'Loki', Episode 4: "The Nexus Event" Recap and Review
After finding potential love for himself, Loki’s world rapidly crumbles around him in breathtaking fashion in the latest episode.
WARNING: Contains Spoilers
Nothing is as it seemed, illusions are shattered, and chaos is sweeping through the TVA with impunity. But this is the God of Mischief we’re talking about, so a bit of chaos is to be expected. What wasn’t expected was the emotion and heart that came in “The Nexus Event”. Shocking moments are aplomb, emotions are sent on a rollercoaster ride, and at the end of the day, the latest episode of “Loki” is not only its best yet, but perhaps solidifies the show itself as Disney+’s masterwork.
The episode begins with a flashback to Asgard, as a young Sylvie innocently plays with her toys when, suddenly, a time door appears and out walks Ravonna Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw). Renslayer identifies Sylvie as a variant and immediately arrests her, before “pruning” the timeline. We see Sylvie get processed by the TVA, then stand trial where she escapes from Renslayer, steals her TemPad, and sets out on her lifelong mission to end the TVA. Back in the present, Mobius (Owen Wilson) and Renslayer have a heated discussion about their present situation. Renslayer reiterates the Time Keepers’ displeasure with her handling of the escaped Loki variants, and Mobius begs to talk to Hunter C-20 (Sasha Lane), but Renslayer says she is dead.
Mobius is skeptical, but ultimately puts his trust in his longtime friend. We rejoin Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) as they await their impending doom on Lamentis. Loki apologizes, and Sylvie reminisces about her life. The two connect on a deeper level, gazing at each other in a way that seems foreign to both of them. Sylvie takes Loki’s hand, and suddenly the TVA sees a Nexus Event starting and, as the two variants prepare for their imminent demise, two time doors open at the last second. Now in TVA custody, the variants are split up. Mobius and Loki bicker about their mutually perceived betrayals, and Mobius prepares to send him through a different-looking time door, but Loki has a final message for Mobius before he is sent in: the TVA is lying to him.
Loki ends up on what looks to be Asgard. Lady Sif (Jaimie Alexander) enters, furious with him. She insults him, assaults him, then leaves. Loki is impressed with how accurate the memory is, but suddenly Lady Sif appears again, and hits him again then leaves again. It dons on Loki that he is in a time loop just as Sif appears again. At the TVA, an exhausted Renslayer gets at a knock at her door, and in walks Mobius. Mobius asks her for access to Sylvie, but Renslayer denies him that. Mobius leaves in frustration but goes to Sylvie’s holding room anyway. Hunter B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku) and a handful of agents are standing guard. Mobius moves on, but B-15 follows and asks about what Loki has been saying. Mobius lets her know that Loki thinks the TVA is lying to them, and this clearly distresses B-15 but she tries to hide it. Loki, meanwhile, desperately tries to reason with the vision of Sif, but she just continues on.
Mobius then appears, and the two head back to their holding room. Mobius interrogates Loki, but it devolves into arguing almost immediately and Mobius threatens to send him back to the time loop. Loki tries to lie his way into avoiding the time loop again but Mobius counters with a lie of his own, telling Loki that Sylvie has been pruned. The thought of Sylvie being dead cuts Loki to his core but he tries to hide it. Mobius sees through the lie and comes to the conclusion that Loki and Sylvie are in love with eachother, or in other words: themselves. Loki then spills the beans that Mobius and the TVA are all variants. Mobius feigns disbelief and sends Loki back to the time loop.
Elsewhere, Hunter B-15 is trying to grasp the possible reality that she may have had a life before the TVA, so she confronts Sylvie and takes her through a time door. Mobius and Renslayer close the Loki case and celebrate with a drink. Renslayer tries to relax with her friend but Mobius is still suspicious. He asks about why he couldn’t talk to Sylvie or Hunter C-20, and Renslayer continues to dodge the truth. Mobius distracts her and switches their TemPads. Hunter B-15, meanwhile, takes Sylvie back to the Alabama apocalypse and then demands answers from her. Sylvie tells her the truth, then shows her the life she had before. B-15 accepts it and cries.
As soon as Mobius finds a place to be alone, he looks through Renslayer’s TemPad and finds a video of C-20’s interrogation. He sees C-20 reiterate what Loki told him, that they are variants, and sees Renslayer herself stop the interview. In the time loop, Mobius confronts Loki about the truth and his motivations. After Loki reaffirms that he is telling the truth, Mobius gives in and turns on the TVA. They head back to the TVA together, but waiting for them is Renslayer, who caught on to Mobius switching the TemPads. Quickly realizing what is about to happen, Mobius gives his final message to Renslayer, then he is pruned and disappears into nothingness. The TVA then escorts Loki and Sylvie to the Time Keepers.
Alone with Loki and Renslayer in the elevator, Sylvie asks what Nexus event caused Renslayer to arrest Sylvie in the first place. Renslayer responds with “I don’t remember.” Then the elevator doors open and there the Time Keepers are. The Time Keepers chastise them for even attempting to pose a threat to them when, suddenly, the elevator doors open again, and out walks Hunter B-15. She unlocks the variants’ collars and frees them. A fight ensues as Sylvie and Loki fight for survival while B-15 is killed. After subduing their captors, they turn their attention to the Time Keepers, and Sylvie beheads one of them. The head bounces down to their feet and the other Time Keepers laugh before shutting down completely. they inspect the Time Keeper’s head and discover that they are just robots, controlled remotely by an external force. Loki decides that now is the time to tell Sylvie his feelings. But just before he does, Renslayer rises, hits him in the back with her baton, and prunes him. Enraged, Sylvie takes the weapon from Renslayer and demands answers. All seems lost as the credits roll… and then Loki gasps back into consciousness. Waiting for him in the ruins of New York City - with a destroyed Avengers Tower in the background - are three other variants, including Classic Loki (Richard E. Grant).
Nothing about the TVA was real. The Time Keepers were robots, the agents are variants, and pruning someone may not actually mean killing them after all. In that final scene, when Loki is woken by Kid Loki, Boastful Loki and Classic Loki, it appears that what pruning may actually be transporting variants to alternate timelines with other versions of themselves, thus quarantining them together away from the Sacred Timeline. This might only be specific to Loki, but one can hope that Mobius has found a similar sort of haven with other Mobiuses riding jetskis.
Ravonna Renslayer went from the stuffy director to ruthless deceiver at the flip of a switch. She did not hesitate to prune Mobius, and it’s not clear whether she is aware that pruning might not be killing the variants, but the reluctancy and shame in her eyes seems to imply that she is not. Although she appears to know a lot about what is actually going on, she only seems to be a pawn and not the Queen. Someone else is still pulling the strings, and at this point it could be anyone including the usual suspects of Kang the Conqueror, Mephisto and Loki himself, but I think the key question is why, not who. Why would any of these beings protect this particular timeline?
Ultimately, “The Nexus Event” - an incredible episode in its own right - should silence the last of the naysayers: “Loki” is a great show. The story has more twists and turns and emotional diversity than any of the Marvel series thus far. The look of the series has hints of almost every other Marvel property, but still manages to feel unique and interesting. This episode is well rounded, captivating, and solidifies the series as a potential fan favorite.