'Loki', Episode 5: "Journey into Mystery" Recap and Review
After last week’s explosive revelations, Loki finds himself in the eye of a deadly, sentient storm with no one to aid him but himself(s)
WARNING: Contains Spoilers
One episode removed from our finale; Loki has ramped up into an avalanche of momentum in these last two episodes. The previous episode focused on plot developments while “Journey into Mystery” is geared more towards character development. While both episodes differ in their core focus, both are wildly successful in their goals. Using the variant Lokis as a way to explore several avenues of character development simultaneously is a brilliant move that serves to continue the momentum built without relying on excessive plot developments that could overwhelm an audience. In terms of plot, little actually happens but thanks to the various Lokis, most notably Classic Loki played by Richard E. Grant, the Loki character feels more developed than any other character in the MCU.
The episode begins where we last left our Loki (Tom Hiddleston), in what is known as The Void with four other variants of himself and an angry, sentient cloud that wants to eat all of them. Back at the TVA, Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) presses Judge Ravonna Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) for answers as to who really runs the TVA to which she has none. What Renslayer does tell Sylvie is that pruning a variant doesn’t actually kill them, but transports them to The Void instead in an attempt to incentivize Sylvie not to kill her. Sylvie allows her to live, for now. In The Void, our Loki demands answers from his variants: Kid Loki (Jack Veal), Boastful Loki (Deobia Oparei), Alligator Loki, and a notably older Classic Loki. They explain the nature of The Void and the angry cloud monster, the Alioth, as well as the nature of their survival. The Variants lead Loki to an underground shelter fashioned from an old bowling alley. While this happens, Sylvie lets Renslayer and Miss Minutes (Tara Strong) help, but it quickly becomes obvious that she is merely stalling. A group of armed agents enter the room and pin Sylvie behind a desk. Without any other options, Sylvie takes Renslayer’s TemPad and Prunes herself, sending her to The Void. In the bunker, Loki listens on as Boastful Loki lives up to his name. After a quick clash with Alligator Loki, Boastful Loki finishes and it is Classic Loki’s turn to tell his story. He tells them about how he hid from Thanos instead of attacking him, thus surviving his ultimate demise, and how he drifted throughout space until he exiled himself and grew sentimental about his brother. It was then, after he took the first step towards reconciliation with Thor, that the TVA got him. Fed up with the inaction of the variants, Loki aims to kill Alioth, and he opens the hatch to leave but waiting on the other side is President Loki and a few of his… constituents. Sylvie awakes in an abandoned bus in The Void and already in immediate danger from the Alioth. As she escapes, she has a brief connection with the Alioth and sees what might be the source of all their problems. With the Alioth hot on her trail, a pizza delivery vehicle comes racing over a hill and rescues Sylvie from certain doom. Driving the car is Mobius (Owen Wilson), who has also survived his journey into The Void. With President Loki holding the rest hostage, the variants reveal a series of double-crosses until Alligator Loki gets fed up and bites off the hand of President Loki, sparking an all-out brawl. During the mayhem, our Loki manages to escape with the help of Kid Loki, Alligator Loki, and Classic Loki. Out of desperation, the variants agree to help our Loki kill the Alioth. With the Alioth in their rearview, Mobius and Sylvie make amends with each other having both been played by the TVA. After her vision, Sylvie is convinced that the answers lie with the Alioth and convinces Mobius to turn around and head back to the monstrous mist. After a short walk, the Lokis come upon the Alioth as it devours a Navy battleship in seconds. This causes our Loki to re-think his strategy, when out of nowhere, the pizza delivery vehicle appears and Sylvie, Mobius, and Loki are reunited. They compare notes and Sylvie determines the best plan of action is to enchant the Alioth.
We return to the TVA where Renslayer interrogates Hunter B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku) about Sylvie. When she doesn’t get the answers that she’s looking for, Renslayer turns to Miss Minutes for information on the creators of the TVA. In The Void, Loki and Sylvie reflect on their journey together and the unspoken romantic connection between them as they snuggle up together in a blanket. Accompanied by cracks of lightning, the Alioth appears menacingly on the horizon. Sylvie hands the TemPad to our Loki, but he already made up his mind to stay and help Sylvie. Loki hands the TemPad to Mobius and the Variants and friends say their goodbyes. Mobius and Loki hug each other tightly as each other’s only true friends, then Mobius steps into the Time Door and vanishes. Loki and Sylvie face the Alioth. Loki takes off and distracts the Alioth as Sylvie tries to enchant it with little success. The Alioth bears down on Sylvie, ready to end her, when an emerald glinting projection of Asgard appears. It is Classic Loki, using the power acquired over thousands of years to distract the Alioth. Together, Loki and Sylvie join hands and put all their might into the attempt to enchant the Alioth. Strained from the projection, Classic Loki fails to hold it any longer and the Alioth ends him, after he fulfilled his glorious purpose. The Alioth turns its attention to Loki and Sylvie, and just before it can attack, the enchantment takes hold and a portal appears to the place in Sylvie’s vision. Slowly they enter the portal, ready to end things once and for all.
What an amazing treasure trove of references and Easter eggs The Void was. Aside from the Loki variants themselves, there were appearances from: the frog variant of Thor named Throg, a Hydra-branded Helicarrier, a destroyed Avengers tower, Ronin the Accuser’s ship, the Dark Aster, from Guardians of the Galaxy, a giant version of Yellowjacket’s helmet from Ant-Man, and the infamous Thanos Copter (my personal favorite), just to name a few. No doubt more dedicated fans will spend hours pointing out every single Easter egg in these scenes. The real gems of this episode are the Loki Variants. Each one feels both unique and similar as at their core they are all a Loki; even Alligator Loki has his moments and arguably steals the episode. But it was Classic Loki who is the most complete Loki out of all of then. Grant plays the variant with the sense of contentment in regards to his own fate as well as being more emotionally stable than the rest. Throughout the episode, he scoffs at the notion of Lokis having a “glorious purpose” to illustrate just how jaded he is in regards to his old self. But in the end, he fulfills his glorious purpose and sacrifices himself to give Loki and Sylvie more time. However, something tells me that this isn’t the last time we see Richard E. Grant.
The Time Keepers were fake and even Judge Renslayer, who took a hard turn into the realm of fascist ruler of the TVA, is looking for the “man behind the curtain.” The most popular theory seems to be that it is Kang the Conqueror given his upcoming appearance in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantamania and his comic history with time travel and the Alioth which appeared in this episode. But Marvel isn’t the kind of company that will introduce a brand-new bad guy in the final episode without them appearing in the series at all beforehand. WandaVision came the closest to this, but Kathryn Hahn’s Agatha Harkness was in the series from the beginning, just under the guise of nosey neighbor, Agnes. Even then, Agatha’s reveal fell flat for some due to her lack of true character development and recognition. I won’t rule out a post-credits scene appearance for Kang, but the chance that Kang is the big bad of this series seems illogical. What feels right would be having the big bad be the character with the most character development on the show, Loki. Early on, my thoughts drifted to another female variant of Loki being the big bad, but the death of Classic Loki all but confirmed the big bad to be King Loki God of Lies. Richard E. Grant was slated to appear in episodes 4, 5, and 6 but with the death of Classic Loki and the emphasis put on that character in the episode, I believe that Grant will play a less enlightened version of the older Loki who descended into a path of evil instead. The only question would be why? Why protect a timeline where his ultimate fate is death at the hands of the Mad Titan Thanos? Simply put, to eliminate his greatest threat to his dominance of Space and Time, himself. Loki is a textbook narcissist and so in his mind his greatest threat is himself. He is protecting his status as the true Loki, the Loki-est Loki, if you will. It almost feels like showrunner and head writer Michael Waldron has been shouting this at us with Loki constantly alluding to his superiority over other variants. The Kang connections seem to be teasing his existence rather than his direct involvement. It’s also worth noting that the Alioth’s existence kept Kang from certain pockets of time out of fear in the comics, so if Loki and Sylvie get rid of the person behind the curtain and it removes the Alioth, then that could be the door opening for Kang to enter the “sacred timeline.” The only mystery that would remain would be how Loki and Sylvie cause a Nexus event on the doomed planet that ultimately saved them. My only guess would be that this TVA Loki is an earlier version of the King Loki variant specifically and his infatuation with Sylvie is a deep-rooted sense of superiority that causes him to become King Loki as he now sees Sylvie as being superior to him. This would all be possible due to a cyclical theory of time and 5th dimensions, but to avoid further complications, we’ll just say it’s magic.
With only one episode remaining, it is clear that Marvel has a certified hit on their hands. The episodes have thus far been spectacular, even when lacking in story progression like this one. But a story is only as good as its ending and so far, we haven’t had a universally-loved ending to a series. The WandaVision finale was criticized for its lack of development of its villain as well as it’s uninteresting final battle and Falcon and The Winter Soldier was criticized for lackluster conclusions to its villain’s story arcs; more specifically Wyatt Russel’s John Walker. Even though we are on the cusp of our season finale and the series’ big bad’s identity is still a mystery, I am more confident for Loki’s conclusion than I was for the other series. The momentum of the series has built to this glorious crescendo that will be difficult to derail. And if I really had to think about it, one thing that would almost certainly halt the momentum would be revealing the big bad to be Kang the Conqueror. Sorry, folks.