THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED SERIES. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
Loki really stood out among the multiple, canonical MCU shows that debuted on Disney+, officially setting course for the Multiverse Saga. While later films showed off many possibilities of the concept, the first season left so much unsaid and had to finish its own story. So when Season 2 came about, it was worth the wait.
PLOT
The season premiere ‘Ouroboros’ follows a variant of the God of Mischief, aka L1130, who has just uncovered a new multiversal war that is set to occur between countless variants of He Who Remains, the creator of the Time Variance Authority. He tries to warn agents Mobius M Mobius and Hunter B-15, but they do not recognize him. The reason comes from how he is being pulled through different points in time. He would go from past to present to future, beyond his control. Whenever he was in the present, he would be able to warn his allies danger is coming. And in the present, Mobius would direct him to technician Ouroboros aka OB, who wrote the TVA handbook. It is he who would declare Loki’s predicament to be an act of time slipping, a phenomenon only possible when there is an overload of branching timelines affecting the Temporal Loom, the Sacred Timeline’s failsafe that refines raw time into physical timeline. OB would also explain the best way to undo being time slipped is to have Mobius extract Loki with a Temporal Aura Extractor while the variant himself gets pruned. It appears to have worked because when the latter slips into the future, he gets pruned from behind and sees the face of Sylvie Laufeydottir. Just as he is pruned, Mobius is able to pull him back to the present. Once back, Loki declares to search for Sylvie as General Dox and multiple hunters are now after her, due to her decision of killing He Who Remains caused the Sacred Timeline to branch off.
‘Breaking Brad’ would show Loki & Mobius track down Hunter X-05 in a timeline where he got to live as an actor named Brad Wolfe, attending a premiere in 1977 London. When they bring him back to TVA HQ, he confesses to have abandoned his mission to track down Sylvie but knows where she is. As this is happening, OB is trying to stabilize the Loom to safely accommodate the new branches but needs the aura of He Who Remains to access it and doesn’t have the assistance of the AI Miss Minutes to override. The latter went rogue after the death of her creator. With the guidance of X-5, Loki & Mobius find Sylvie in 1982 Broxton, working as a McDonald’s employee. L1130 is able to tell his counterpart of seeing her in the future and asks for her help, but she refuses as she blames the TVA for ruining her life and is comfortable where she is. When X-5 warns the trio they’re in danger, the goddess enchants him and sees his truth that Dox and her loyalists are about to destroy many branches with ‘reset charge’ grenades. She helps Loki & Mobius detain them but the damage is done as over 30% of the branches are destroyed, wiping out an infinite amount of lives. Just upon this outcome, TVA clerk has been able to narrow down the recent whereabouts of Ravonna Renslayer, who also went rogue after pruning Mobius & Hunter C-20.
‘1893’ would reveal Renslayer and Miss Minutes planted the TVA Handbook in 1868 Chicago to a young Victor Timely, orchestrating him to become the next He Who Remains. Loki & Mobius track her down to the same city only 25 years later. They see an adult Timely at a fair with a science presentation and at the same time, spot Renslayer. Both parties try to persuade him to join them and it gets out of hand quickly whe Miss Minutes takes a form of a giant ghost as a diversion and Sylvie appears with the intent to kill Timely, vowing to kill every He Who Remains variant. She tracked him down due to still having the TemPad from the man she killed. Loki still chooses to defend him since he and the TVA are what’s needed to save the multiverse. Eventually, Timely would follow Renslayer and take her to his home. Alone, she and Miss Minutes explain he is the one who will create the TVA. However, the AI convinces him to betray her which he does by leaving her in a lifeboat. At his lab in Wisconsin, he collects one of his prototypes but chooses to disable Miss Minutes when she recalls being infatuated with He Who Remains and lamenting how he never appreciated her. Renslayer would reappear and attempt to prune him but Sylvie arrives with Loki & Mobius, stopping her from doing so. She allows the men to take him to the TVA while she leaves Renslayer at the Citadel at the End of Time, leaving her with the corpse of the TVA’s creator.
‘Heart of the TVA’ would show Renslayer reactivate Miss Minutes and realign with her. With this decision, the AI shows her her past, revealing she helped He Who Remains win the multiversal war with his army. Although he considered leading the TVA with her, he chose to erase her memories including every other employee of the agency he created. Back at the said HQ, Timely is brought in by Sylvie, Loki & Mobius to fix the Loom since he has the same aura as his variant to stabilize the loom. He meets OB and ironically uncover a paradox in which they both inspired each other with the handbook. Together, they brainstorm that a Throughput Multiplier could expand the look in order to make room for more branches. Timely would complete fixing OB’s version by adding his prototype with it. Although Sylvie is doubtful of the Multiplier to work, Loki continues insisting on giving it a chance. B-15 does confront an imprisoned Dox and give her the chance to defend the TVA from Renslayer, but she doesn’t seem to budge. Moments after this conversation, Ravonna would arrive with Miss Minutes and kill her and all of her loyalists when they refused to join them. The only one who joins them is X-5 who wants to return to his life in the Sacred Timeline. The hunter proves his worth when tracking down Timely and pruning fellow Minuteman, Hunter D-90 (Neil Ellice). He takes him to Renslayer who demands his copy of the Multiplier, but he refuses to tell her where it is except to give her the handbook she planted for him as a child. Once Loki realizes Renslayer has infiltrated the HQ, they search for her to save Timely. As this happens, Miss Minutes sabotages the whole building to hold up Loki & Sylvie, but OB delivers a counterattack by rebooting the whole system which reboots her as well. Just before this happens, Loki would prune his younger self to ensure being free of time slipping. When they find X-5, Sylvie enchants him to prune Renslayer and rescue Timely. When the core group of characters regroup, Timely’s aura is scanned and it gives access to the Loom. OB explains that the Multiplier must now be set up manually. Timely volunteers to go through with it, but that backfires when the high amount of Temporal Radiation destroys him.
‘Science Fiction’ would show the Temporal Loom’s overload resulting in it exploding. As everything vanishes, Loki survives when his time slipping returns. Conveniently, he is taken to timelines where his acquaintances from the TVA have their original lives and tries to recruit them into helping him save the multiverse. Mobius was a jet ski salesman which explains his fascination as shown in the previous season, OB was a failing writer/physics professor named AD Doug, B-15 was a nurse named Verity Willis, and Casey was Alcatraz escapee Frank Morris. Within his predicament, L1130 is first able to reach out to Doug for his help on wanting to undo the Loom’s destruction, but the latter believes he would have to control time slipping to pull it off. With that still being an issue, the God of Mischief assembles the others to collect their auras and send them back to before. Doug is even able to build his own TemPad thanks to a copy of the handbook Loki gave him. He does eventually find Sylvie, who still has her memories in the original timeline she last resided in. She still refuses to join him due to enjoying her freedom away from the TVA. This leads to Loki admitting his greatest fear is being alone. When he returns to his group, he considers taking them back to their timelines until Sylvie unwillingly changes her mind after hers vanishes into existence. Once everyone else starts vanishing as well, Loki realizes he can control time slipping as long as he focuses on a person more than an event. When he chooses to focus on OB, he makes it back to the point before the Loom explodes
The series’ finale ‘Glorious Purpose’ shows Loki trying to prevent the destruction of the Temporal Loom. Believing they took too long to make the Multiplier, he tries to hasten its launch after an infinite amount of attempts. Despite reaching a point for Timely to launch the Multiplier and make it back alive, the multiverse is still expanding into countless branches. Realizing the Loom could never accommodate this, Loki time slips further into his past, particularly when he and Sylvie first met He Who Remains. He has many attempts at trying to convince her to spare him, but she never changes her mind. Eventually, the man behind it all points out being aware of his time-slipping, and admits the Loom was meant to erase the overload of branches and the TVA to protect the Sacred Timeline. If the Loom is destroyed, his variants will take action but insists on killing Sylvie to prevent this. Of course, Loki refuses to do so and chooses to find a compromise when time slips through other moments of the past. He goes to Mobius when they first met and is able to accept there are some burdens that cannot be avoided. He then goes to Sylvie the moment he discovered to control time slipping, to announce his intent to restore the Sacred Timeline in order to restore all of existence. He lastly goes back to moments before the Loom explodes and this time, he chooses to take Timely’s place. He destroys the loom and unleashes many strands of timelines but with his Asgardian magic, he rejuvenates them and gathers every strand with him to the End of Time, taking the new place as Keeper of Time. Some time after this, the TVA would resume to its normal operations but B-15 & Casey would lead the organization to track down the remaining variants of He Who Remains, one of which is already defeated in Earth 616’s Quantum Realm. Miss Minutes is also being reactivated and already appears to be friendly. OB issues a new edition of the handbook but credits Timely as co-author, who returns to his timeline but is given a copy of the book in his childhood. In the Void, Ravonna comes face to face with Alioth. As for Mobius, he chooses to retire from the TVA and observe the life he had before he became an agent. Sylvie, who still chooses to enjoy her freedom, recounts with him and appreciating what Loki did for them all. The series would end with the now God of Stories observing their farewell towards one another.
THOUGHTS
Like a lot of fans that saw Season 1 during the COVID-19 pandemic, I was hooked on what came from it and was ready for more. While I am grateful for the following MCU chapters that came afterwards, all I wanted more was to see how this chapter would officially conclude. Patience was the key for me to prepare for what would come from this second batch of six more incredible episodes of expansive storytelling. What I think is done differently than before is how the directing team of Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead, Dan DeLeeuw, & Kasra Farahari and producer Kevin Wright continue to give the proper expansion of lore needed to further clarify how complex the multiverse will always be, yet complex enough to understand. Natalie Holt’s return to compose this setting was so invigorating due to it being able to tell us how the strangest things can define the best parts of ourselves. While the visual effects would be once again surreal in bringing the Loom to life, it is the production design that does justice in continuing to nail the out of world atmosphere. Whether we see new locations evolving around the TVA or traveling through the past, each set piece is downright stunning. This season straight up exceeds expectations from what was done the first time around for not only continuing the theme of defying expectations when making your own identity, but also telling us when you know sacrifices must be made, you have to be willing to go through with it. If you cannot do so, the consequences will be grand. This was perfectly encapsulated thanks to the lead protagonist we never thought we’d root for. In what could be his last outing, Tom Hiddleston gave his absolute best as the villain turned hero. His selfishness is completely gone at this point and is now devoted to saving everyone he can before it’s too late. I totally felt his honesty when saying his great fear is being alone because it’s something difficult to prepare for. It’s definitely harder for him because with the TVA being the only ones looking past his mistakes, he doesn’t want to lose the people who appreciate him. Little would he or we expect being alone is what would become part of the essential sacrifice to save everyone. He barely got to use his powers from the pilot to the finale yet whenever he did, it was always put to good use compared to before. He always thought his purpose was to be a leader/dictator, one to use power for themself, but instead he became a savior, one who uses power for others and nothing else. And that is a purpose that deserves to be called glorious. If his brother Thor got to see how much he changed, he would be so proud. The MCU will always be a never say never franchise but if this really is the last time Hiddleston plays this character, all I can say is ‘Thank you’. With such a sendoff, we have to remember Loki would not have become a hero had it not been for the people who changed his life for the better. Sophia Di Martino speaks more volumes than before when returning as Sylvie because she doesn’t regret her actions. She knew once she killed He Who Remains, no one would control how she lives anymore. While she wasn’t really wrong with what she did, she had to understand she wasn’t the only one who had life taken away. She can hate the TVA all she wants but at the end of the day, she has to accept there is a greater good that must go on as is and if she kept ignoring that by killing Timely, the multiverse could’ve been destroyed before there was ever a fighting chance. Thankfully, she showed growth by sparing Renslayer because at that point, she knew it wouldn’t undo what happened nor would she feel better about it. What I appreciated the most of her is how she brought Loki to his most honest, which is what he needed to do the absolute. Now that she continues to live freely, it is certain she’ll live on appreciating what he did for her. Owen Wilson still wows me as Mobius because for still selling the nonchalant perspective the character is all about. The stakes are higher than before and despite that, he keeps his composure enough to focus on what he can do to help. There is no doubt he was a great friend to Loki because he was the one to tell him exactly what he needed to hear. Had he not taken the advice to choose a burden, the multiverse would be in shambles. I never blamed him for avoiding seeing his original timeline as long as he had, because he was comfortable where he was and didn’t see a point. But he changed his mind by the end because he remembered it’s never too late to explore life differently. Like Sylvie, I’m positive he’ll be grateful for Loki giving him an opportunity he never thought he’d have. Another character that still impressed me as time went on was B-15. Wunmi Mosaku does ensure to have a no-nonsense demeanor like before, but she feels softer about it this time around. She saw how happy she was in her original timeline and wants every variant to keep that when she couldn't. She could’ve left like Mobius did, but she knows the TVA needs a strong leader to go after the other Kang variants, so I’m sure she’ll be satisfied when that job is done. Casey was sidelined during Season 1 due to focusing on Loki’s dynamic with Sylvie. Since the TVA had a stronger focus this season, it was interesting to see him be an essential character as well. Eugene Cordero surprised me in showing how his curiosity brought out the best of his intelligence, which was another thing that was helpful as the story went on. His presence alone showed there was more than what met the eye. I mean him being a Frank Morris variant is more surprising than Loki being DB Cooper if you ask me. The only new character that filled me with joy has to be OB, which doesn’t surprise me when being played by Ke Huy Quan. It was so logical for the actor to be part of the show due to previously appearing in Everything Everywhere All at Once, the multiversal based film in which he dominated awards season for his supporting role. Ke made OB a top tier highlight for making him the most diligent of the TVA, which makes sense because there has to be passion in protecting the multiverse, which Loki picked up on throughout. And with that kind of mindset, I don’t think anyone would’ve gotten as far as they did without him. Since there are a handful of people focused on doing right, there will always be others who think differently. You still feel bad for Renslayer because Gugu Mbatha-Raw reminds us how conflicted she’s been from the start. She thinks she is gaining free will with her actions, but the influence she is under only confuses her to make things worse. And with the voice alone, Tara Strong succeeds in making Miss Minutes a sinister figure when originally mistaken to be friendly. Because the latter has a conscience, the AI has her own rational thoughts that put the multiverse at stake. It was easy for her to get Renslayer by her side due to her loyalty to the Sacred Timeline. Little would they understand there would also be consequences for trying to keep things as is. Since Miss Minutes appears to be redeemed through her reboot, I hope Ravonna finds solace in the Void before Alioth devours her. While Kate Dickie got under my skin as the rational & firm General Dox who did the unthinkable by wiping out so many branches, nothing is going to top the presence of He Who Remains, the first variant of Kang the Conqueror. While it was a relief to see Victor Timely to be the kindest of variants, Jonathan Majors is at his best with the former who continues to be polarizing in his given time. Like Helmut Zemo, he is someone who got the last laugh in having Loki suffer as he did. The fact he knew Loki would go through time slipping in order to accept taking his place as Keeper of Time proves exactly how manipulative he was in the long haul. Since he and his exiled variant from Quantumania have been slain, it instantly gives hope on what the future holds should the Council ever retaliate. This season definitely exceeded expectations, but there were still a few things I wish were done better. For example, I don’t want Casey to be harmed, but it’s hard for me to buy that he was unscathed when Loki crashed into the floor with a truck. I mean it would’ve been a little realistic if one minor shard of glass landed on him. And why isn’t the timer still with him when he time slips if not the time stick he needs to be pruned? I know he has luck when his future self gets him from behind, but he couldn’t have known and is just as lucky as Casey if you ask me. I then wonder why don’t Loki & Mobius ask for help about the TemPad before they conveniently complain about how it works in front of Casey? I like that he gets to shine, but it would’ve not hurt if they straight up asked him. That was more confusing than Casey never meeting OB before if the latter never left and asking his personal handbook to be autographed on his picture. I mean you had to know what he looked like from a mile away if you memorized the whole handbook. And honestly, why does Miss Minutes have to hide in Renslayer’s bag when she can disappear and reappear as she pleases as long as no one has the switch to turn her off? If she didn’t want to be in a bag, she could’ve hid somewhere no one would notice like the ferris wheel. Loki was right to point out it could’ve been a bad idea to trust Timely, but it felt hypocritical since Mobius went out of his way trusting him after all the bad he did by the time he was pulled from his timeline. If I wasn’t thrown off enough, how did Renslayer get the switch from Timely? She had a weapon pointing at him and had both hands on it, so I’m confused on when she snatched it when everyone had her eyes on her. Also, why was Timely briefly walking on his own when he entered TVA HQ with Loki & Mobius together? I know the guy is curious about what he’s discovering, but he moved way too fast to be so far from them, to the point where you want to mistake him for having Kang intentions. I don’t blame Sylvie for not having the same patience as Mobius, hence calling out his nonchalant-ness, but she is so off saying he begged her for help when it was really Loki that went out of her way finding her. B-15 is a smart lady, but was one guard really enough for her to go with her and confront Dox and a handful of her accomplices? That’s just playing with fire because they could’ve jumped them if they wanted to. I really don’t want to be picky about this, but why is key lime the only pie flavor in the pie room? I don’t even like pie yet I know having multiple flavors would’ve made the room interesting. I mean there should be a reason for having a singular flavor. And how come Timely didn’t see X5 prune D-90? I know the guy is in awe of the hot cocoa machine, but he can’t be that clueless. I really don't want to be technical with history, but how did the bookstore have no interest in selling sci-fi novels in 1994? That decade gave us Jurassic Park for Christ's sake, so someone would want to read something like that. Also, how did Doug know where to find Loki? No one had any idea where to go and had luck on the side to find Mobius, so it's insane how lucky he had to be to know exactly where to teleport with his own TemPad. I did think it was funny for Loki to ask Miss Minutes for help in his attempt to undo the Loom's destruction as he was slipping. But if he was able to talk it out at least once with her, I'm surprised they didn't think of that before pruning Renslayer. Other than that, this season still pays off in the long run for what it is. In conclusion, Season 2 of Loki succeeds in raising the bar of canonical storytelling by doing its best to make every second and detail matter to bring the chapter full circle. If you have Disney+ and were hooked on what Season 1, see this as soon as possible.
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