LOKI- Season 1

  The MCU phase 4 entry we deserved and needed. Created by Michael Waldron and released on Disney +, Loki is the third TV Show from the Marvel Cinematic Universe set after the events of Avengers Endgame.

But, how do you breathe life into a franchise (or shared universe, whatever you want to call it) that clearly ended on a very high note ?

Avengers Endgame is one the greatest box-office success of all time; it has seen the death of the MCU’s major villain (Thanos) and the conclusion of many character stories like Iron Man, Black Widow (?), Captain America…

Kevin Feige, the captain of the MCU ship, must have thought: will fans still care about future projects set in this universe?

Well, before Loki, Wandavision (January 2021) and Falcon and the Winter Soldier (March 2021) gave him hope. Viewing numbers of the shows were pretty good.

However, the excitement was still missing in my opinion. Even if Wandavision had great potential and great acting, the ending was a bit of a disappointment.

(it wasn’t the House of M adaptation I was hoping it would be; only a sad story about Wanda Maximoff becoming the Scarlet Witch). 

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier had better writing, with interesting ideas that allowed both title characters to develop (the Falcon becoming a symbol of justice and fairness not only for the Afro-American community but also for everyone; the Winter Soldier finally being able to set himself on the path to redemption). 

But, again, after this second show ended, I wasn’t counting the days until the next MCU instalment, to be honest…

And then, Loki arrived. And while I was watching episode 1, I already knew that this was it: I felt intrigued, engaged; just like I used to be watching (almost) all MCU movies from Iron Man (2008) until Endgame (2019)

Episode 1 of Loki set the tone: we meet the TVA, the Time Variance Authority, who protects the Sacred Timeline. There is a lot of exposition in that episode, but it’s needed. We are introduced to concepts like ”variants” and the multiverse.

Just like Loki said in that episode, I then realize that the TVA is probably ”the greatest power in the Universe”. Imagine you can control time and the destiny of every single creature in the universe?

After episode 1, I was on board. Loki himself was my vessel; just like him, I wanted to know more about the TVA, and I wanted to know who was running the show behind the scenes.

In episode 2, we follow Loki and Mobius (the TVA agent in charge of Loki) travelling through time (the 80s, the Ancient Roman Empire, the future…) while they are trying to catch one of Loki’s variants (another Loki, from a different timeline) who’s been killing TVA agents and, and who’s been threatening the ”Sacred Timeline”.

Episode 2 has different goals: developing the ”friendship” between Loki and Mobius, learning more about the TVA (there is a great dialogue where Loki, while talking with Mobius, realizes that the TVA is like a cult, full of promises and legends, but no real facts; and that the TVA agents have all been told the same story about the end of times, about the TVA agents’ origins, about free will..)

And, of course, finding out who this mysterious variant is. The last minutes of the show see the variant revealing himself as a woman, the variant bombing the sacred timeline, and Loki following his female alter ego through a time portal.

The detective story of episode 2 is a good idea: it keeps you engaged, it brings a bit of humour, and it helps the audience understands what’s going on.

Every episode of this season is different from the other. Episode 3 almost looks like a buddy movie: Loki and his variant, Sylvie, don’t see eye to eye at first. But at least, they realize they have the same goal: finding the Time-Keepers, three Aliens who apparently are in charge of the Sacred Timeline, who supposedly created the TVA and the TVA agents.

But they are quickly stopped by Renslayer (who is in charge of the TVA). This is where the fun begins: to escape, Loki teleports himself and Sylvie to 2077, on a moon about to be crushed by a planet (it was explained in a previous episode that variants can hide during apocalyptic events)

I enjoyed this episode because it allowed me to catch my breath. The episode sees Loki and Sylvie’s adventures to escape this moon before it’s destroyed. There are no complicated exposition scenes, no philosophical discussions.It’s just a fun episode about two people who are very similar and very different at the same time, who have to work together if they want to survive.

We learn about Sylvie, about how much she hates the TVA, about the fact that she was taken by the TVA when she was only a child without even knowing why.

The chemistry between the two actors is great, in my opinion, and that’s why the bond they create in this episode is believable.

Episode 4 has, for me, all the ingredients of a beautiful tragedy. Loki and Sylvie, thinking they are going to die, share a romantic moment, interrupted by the TVA. Their romantic feelings for one another created a ”Nexus Event”, an event that is not supposed to happen (an event that threatens the Sacred Timeline). This Nexus Event allowed the TVA to locate them.

From that moment, it looks like Loki and Sylvie are like Romeo and Juliet, star-crossed lovers (they can’t be together, or it would mean, apparently, the end of everything)

They are brought back to the TVA headquarters and being separated. Loki is left in a time loop, where a vision of his past tells him that he will never win, and he will always be alone. Loki’s loneliness and redemption are recurring themes in this show : already, in episode 1, Loki finds out that his mother, his father and himself will eventually die because of his actions.

In the meantime, Mobius has been having his own issues. Since he met Loki in episode 1, he has started to doubt the promises of the TVA. And in episode 4, there is another great scene between Loki and Mobius, just before Loki is sent to the time loop: Mobius learns from the God of Mischief that TVA agents were not created by the TVA, but were variants themselves; they had lives before the TVA.

That scene is what ultimately convinces Mobius. And explains why he decides to betray the TVA ,and help Loki escape.

Mobius is ”destroyed” (”pruned””) by Renslayer. And Loki and Sylvie are brought to the Time-Keepers. There is a short battle. Sylvie finds out that the Time-Keepers are only androids.

Loki and her both look at each other in disbelief. Loki is about to tell Sylvie how he feels when Renslayer prunes him. 

Episode 4 is called ”the Nexus Event” for a good reason: it is a pivotal moment in this TV Show ; it is the beginning of the end. So much happened in this episode. Michael Waldron, the creator of the show, keeps the balance between providing information to the audience and creating engaging and emotional scenes

(The ”death” of Mobius is unexpected, and you can see the sadness in Loki’s eyes; the romantic moments between Loki and Sylvie are also perfectly tragic)

Episodes 5 and 6 mostly take place in one ”place” : the void at the end of times, a great place for the main stories and mysteries to be unraveled.

The void at the end of time is where people who have been pruned are kind of exiled for eternity. This is where Loki wakes up to find other Loki variants ; by talking to them, and by learning about their fates, Loki sees that it might be true : his fate is indeed to lose and ending up alone.

But he decides that there is no fate and that he will make his own destiny. The first step he takes is trying to escape the void; to do so, he has to kill a giant smokey monster/dog (remember Lost? ), guarding the void.

Sylvie, on the other hand, tries to get more information from Renslayer about the TVA and the mysterious being behind everything , and who is responsible for everything that went wrong in her life. 

 Before being tricked by Renslayer, she finds out that this being lives at the ‘end of times; and that if you’re ‘pruned’, that’s where you go.

 To find this being, and maybe also to be reunited with Loki, Sylvie ”kills” herself.

She meets Mobius, and then Loki. She explains to Loki and Mobius, now friends, that the being who created the TVA is located ”behind” the smokey/monster dog. And that with the help of Loki, she thinks she can destroy it.

Mobius decides to go back to the TVA, to tell the truth to everyone. Loki and Mobius’arc both end here, with Loki calling him ”friend” for the first time.

I thought it was a nice moment for both characters, but especially for Loki, who never had one friend in his life.

There is then one of the best scenes I have ever seen in the MCU, with Loki and Sylvie (and one brave variant) destroying the smokey/monster dog. The visuals are amazing. The score is beautiful (I noticed that the score overall in this show is clearly one of its strengths).

The season could have ended right here, with a great cliffhanger: a glimpse of a castle, where Loki’s ”Wizard of Oz”, the being ”behind the curtain”, is hiding.