We’ve reached the penultimate episode of Loki on Disney+ and so far, it’s been an interesting ride. We’ve discovered the existence of variant timelines, that the Time Keepers who oversaw the Time Variance Authority were a lie, and watched as Loki was pruned from the timeline, only to be slightly shocked to see him wake up and discover a gang of Variant Lokis staring at him. Now that the show has introduced more mysteries for its audience, hopefully, they’ll decide to answer a few of the questions we already have. Let’s get into it, shall we?
And as always, there are massive spoilers ahead, so if you decide to continue before watching the latest episode, consider yourself warned.
The episode, titled “Journey Into Mystery,” which is a playful reference to the comic series in which Loki first appeared in 1962, begins with a flyover of the mysterious land Loki arrived in after being pruned by the TVA. The buildings are in rubble, overgrown with ivy and weeds. Loki (Tom Hiddleston) awakens to find an ominous storm cloud bearing down on him. He asks the other Lokis where he is, what the cloud is, and who they are. Classic Loki (Richard E. Grant) answers quickly; they’re in the Void, the cloud is called Alioth, and if they don’t move, they’ll be his lunch.
Back at the TVA, Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) wants answers from Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) about who’s in control of the TVA. Renslayer denies having any knowledge but elaborates on how Loki could still be alive. Renslayer tells Sylvie about the Void, where all divergent timelines are sent when they are pruned. Renslayer also says that she wants to know who lied to her about the TVA and convinces Sylvie to work together, to which Sylvie concedes.
Renslayer asks Miss Minutes (voiced by Tara Strong) to look up files on the creation of time to try and find answers about the TVA. Sylvie, however, wants to know more about the end of time, figuring that there could be a way beyond the Void and to whoever is behind the creation of the TVA. Sylvie wants to go through the Void, which Renslayer describes as suicide until Miss Minutes suggests using the “Void spacecraft.” Renslayer orders Miss Minutes to pull up the files, during which Sylvie gets suspicious. A group of Hunters bursts into the room, forcing Sylvie to steal Renslayers Tem-pad and duck for cover. Instead of surrendering to Renslayer, Sylvie decides to self-prune to send herself to the Void and follow through with her plan.
The other Lokis take 2012 Loki back to their headquarters where we find out more about them. Kid Loki (Jack Veal) is their “king,” having won that title by killing Thor. Boastful Loki (Deobia Oparei) claims to have won the Infinity stones after defeating Captain America and Iron Man. Crocodile Loki ate a neighborhood cat, and Classic Loki regales them with a tale of how he survived Thanos by fooling him with an illusion and living in exile on a deserted planet. It wasn’t until he got lonely and looked to reconnect with Thor did he get picked up by the TVA for starting a Nexus Event. And while all of their stories are interesting, my favorite part of this scene was the shot of Kid Loki drinking Hi-C Ecto Cooler from an original juice box from 1989.
Being called the God of Outcasts by Classic Loki inspires 2012 Loki to escape the Void and go back to the TVA. His plan to do this is to kill Alioth. But as he leaves the underground bunker, he’s confronted by President Loki and his band of Loki minions. As it turns out, Boastful Loki betrayed his “friends” to take over as role of the King. But President Loki betrays Boastful Loki, refusing to relinquish power. But in yet another twist, President Loki’s minions all turn on him, and Crocodile Loki lunges at President Loki, biting off his hand.
A fight ensues, prompting Classic Loki to generate illusions to cover his escape, along with 2012 Loki, Kid Loki, and Crocodile Loki. Both Classic and Kid are resigned to their fates, accepting of the fact that they’re lost in the Void with nothing but each other, but 2012 Loki tries to instill faith in them, asking for their help in escaping. They refuse, only offering to take him to Alioth but leaving him to kill the beast by himself.
Elsewhere, Sylvie wakes up in the Void and is immediately attacked by Alioth. She runs, but the creature’s smoke tentacles brush against her. Sylvie has a vision, which gives her an idea of getting through the Void. As Alioth draws closer to her, a car appears on the horizon, offering help. Sylvie jumps in the car and as it speeds off, Sylvie is shocked to find it being driven by Mobius (Owen Wilson) in a real “ka-chow” kind of moment.
After expressing regret for his actions with the TVA, Mobius agrees to help Sylvie by taking her back to Alioth, where they catch up with the Lokis. 2012 Loki tells Sylvie he plans to kill Alioth. She makes fun of him for that idea, explaining that she is going to enchant Alioth to allow her to get past it to whoever it is protecting.
In the interim, we get a scene in which Renslayer confronts Hunter B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku) about her link with Sylvie. This exchange is meant to show the audience how loyal to the TVA Renslayer is, and that her overall goal is to protect whoever created the organization.
Back in the Void, there’s some character development with Mobius and his loyalties to the TVA, as well as an endearing moment between Loki and Sylvie. They try to hide their feelings for each other, but their actions betray them.
When the time comes to confront Alioth, Loki refuses to leave Sylvie by herself. She gives Mobius the Tem-Pad to send him back to the TVA. He invites the other Lokis with him, but they decide the Void is their home. Classic Loki bids 2012 Loki good luck, and just before entering a Timedoor, Mobius and Loki embrace as friends.
Loki tries to distract Alioth to give Sylvie time to enchant the creature, but it proves to be more powerful than they anticipated, nearly overpowering them. But Classic Loki intervenes, creating an illusion of Asgard to divert Alioth away from them. Sylvie takes the opportunity to convince 2012 Loki to help her enchant Alioth; after a brief hesitation, Loki agrees. They focus all of their energy on the beast as it overpowers Classic Loki’s illusion and killing him. Alioth turns its attention back to Loki and Sylvie and, just before he falls on top of them, the enchantment works.
A portal breaks through the smoke, revealing a mysterious building beyond, the same building that Sylvie saw in her mind when she first touched Alioth. Taking Loki’s hand, she leads him through the opening toward their final destination.
There are some neat Easter eggs littered throughout the episode. In addition to the Ecto Cooler I mentioned earlier, there’s a helicopter with the word “THANOS” written on the side of it. Looming over the horizon is a Sphinx with a nose, clearly indicating why it was erased in the first place. But probably the most interesting thing could be spotted as Loki descended into the underground bunker. The camera pans down through the dirt revealing a Mjolnir buried underground. Beside him is a glass jar containing a small creature trying to escape. The creature looks like a frog dressed up as Thor. The label on the bottom, T-365, further confirms this is a nod to issue 365 of Thor which features Thor Frog, whose real name is Puddlegulp, helping a clan of alligators fight off a gang of rats. It’s weird, but the 80s were a weird time for sure.
There are also references to past MCU films throughout the Void, such as a quick shot of Yellowjacket’s helmet. Yellowjacket, of course, was the nemesis in the first Ant-Man film. Here his helmet is giant, indicating that he was probably pruned for going big instead of going small like he was supposed to. Quick-eyed viewers could also spot the aircraft the Red Skull used to escape in Captain America: The First Avenger as well as Ronan’s ship, the Dark Aster, from Guardians of the Galaxy.
It might have taken five full episodes to get there, but Loki has finally become the show I wanted it to be before it premiered. Though it had its exciting moments, it’s been somewhat lackluster with its overall reliance on heavy exposition. However, the character development and brief moments of levity kept me coming back week after week, and I’m glad I stuck with it because “Journey Into Mystery” was the kind of bonkers adventure I wanted from the beginning. My only disappointment was that it ended on such a massive cliffhanger. I wanted a little more of a tease before it went into the finale. But that’s how it goes, I guess. It’s gonna be a long seven days until we find out who’s behind the TVA.
