Written by David Holland
First thing first, sorry for the delay, I was delayed by the holiday weekend, hope you had a good 4th. Now, back to the article.
We get off Lamentis-1 in this episode, and not a moment too soon. This is the fourth of six episodes in the series and this one, much more so than the last one, feels like a turning point. A couple questions are answered and a few more get raised!
What happened?
Loki and Sylvie are still trapped on Lamentis-1 as the planet above is crashing into them, threatening to bring about the apocalypse. They share a tender moment, and a handhold, which is enough to spike the instruments at the TVA. The emotional connection between to Lokis is the Nexus event that shows the TVA their location on the timeline. The TVA shows up in the nick of time to rescue them… by taking them into custody.
It’s no more Mr. Nice Mobius. Loki and Sylvie are split up for some creative time loop torture featuring the triumphant return of Lady Sif, who has not been seen since Thor: The Dark World and may or may not actually be alive. Loki’s torture is designed to remind him of how the world sees him: manipulative, cowardly, pathetic, and alone. But something he told Mobius stuck with the agent: the TVA is lying to him and all agents. He reveals what Sylvie told him, that all TVA agents are Variants. Surprise! The Marvel acronym agency has been lying!
Mobius confirms the lie by snooping around on his superior’s TemPad. With the truth in hand, he frees Loki but his is stopped and tragically pruned before he can carry out his rebellion. Loki and Sylvie are brought before the Timekeepers, ostensibly for execution, but a fight ensues. A Timekeeper is decapitated revealing only the wires of an android. Before they can speculate on who is behind everything, Loki is apparently pruned. Sylvie wins the ensuing fight, demanding answers about the TVA.
In the mid-credits scene, Loki awakens thinking he is dead. Instead he is confronted by a group of other apparently Variant Lokis offering him a chance to survive.
What Does It Mean?
The feelings that Loki and Sylvie share are tender, but also hilariously mocked by Mobius. Both Variants have already shared that they don’t have a great track record of serious relationships, but they seems to be developing feelings for each other. This really boils down to Loki developing feelings for another version of himself, which Mobius points out is about as close to actual narcissism as you can come.
Of course questions still linger about the TVA itself. First, is the organization going to come apart at the seams. So far, two agents have taken rebellious actions after learning the truth about themselves. If it comes to light that the whole organization is built on the lives of stolen Variants, it could tear itself apart. The second obvious question is about the Timekeepers. If they are fake… who is actually running this operation?
The appearance of more Variant Lokis feels less surprising the more I think about it. The god of mischief feels like the perfect Variant to escape the TVA’s custody, and if Sylvie could do it then why not others? It’ll be interesting to see how an alliance of Lokis plays out, especially since one of Loki’s defining traits is that he is always looking out for himself. It stands to reason that trait would be the same in the others, which makes this a team with what is sure to be an interesting dynamic.
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