When we last left Loki and Silvie last week, the pair of Loki Variants had just failed to escape the looming apocalypse on Lamentis-1. All hope seemed lost as the spaceship they planned to use for their dramatic escape was struck by a meteor and destroyed. Before we hop into Loki episode 4, let’s note some key things we learned last week in Loki episode 3.
Every one of the TVA workers and agents is a Variant! If we weren’t already suspicious of the whole TVA mission statement and their version of events around the Sacred Timeline and their role in the universe (we already were very suspicious), we sure would be now! Sylvie really has a bone to pick with the Time Keepers and maybe with very good reason. Sylvie is also similar but quite different from Loki and those differences are
Loki Episode 4 picks up with a flashback scene to give us our best insight yet into Sylvie. We see a young (10ish looking) Sylvie being taken from Asgard by the TVA for crimes against the Sacred Timeline. It is the best example yet of the cruelty of the TVA. Sylvie didn’t do anything other than be born a girl as far as we can tell. But, Sylvie being a young Loki, manages to escape from the TVA and agent Ravonna Renslayer by stealing her TemPad. We now understand that she spent her entire life since that age, hiding from the TVA. Let’s just say that her anger at the TVA and desire to bring down the organization seems amazingly justified.
With this new background knowledge, we jump back to the ‘present’ with Loki and Sylvie trapped on Lamentis-1, waiting for their impending doom. We see them sitting near a lake, watching pieces of the moon start showering the landscape with meteorites. They share a moment where they connect in a way that they haven’t before. Sylvie reaches out and touches Loki’s arm. Should we see it as romantic or Loki coming to terms with a core aspect of the character’s reason for being? Hard to say at this point, but let’s just say the moment is very important and possibly unprecedented.
The Nexus Event
That seemingly small personal moment between Sylvie and Loki allows the TVA to identify their location because it creates a never-before-seen level of Nexus Event. The TVA swoops in and gives them their escape from the impending apocalypse, and into custody at TVA HQ. The TVA is extremely interested in what Sylvie and Loki did to create this event. The two Variants are separated for questioning. Loki is put into a time-loop holding cell to marinate a bit, in which we get a fun cameo of Lady Sif repeatedly hitting Loki in the face and kneeing him in the groin for a practical joke he played on her in the past (Fun Fact: Loki cutting Sif’s hair is actually sourced from both the comics and Norse mythology). After having this happen an untold number of times, Mobius removes Loki from the time-loop for interrogation.
Mobius is very focused on understanding the Nexus Event and what Loki and Sylvie did to create the event. Loki really has no idea, but when Mobius suggests that Sylvie has been pruned, Loki is visibly shaken, although he tries to hide it and then comes up with various lies about their relationship. It’s Mobius who comes up with the idea that only Loki would fall in love with himself. As Mobius is planning to wrap up Loki for pruning, Loki drops the big reveal that every member of the TVA is a Variant. Mobius is unconvinced, but he is also putting some pieces together in his mind, leading him to places he would rather not go.
Cracks in the TVA Story
Mobius starts asking questions about what happened to Hunter C-20 (the TVA agent Sylvie captured and enchanted in the previous episode by finding the one memory of her life on earth). Ravonna says that C-20 was so damaged by Sylvie’s magic that she became incoherent after returning to the TVA HQ and died. Mobius finds evidence that this is all a lie.
Meanwhile, Hunter B-15 wants to have a chat with Sylvie. We can see that something is bothering B-15, but we’re not sure if it relates to concern about C-20 or something else. Turns out that when Sylvie briefly enchanted her to unconsciousness in episode 2, that she also saw a memory of her past life. Sylvie shows it to her again and the two talk about what to do next.
Mobius is now convinced that Loki is telling the truth and takes him out of his time-loop prison, only to be confronted by Ravonna and several TVA agents. She knows he is onto the truth and he admits that he just wants to know who he really is and where he came from before the TVA sole his memories. That’s too much for Ravonna and Mobius is pruned. No!!!!!
The Time Keepers are from Chuck E. Cheese?
After that shocking event, Ravonna takes Sylvie and Loki to see the Time Keepers. We see the three supreme guardians of the Sacred Timeline sitting on their thrones… but hang on a sec. Is this just an example of really bad special effects or do they look a lot like the animatronic creatures from Chuck E. Cheese?
Yup, they’re just cheap robots, as we discover once B-15 helps Loki and Sylvie escape and overpower Ravonna and the guards. Sylvie takes off one of the Time Keeper’s heads and we see they were just robots. This leads to a moment where Loki and Sylvie are ready to talk about what’s next, but Loki wants to get something very important off his chest. It has all the earmarks of a romantic moment, maybe even a kiss, but before Loki can say much of anything, Ravonna sneaks up behind him and prunes him. What. Is. Going. On.
Key Characters get Erased...or do they?
Loki episode 4 ends as Sylvie disarms Ravonna and demands she tell her everything. We’re left with Mobius (sad) and Loki (no way!) being disintegrated on screen. How can the show continue without its protagonist? It has never been more important that you stick around through the credits because we get a mid-credit scene that will blow your mind.
Loki wakes up, lying on the ground in a ruined city. He wonders aloud if he’s dead. A voice says “Not yet, but you will be unless you come with us.” Loki looks up and sees, more Lokis. There’s a fantastic classic comic book Loki, Kid Loki, Boastful Loki (carrying a version of Mjolnir?), and maybe a crocodile Loki (Croki?). Whoa! In the background we see more of the ruined city and, isn’t that Avenger’s Tower off to the right?
Mind. Blown. Loki episode 4 is in the books. Can’t wait for next week!
