Loki stars the returning Tom Hiddleston alongside Owen Wilson, Sophia Di Martino, Richard E. Grant and Gugu Mbatha-Raw. The series streams on Disney+ from June 9, 2021. The six episode series will then debut new episodes every Wednesday.
Synopsis
Loki finds out the variants plans, but he has his own that will forever alter both their destinies
Review
The Loki’s are back this week after last week’s explosive cliff-hanger where the Lady Loki Variant sent reset grenades throughout the main timeline. Why did she do this? Well this picks up right where we left off and it was to stretch the TVA so thin that she is able to infiltrate the TVA with little to no resistance.
Well at least that was the plan before our Loki followed her through the portal.
Turns out Lady Loki is a much more capable and fierce fighter than our Loki is and is also very comfortable using the TVA’s weapons against them, wiping these faceless soldiers from existence.
After a scuffle between the two however (including a brief encounter with Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw)) They end up in a distant apocalyptic event deep in space where a colonised planet called Lamentis-1 is due to be wiped out entirely by an inbound planet. With the TemPad broken, the two Loki’s are forced to work together to stay alive in an apocalyptic event long enough to get out of it.
Despite this setting being a literal end of the world apocalyptic event however, it was very much a character deep dive where a Loki more or less interviews another Loki (both ways!). So the Lady Loki variant goes by the name Sylvie and clearly detests the Loki name. In the comics Sylvie was a human Loki gave powers to and manipulated into believing she was a reincarnated Enchantress (as far as I know this was for giggles), this does not seem to be the case here however and this is a unique version of the Loki storyline where 1, was born genetically female and 2, went down a very different path in life, one where she was not close to Frigga and had taught her possession magic herself without a mothers aid. Based on the next episode trailer I think we will be getting more info on Sylvie’s origins and what brought her to the TVA.
The back and forth between these two similar characters was brilliant throughout however as its quite clear Loki cannot handle someone on his level, he is used to being the back stabber, the betrayer, the one playing everyone around him and yet here, Sylvie is his equal (and in some cases superior). Sylvie made it clear her plan to take down the TVA was years in the making so she has been at this for a long time. She also reveals a new piece of information that shines a brighter light on the TVA and their secrets.
The people in the TVA are all mind wiped Variants! This was hinted right at the start when Sylvie was using her magic on the kidnapped TVA agent from Episode 2. Creating a ‘two friends on holiday’ scenario to get her to give the information willingly. One could have assumed this was a hint that Sylvie was much like her comic book counterpart but with the new information, this scenario was put together by Sylvie from the scraps from that agent’s previous life!
Does this mean Mobius was a Jet Ski enthusiast prior to this? How long has the TVA really been operating? With current loose MCU plot threads such as Captain America’s alternate life with Peggy as well as a 2014 Gamora now running around modern day MCU without the TVA immediately popping up to fix these, it seems there is more going on behind the closed TVA doors that even its own staff don’t know.
Personal theory time! So I think the TVA is not as old as they claim to be and as time works differently within it, a lifetime for them could be merely 5-6 years in real time. We could be getting a singular big bad running the show with a false narrative they have given to this army of Variants to maintain one timeline where they ultimately win, destroying all possible alternate timelines where they would lose. I say 5 years because back in Infinity War, Doctor Strange was able to look at over 14 million possible timelines. If the TVA were functioning I doubt any of those would have existed. BUT alas, time will tell (as well as the remaining 3 episodes)
We end the episode with Loki and Sylvie’s in vain attempt to change the fate of the ark on Lamentis-1 so they can escape. Ultimately failing and looking in awe as they are soon to be victims of the end of this population on this moon.
Verdict
While Episode 3 was a much slower burn than the previous episode, it served as a great character piece for both Loki and Sylvie. We’re given more information on her and some more pieces of information about the TVA. The special effects were brilliant as well as the choreographed fight scenes giving both characters a chance to show their fighting prowess. Hiddleston and Di Martino have some truly great sibling chemistry as two similar but also wildly different personalities and should this alliance remain, the two Variant Loki’s could bring down the TVA and ensure Mulitversal chaos brings more madness to the MCU.
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