a ways
before CL looks back and clearly considers something. Alioth come down and
starts coming for them. A branch isn’t appearing, so they might have to cause a
distraction. Loki runs off to try to do so. He draws Alioth over, but Sylvie
doesn’t seem to be strong enough to enchant it, and Alioth notices her. It goes
to gobble her up, but then sees, in the distance, the Golden city of Asgard
rising up. CL is standing in the middle, simultaneously conjuring their home
from nothing, and showing the other Lokis that they’re stronger than they
realize. CL yells at them to go. Sylvie and Loki grab hands, and she tells him
they’re going to enchant it. Loki doesn’t know how, but she insists he does
because they’re the same. CL keeps reconjuring Asgard as Alioth tries to eat
it. They start to enchant Alioth. The illusion starts to crumble as CL does.
He’s surrounded by Alioth as the creature charges. He gets up and shouts
Glorious Purpose as Alioth devours him, leaving only his helmet. It comes back
around for Sylvie and Loki, but they’re finally able to enchant it. A door in
the smoke opens for them, leading them to the castle in the void.
I remember hearing that like the
other two Marvel shows released this year, Loki was supposed to be longer, but
had several episodes cut due to Covid. And that is disappointing, because I
really wanted more of the different Lokis. The Variants are a neat concept, but
they’d been kind of sidelined for most of this series, and then were just given
a single episode. I remember that President Loki in particular was in a lot of
promotional material, and he was really only in one scene. Also, why would the
Loki’s preferred to be called Snakes than Wolves? You guys have fathered both!
Yeah, remember that in the comics and the actual myths, Loki is the father of
the colossal wolf Fenrir, and the titanic serpent Jormungandr. Why you showing
favoritism to your kids, President Loki? A fun fact for you, it has since been
revealed that Kid Loki, while being physically the youngest of the Loki’s, he
was actually the oldest. Apparently, this is a side effect of being stuck at
the end of time, he didn’t get to age. This was revealed by the director after
the fact, and I wish it’d been included in the series. I really liked Richard
E. Grant as Classic Loki. He’s believable as an older, wiser but definitely
more jaded Loki. I liked his line that he’s the only Loki that is more of a fan
of Magic than knives. And, him showing off his point by literally creating a
true to life sized Asgard Illusion was beautiful. Shame he got gobbled up by
Alioth… but then… he has survived supposed permanent death before. Just saying.
Loki and Sylvie combining their powers to finally defeat Alioth was perfect.
They’ve defeated the monstrous serpent, and are now on their way to see the man
behind the curtain. But more on that next time. Have a goodnight,
everyone.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/54325304
Twitter: @BasicsSuperhero
No comments:
Post a Comment