Loki: Journey Into Mystery
July 7, 2021 12:29 AM - Season 1, Episode 5 - Subscribe
Loki tries to escape The Void, a desolate purgatory where he meets variant versions of himself.
On the slow dive into the Loki lair, I couldn't identify the jumping figure under Mjolnir. (I can't watch it on a large screen at the moment, I'm stuck under a cat.)
The "pleasant music" in the Loki lair was a 1995 lounge cover of Wonderwall, by The Mike Flowers Pops. It might only be notable to me, as I heard it *before* the Oasis version.
The ship that dropped in was the USS Eldridge, which was cloaked in the Philadelphia Experiment story.
There's nothing extra after the credits.
posted by Pronoiac at 1:14 AM on July 7, 2021 [4 favorites]
The "pleasant music" in the Loki lair was a 1995 lounge cover of Wonderwall, by The Mike Flowers Pops. It might only be notable to me, as I heard it *before* the Oasis version.
The ship that dropped in was the USS Eldridge, which was cloaked in the Philadelphia Experiment story.
There's nothing extra after the credits.
posted by Pronoiac at 1:14 AM on July 7, 2021 [4 favorites]
I couldn't identify the jumping figure under MjolnirIt looked like a tiny Thor
posted by fullerine at 1:21 AM on July 7, 2021 [4 favorites]
I've seen elsewhere that it's a comic variant, "Throg", Thor as a frog.
posted by Schmucko at 1:24 AM on July 7, 2021 [6 favorites]
posted by Schmucko at 1:24 AM on July 7, 2021 [6 favorites]
> Thanos-copter is MCU canon!
what.
Oh rewatch, it's right before the pan down I mentioned.
posted by Pronoiac at 1:29 AM on July 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
what.
Oh rewatch, it's right before the pan down I mentioned.
posted by Pronoiac at 1:29 AM on July 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
Yes, that was a frog Thor. The jar has T365 written on it. I suppose Erik Voss of New Rockstars is right now pouring through his comic collection to find the meaning behind the number T365 :-)
posted by Pendragon at 1:37 AM on July 7, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by Pendragon at 1:37 AM on July 7, 2021 [3 favorites]
Ah. Thor #365 had Frog Thor. It looks like Throg is related but not Odinson.
posted by Pronoiac at 1:50 AM on July 7, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by Pronoiac at 1:50 AM on July 7, 2021 [3 favorites]
I wasn’t expecting conservation of mass to pop up at any point at all and yet here we are. I thought this was amazing.
posted by hototogisu at 1:52 AM on July 7, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by hototogisu at 1:52 AM on July 7, 2021 [3 favorites]
Sylvie, when she first arrives in the void and flees the cloud monster, does an enchantment and she seems to have a vision of the castle that lays beyond at the end of the episode.
posted by Schmucko at 1:54 AM on July 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by Schmucko at 1:54 AM on July 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
I like the idea that the Multiverse lets Marvel have all existing Marvel Universe continuities to be true, meaning they could have fun throwing in a ton of Easter eggs to this episode.
The Stark tower had QENG on.
There was the wreckage of a Focke-Wulf Triebflügel plane which the Red Skull used in Captain America: The First Avenger.
There's a Polybius arcade cabinet in the Loki lair.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 2:43 AM on July 7, 2021 [5 favorites]
The Stark tower had QENG on.
There was the wreckage of a Focke-Wulf Triebflügel plane which the Red Skull used in Captain America: The First Avenger.
There's a Polybius arcade cabinet in the Loki lair.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 2:43 AM on July 7, 2021 [5 favorites]
Classic Loki, chilling in his shared lair, drinking the finest wines known to humanity.
posted by Grangousier at 4:09 AM on July 7, 2021 [9 favorites]
posted by Grangousier at 4:09 AM on July 7, 2021 [9 favorites]
They've got a hatch and a smoke monster, all they need is a string of sinister numbers and a guy named Desmond.
posted by orrnyereg at 5:16 AM on July 7, 2021 [17 favorites]
posted by orrnyereg at 5:16 AM on July 7, 2021 [17 favorites]
Random observations:
• Classic Loki, chilling in his shared lair, drinking the finest wines known to humanity.
And Kid Loki, chilling in his shared lair, drinking a juice box. :)
• For those who want a better look, animated GIF of Throg's scene
• The fact that the Void Lokis are perfectly fine with Alligator Loki, but a female variant "sounds terrifying" rather undercuts the supposed normalization of Loki's gender-fluidity.
• On the positive side, we did get several scenes passing Bechdel, including the WoC-only scene between Renslayer and B-15
• "I betrayed everyone who ever loved me."
who else expected them to follow that revelation with fervent denials of any such feelings?
• Finally, how about that music? If there ever was a time for Wagnerian flourishes...
posted by cheshyre at 6:02 AM on July 7, 2021 [11 favorites]
• Classic Loki, chilling in his shared lair, drinking the finest wines known to humanity.
And Kid Loki, chilling in his shared lair, drinking a juice box. :)
• For those who want a better look, animated GIF of Throg's scene
• The fact that the Void Lokis are perfectly fine with Alligator Loki, but a female variant "sounds terrifying" rather undercuts the supposed normalization of Loki's gender-fluidity.
• On the positive side, we did get several scenes passing Bechdel, including the WoC-only scene between Renslayer and B-15
• "I betrayed everyone who ever loved me."
who else expected them to follow that revelation with fervent denials of any such feelings?
• Finally, how about that music? If there ever was a time for Wagnerian flourishes...
posted by cheshyre at 6:02 AM on July 7, 2021 [11 favorites]
Classic Loki despising daggers and Kid King Loki giving our Loki a flaming sword makes me wonder if this is his new weapon. More heroic.
Speaking of Kid Loki I do want to know how/why he killed (Kid?) Thor. Accident? He doesn't seem to revel in evilness.
I like our Loki having to dodge through a battle of his other, ignoble and scheming selves, all like "Wow, you people are fucked up."
posted by emjaybee at 6:59 AM on July 7, 2021 [5 favorites]
Speaking of Kid Loki I do want to know how/why he killed (Kid?) Thor. Accident? He doesn't seem to revel in evilness.
I like our Loki having to dodge through a battle of his other, ignoble and scheming selves, all like "Wow, you people are fucked up."
posted by emjaybee at 6:59 AM on July 7, 2021 [5 favorites]
The romantic moments between Loki and Sylvie seemed to drag on a bit though.
Hoping this means still sibling relationship!
What a fun episode, I'm so sad there's only one left!
posted by ellieBOA at 7:38 AM on July 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
Hoping this means still sibling relationship!
What a fun episode, I'm so sad there's only one left!
posted by ellieBOA at 7:38 AM on July 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
Speaking of Kid Loki I do want to know how/why he killed (Kid?) Thor. Accident? He doesn't seem to revel in evilness.
The sacred timeline would insist that he kill Baldur rather than Thor, or at least trick a blind archer into killing him.
Incidentally - it struck me that if Alligator Loki's Nexus Event was eating the wrong neighbour's cat, then there are an unspecified number of Alligator Lokis who eat the appropriate cat, so there's still some kind of multiverse, even under the TVA? I realise, at this point, the whole TVA/Sacred Timeline thing is to be considered hooie, but still.
posted by Grangousier at 7:55 AM on July 7, 2021 [3 favorites]
The sacred timeline would insist that he kill Baldur rather than Thor, or at least trick a blind archer into killing him.
Incidentally - it struck me that if Alligator Loki's Nexus Event was eating the wrong neighbour's cat, then there are an unspecified number of Alligator Lokis who eat the appropriate cat, so there's still some kind of multiverse, even under the TVA? I realise, at this point, the whole TVA/Sacred Timeline thing is to be considered hooie, but still.
posted by Grangousier at 7:55 AM on July 7, 2021 [3 favorites]
Loved this episode a lot. This series shines when characters are sparring verbally and the Lokis just chilling in their bowling alley lair was another example. I also loved the blanket sequence but I get why some folks hated it.
Throg, the Thanos Copter, and the USS Eldridge. They’re accelerating the weirdness and I am here for it. Listing of some other details.
Also the music in this show continues to be excellent. The first part of the soundtrack dropped last week, the volume with episodes 4-6 is out later this month.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 8:16 AM on July 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
Throg, the Thanos Copter, and the USS Eldridge. They’re accelerating the weirdness and I am here for it. Listing of some other details.
Also the music in this show continues to be excellent. The first part of the soundtrack dropped last week, the volume with episodes 4-6 is out later this month.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 8:16 AM on July 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
I kind of want this episode to be called "Sophie Vs. The Black Cloud."
While I don't think this uh, Sophie/Loki relationship has had enough time to bake into love or whatever, the blanket scene was cute.
Continue to be all "....alligator?...." but it's funny.
Aw, I rather liked Old Retiree Loki.
Did enjoy Mobius in a pizza truck. Pizza truck?
"She self-pruned."
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:20 AM on July 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
While I don't think this uh, Sophie/Loki relationship has had enough time to bake into love or whatever, the blanket scene was cute.
Continue to be all "....alligator?...." but it's funny.
Aw, I rather liked Old Retiree Loki.
Did enjoy Mobius in a pizza truck. Pizza truck?
"She self-pruned."
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:20 AM on July 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
I screamed at Frog Thor, desperately jumping trying to get to the human sized Mjolnir just above him.
posted by Karmakaze at 9:17 AM on July 7, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by Karmakaze at 9:17 AM on July 7, 2021 [4 favorites]
We plan on watching this tonight. It sounds fun, but, just so I'm prepared...Will I need to have done a deep-dive into Marvel arcana just to understand half of what's transpiring? Most of this thread makes the episode sound like it's the greatest piece of truly-nerdy fan service in the MCU+.
posted by Thorzdad at 10:30 AM on July 7, 2021
posted by Thorzdad at 10:30 AM on July 7, 2021
Why do people seem icky about a Loki-Sylvie romantic relationship ? I kind of dig it.
posted by Pendragon at 10:31 AM on July 7, 2021 [10 favorites]
posted by Pendragon at 10:31 AM on July 7, 2021 [10 favorites]
Will I need to have done a deep-dive into Marvel arcana just to understand half of what's transpiring?
Not really. It helps if you have watched the Loki relevant MCU movies but you can understand the episode just fine if you have watched the previous episodes. Marvel is really good at catering to both the Marvel deep-dive fan and the casual MCU watcher.
posted by Pendragon at 10:35 AM on July 7, 2021 [6 favorites]
Not really. It helps if you have watched the Loki relevant MCU movies but you can understand the episode just fine if you have watched the previous episodes. Marvel is really good at catering to both the Marvel deep-dive fan and the casual MCU watcher.
posted by Pendragon at 10:35 AM on July 7, 2021 [6 favorites]
Why do people seem icky about a Loki-Sylvie romantic relationship ? I kind of dig it.
Yes, learning to love yourself is the greatest love of all.
Thorzdad - I don't think so - what's going on is generally either explained or obvious. There's a bunch of Lokis, that's all you need to know. That one of them comes from the 1960s Kirby version of Thor is something that it's amusing to know about, but doesn't spoil the story.
posted by Grangousier at 10:36 AM on July 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
Yes, learning to love yourself is the greatest love of all.
Thorzdad - I don't think so - what's going on is generally either explained or obvious. There's a bunch of Lokis, that's all you need to know. That one of them comes from the 1960s Kirby version of Thor is something that it's amusing to know about, but doesn't spoil the story.
posted by Grangousier at 10:36 AM on July 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
Oh, and Loki confronting myriads of variants with: "This is a nightmare!" reminded me of Being John Malkovich, where John Malkovich enters his own head. "Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich!"
posted by Schmucko at 10:38 AM on July 7, 2021 [7 favorites]
posted by Schmucko at 10:38 AM on July 7, 2021 [7 favorites]
Sylvie is so different from the other Lokis not just because she's a woman, but also because she's the only one who grew up away from Asgard. I wonder if that's the more important difference - Asgard requires Loki to be what he is, it's not an inherent failing.
posted by Grangousier at 10:56 AM on July 7, 2021 [12 favorites]
posted by Grangousier at 10:56 AM on July 7, 2021 [12 favorites]
I kinda feel like there hasn't been enough buildup or time for it to be Twue Wuv with Loki and Sylvie yet and they do not appear to be insta-love personalities who trust easily, and she doesn't seem that into the idea. I think Loki is intrigued by the whole idea, but Twue Wuv as a plot motivator here seems too soon for the parties involved.
I'm not against the idea, it makes me laugh like Mobius about it, but it isn't earned yet. Though the blanket bit was cute.
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:34 AM on July 7, 2021
I'm not against the idea, it makes me laugh like Mobius about it, but it isn't earned yet. Though the blanket bit was cute.
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:34 AM on July 7, 2021
Why do people seem icky about a Loki-Sylvie romantic relationship? I kind of dig it.
Imagine a pair of twins separated at birth and raised completely differently. They encounter each other as adults and fall in love. The strength (or possible lack) of an incest taboo revulsion reaction that elicits probably maps pretty well to whether a person feels icky about Loki-Sylvie feeling romantic rather than familial love.
I'm more bothered by Sylvie coming to be another case of the Smurfette principle in action. We get "gender: fluid" on Loki's paperwork, but as far as what we see on the screen he is 100% cismale, all cis all the time. Exactly one out of potentially infinite variations presents as female and it's notable to all the versions of Loki that hear about it. Not one of them responds to being asked if they've seen a female Loki with "myself, in the mirror, from time to time" the way we got "a bit of both" to confirm Loki's bisexuality. Compare to:
Instead, we get:
posted by Karmakaze at 12:18 PM on July 7, 2021 [34 favorites]
Imagine a pair of twins separated at birth and raised completely differently. They encounter each other as adults and fall in love. The strength (or possible lack) of an incest taboo revulsion reaction that elicits probably maps pretty well to whether a person feels icky about Loki-Sylvie feeling romantic rather than familial love.
I'm more bothered by Sylvie coming to be another case of the Smurfette principle in action. We get "gender: fluid" on Loki's paperwork, but as far as what we see on the screen he is 100% cismale, all cis all the time. Exactly one out of potentially infinite variations presents as female and it's notable to all the versions of Loki that hear about it. Not one of them responds to being asked if they've seen a female Loki with "myself, in the mirror, from time to time" the way we got "a bit of both" to confirm Loki's bisexuality. Compare to:
- Two panels of Loki discussing what can and can't be done with shapeshifting, presenting male in the first panel and female in the second, commenting "Oh, I can turn into myself, that's no problem. I can turn into anything as long as it's me."
- Odin, addressing Loki as "my child, who is both son and daughter".
- Or Odin referring to Thor, Hela and Loki, respectively as "my son and my daughter and my child whos is both."
Instead, we get:
TVA Loki: Have any of you met a woman Variant of us?Seriously, an alligator variant is treated as less weird than a female-presenting variant -- how is that "fluid" in any way? I'm as chuffed as anyone that we got bisexual representation, but I wish it hadn't come at the cost of throwing genderfluid representation under the bus.
Classic Loki: Sounds terrifying.
(Lokis agreeing)
posted by Karmakaze at 12:18 PM on July 7, 2021 [34 favorites]
I will say, based on the promo shots alone, I was really hoping Electioneering Loki was “our” Loki, having gained leadership of the Loki discard pile.
Alas. It was such a good look.
posted by hototogisu at 2:55 PM on July 7, 2021 [9 favorites]
Alas. It was such a good look.
posted by hototogisu at 2:55 PM on July 7, 2021 [9 favorites]
The thing is, Loki and Sylvie aren't twins, they're variants of the same person. I don't think many people would say "Ew, incest" if a character traveled through time and had sex with themselves, or had sex with a clone duplicate. It's interesting how many people have an adverse reaction to Loki/Sylvie.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 3:59 PM on July 7, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 3:59 PM on July 7, 2021 [4 favorites]
His parents were variants of her parents. Their parents would recognize each other as "themselves" from other timelines. People with the same parents are siblings. QED.
posted by paper chromatographologist at 4:10 PM on July 7, 2021
posted by paper chromatographologist at 4:10 PM on July 7, 2021
Loki and Sylvie do not have anything like a sibling relationship and I'm confused by people insisting they do. They're not siblings and their relationship is nothing like say, T'challa and Shuri's or even Loki and Thor's.
posted by asteria at 4:53 PM on July 7, 2021 [8 favorites]
posted by asteria at 4:53 PM on July 7, 2021 [8 favorites]
So I guess it would be totally cool if a T'challa was romantically involved with a Shuri from another timeline.
posted by paper chromatographologist at 5:02 PM on July 7, 2021
posted by paper chromatographologist at 5:02 PM on July 7, 2021
Imagine Sylvie was male, Sam, and Loki took a liking to Sam. Would that weird you out (the general you)?
It would not weird me out, it’s very Loki, falling for itself.
They’re not siblings. More like clones.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:33 PM on July 7, 2021 [5 favorites]
It would not weird me out, it’s very Loki, falling for itself.
They’re not siblings. More like clones.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:33 PM on July 7, 2021 [5 favorites]
If these Lokis are from separate time dimensions and not branches off a single one, they don't have any direct genetic relation at all to their variants, making any relations between them non-incestuous. The existence of non-white male Loki variants suggests that this is so - if they come from branches off the 'prime' timeline, the time 'branch' that created alligator Loki must have happened well before the TVA brought him in for eating the wrong cat and the TVA isn't supposed to tolerate branches from the ideal timeline.
Alligator Loki must have had an alligator Laufey dad. This means that, since alligator Loki and regular Loki clearly cannot be genetically related, Sylvie and regular Loki cannot be genetically related.
This also means that Loki, upon being shown the multitude of other forms of Loki by Mobius way back at the start, should have realized they story being fed to him doesn't make sense.
posted by dazed_one at 5:38 PM on July 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
Alligator Loki must have had an alligator Laufey dad. This means that, since alligator Loki and regular Loki clearly cannot be genetically related, Sylvie and regular Loki cannot be genetically related.
This also means that Loki, upon being shown the multitude of other forms of Loki by Mobius way back at the start, should have realized they story being fed to him doesn't make sense.
posted by dazed_one at 5:38 PM on July 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
So I guess it would be totally cool if a T'challa was romantically involved with a Shuri from another timeline.
I can separate fact from fiction so it wouldn't bother me. Plus it's not like the comics haven't gone there before - look at Wanda and Pietro.
But Shuri is a different person than T'challa so I have no idea how that's the same as Loki and Sylvie being involved.
posted by asteria at 5:48 PM on July 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
I can separate fact from fiction so it wouldn't bother me. Plus it's not like the comics haven't gone there before - look at Wanda and Pietro.
But Shuri is a different person than T'challa so I have no idea how that's the same as Loki and Sylvie being involved.
posted by asteria at 5:48 PM on July 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
I feel like trying to reason this out is not going to go anywhere because this is very much an emotional thing, but yeah, Sylvie/Loki just feels enough like incest that I can't get into it (but also getting involved with your own clone also feels gross to me).
posted by dinty_moore at 6:02 PM on July 7, 2021 [6 favorites]
posted by dinty_moore at 6:02 PM on July 7, 2021 [6 favorites]
And Kid Loki, chilling in his shared lair, drinking a juice box. :)
Not just a juice box. Ecto Cooler.
Also wine from the Walmart clone that Sylvie boobytrapped. And a Kree ship.
I felt some strong connections to Lost with the running from the smoke monster and the title card.
And the music and portal at the end of the Loki Battle Royale hit some Rick & Morty notes.
But the best? Alligator Loki reaction shots.
Definitely my favorite episode.
posted by neilbert at 6:14 PM on July 7, 2021 [5 favorites]
Not just a juice box. Ecto Cooler.
Also wine from the Walmart clone that Sylvie boobytrapped. And a Kree ship.
I felt some strong connections to Lost with the running from the smoke monster and the title card.
And the music and portal at the end of the Loki Battle Royale hit some Rick & Morty notes.
But the best? Alligator Loki reaction shots.
Definitely my favorite episode.
posted by neilbert at 6:14 PM on July 7, 2021 [5 favorites]
I couldn't tell if all the people fighting were supposed to be Lokis?
posted by emjaybee at 6:26 PM on July 7, 2021
posted by emjaybee at 6:26 PM on July 7, 2021
Why do people seem icky about a Loki-Sylvie romantic relationship ? I kind of dig it.
I'm not squicked by it but it seemed kind of one-sided and confused -- Loki having admiration for and attraction to Sylvie but knowing he's not good at relationships and maybe the whole thing makes no damn sense but he still wanted to take the leap of faith and open up about it.
In this episode where they're companionably huddled together, it felt a little more like a better starting point.
I suspect though that Sylvie is either going to get killed, or wind up betraying Loki or being irrevocably separated in some way. I think despite Loki's character arc here he's still going to lose this one in some meaningful way, while still surviving.
posted by Foosnark at 6:45 PM on July 7, 2021
I'm not squicked by it but it seemed kind of one-sided and confused -- Loki having admiration for and attraction to Sylvie but knowing he's not good at relationships and maybe the whole thing makes no damn sense but he still wanted to take the leap of faith and open up about it.
In this episode where they're companionably huddled together, it felt a little more like a better starting point.
I suspect though that Sylvie is either going to get killed, or wind up betraying Loki or being irrevocably separated in some way. I think despite Loki's character arc here he's still going to lose this one in some meaningful way, while still surviving.
posted by Foosnark at 6:45 PM on July 7, 2021
I sure do love when Richard E Grant shows up in a scifi role.
Needed more female Lokis, for sure. I don't love the idea that it's her gender that makes her different rather than, you know, all the other things in her life history.
posted by BungaDunga at 6:45 PM on July 7, 2021 [12 favorites]
Needed more female Lokis, for sure. I don't love the idea that it's her gender that makes her different rather than, you know, all the other things in her life history.
posted by BungaDunga at 6:45 PM on July 7, 2021 [12 favorites]
Why did Sylvie ask Loki about Mobius' theory regarding Loki's nexus event.
posted by sardonyx at 7:03 PM on July 7, 2021
posted by sardonyx at 7:03 PM on July 7, 2021
I love that Classic Loki’s cape had a hole in it.
posted by RakDaddy at 7:09 PM on July 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by RakDaddy at 7:09 PM on July 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
That certainly took a turn!
I suspect though that Sylvie is either going to get killed, or wind up betraying Loki or being irrevocably separated in some way. I think despite Loki's character arc here he's still going to lose this one in some meaningful way, while still surviving.
I suspect this also. The MCU is all about having women die to help men fulfill their potential, see Black Widow, Gamora, Karli Morgenthau. I can argue myself out of it though, this show is written by women who might try to set up that expectation and then invert it.
I'm more bothered by Sylvie coming to be another case of the Smurfette principle in action. We get "gender: fluid" on Loki's paperwork, but as far as what we see on the screen he is 100% cismale, all cis all the time. Exactly one out of potentially infinite variations presents as female and it's notable to all the versions of Loki that hear about it. Not one of them responds to being asked if they've seen a female Loki with "myself, in the mirror, from time to time" the way we got "a bit of both" to confirm Loki's bisexuality.
Yes, agree! At first it seemed like the show was going to interrogate gender and perhaps being trans, now it seems like they need a woman Loki as a romantic interest and to dramatically sacrifice herself at the end.
I guess we'll see what happens next week.
posted by medusa at 7:35 PM on July 7, 2021 [5 favorites]
I suspect though that Sylvie is either going to get killed, or wind up betraying Loki or being irrevocably separated in some way. I think despite Loki's character arc here he's still going to lose this one in some meaningful way, while still surviving.
I suspect this also. The MCU is all about having women die to help men fulfill their potential, see Black Widow, Gamora, Karli Morgenthau. I can argue myself out of it though, this show is written by women who might try to set up that expectation and then invert it.
I'm more bothered by Sylvie coming to be another case of the Smurfette principle in action. We get "gender: fluid" on Loki's paperwork, but as far as what we see on the screen he is 100% cismale, all cis all the time. Exactly one out of potentially infinite variations presents as female and it's notable to all the versions of Loki that hear about it. Not one of them responds to being asked if they've seen a female Loki with "myself, in the mirror, from time to time" the way we got "a bit of both" to confirm Loki's bisexuality.
Yes, agree! At first it seemed like the show was going to interrogate gender and perhaps being trans, now it seems like they need a woman Loki as a romantic interest and to dramatically sacrifice herself at the end.
I guess we'll see what happens next week.
posted by medusa at 7:35 PM on July 7, 2021 [5 favorites]
Why did Sylvie ask Loki about Mobius' theory regarding Loki's nexus event.
I suspect it's because that was what Loki was talking about just before he was fire-snapped. She thought it was probably important.
posted by medusa at 7:36 PM on July 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
I suspect it's because that was what Loki was talking about just before he was fire-snapped. She thought it was probably important.
posted by medusa at 7:36 PM on July 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
My favorite thing (besides just seeing Richard E. Grant and Alligator Loki) was the little shout-out to this image and the Loki quote from the comics, when Grant's Loki sprawled on the couch and said "do what you want."
posted by kitten kaboodle at 7:42 PM on July 7, 2021
posted by kitten kaboodle at 7:42 PM on July 7, 2021
Aside from the charm of all those Lokis backstabbing each other, I was left a little cold. There's always a point in the MCU where there's a slogging action scene that a) doesn't look great b) is presumably really expensive and c) never ends. That's how I felt about the smoke monster. Less is more, guys. Also, if two Lokis were good at enchanting together, how great would three Lokis have been? (I'm saying to hell with Classic Loki's dramatic arc, I wish they'd kept him around!)
posted by grandiloquiet at 8:45 PM on July 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by grandiloquiet at 8:45 PM on July 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
Maybe the bunch o' Lokis just happened to be the dudebro-Loki karass, and not too far off there's another group who had enough of the dudebros' shit.
posted by Halloween Jack at 8:55 PM on July 7, 2021 [6 favorites]
posted by Halloween Jack at 8:55 PM on July 7, 2021 [6 favorites]
Having a classically trained Actor don a pajama suit with horns and bellow with theatrical flourish GLORIOUS PURPOSE as last words is why I will watch anything the MCU comes up with.
It was, well, glorious.
posted by M Edward at 8:55 PM on July 7, 2021 [49 favorites]
It was, well, glorious.
posted by M Edward at 8:55 PM on July 7, 2021 [49 favorites]
While I did have fun watching the episode, I certainly didn't get any sense of urgency or danger. I also didn't understand why Sylvie believed Ravonna enough to self prune. The whole void/Loki stuck at end of time could have just been a ruse for all she knows. Also did Sylvie try to enchant Ravonna at all... given that enchanting is her thing and that would have given her a lot of answers if it worked?
posted by asra at 10:53 PM on July 7, 2021 [7 favorites]
posted by asra at 10:53 PM on July 7, 2021 [7 favorites]
In Schitt's Creek, there was a moment where David and Stevie were like "I think we're ... friends?! I've never done that before. I have zero experience with this." I think that might be what's up with Loki and Sylvie.
posted by Pronoiac at 10:58 PM on July 7, 2021 [10 favorites]
posted by Pronoiac at 10:58 PM on July 7, 2021 [10 favorites]
This wasn’t my favorite episode so far, but it had a lot of great stuff. I will say that “travel through time to have sex with yourself “ as a plot device never ends well, so I’d be happy to pass on that here.
posted by GuyZero at 11:31 PM on July 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by GuyZero at 11:31 PM on July 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
"There was one time when we were children, [Loki] transformed himself into a snake, and he knows that I love snakes. So, I went to pick up the snake to admire it and he transformed back into himself and he was like, “Yeah, it’s me!” And he stabbed me. We were eight at the time."Maybe kid Loki-variant happened to stab Thor a little too good that day?
So there's probably nothing all that weird or timeline-breaking for Loki to turn himself into an snake or an alligator. It was eating the wrong cat that screwed everything up. (Maybe Nancy Whitehead's cat, Mewnir? That would be right out.) It sucks that Loki being female isn't just another common variation so unremarkable that it doesn't break the sacred timeline all by itself.
I get why this show can't be all about Thor, but I think this character would feel more like Loki if he showed some sign of preoccupation with or feelings about his brother. Thor & Loki has been one of the best and most interesting relationships in the entire MCU. Old Loki's comment about missing his brother was a great moment. And it would make a huge difference being able to accept Sylvie as a version of Loki if we had any sense of what kind of relationship she had with Thor or Odin or Asgard.
posted by straight at 12:01 AM on July 8, 2021 [14 favorites]
Also, Old Man Loki 100% for sure got away from the Time Monster in exactly the same manner he escaped from Thanos and slipped away from the Loki brawl for the throne.
posted by straight at 12:06 AM on July 8, 2021 [11 favorites]
posted by straight at 12:06 AM on July 8, 2021 [11 favorites]
That line from the end of Princess Bride about kisses? The Loki-Mobius hug was that, but for hugs.
posted by radwolf76 at 2:36 AM on July 8, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by radwolf76 at 2:36 AM on July 8, 2021 [4 favorites]
I got a sense of loss from Sylvie when Loki (L1130) is talking about Frigga, the fact that she knows she was adopted as well tells you something. I like that it's subtle, the same way we saw how Loki felt viewing his life story but he didn't have to say anything, Tom's got a good face for that sort of thing :). Oh and I agree Richard E Grant saying "I missed my brother" that was great, he was totally the MVP this episode.
posted by invisible_al at 5:26 AM on July 8, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by invisible_al at 5:26 AM on July 8, 2021 [3 favorites]
Lokis just chilling in their bowling alley lair
I feel I must correct the record on this. They enter the underground lair through a very solidly spinny lock metal door set in a concrete roof with stairs. This was a mid century esthetic/era private nuclear fallout shelter with a built in bowling alley.
Why did Sylvie ask Loki about Mobius' theory regarding Loki's nexus event.
I assumed it was because she realized if they could make a nexus event (friendship start) in an apocalyptic point where historically no nexus points could be made, that by joining together they could again. “Maybe we’re more powerful than we realize,” or something like that was her line near the end.
posted by tilde at 5:27 AM on July 8, 2021 [6 favorites]
Not sure whether it's been mentioned or not, but I've started wondering if Sylvie's learning she was adopted was her nexus event. If we believe Mobius' claim at the start, that far from his own belief that being a benevolent ruler is his glorious purpose, Loki's actual purpose is to lose, over and over, in order for others to reach their full potential, then it's necessary for Loki to feel the anger and disenfranchisement of only learning he's Laufey's son in adulthood, after having been lied to for ages.
Sylvie's learning of her adoption in childhood could have set her on a path away from the megalomania and sense of betrayal that characterised our Loki, and (in the opinion of the TVA) required her erasure. A secure, well-adujsted Loki has no place in the Timekeepers' Asgard.
Sylvie and Loki's blanket chat is allowing me to hold out a shred more hope for an aromantic relationship between these two (though Loki's gushing over her to the alts undercuts this a bit). To me, at least, these two feel more like one of those rare friendships between two people who really get one another on a fundamental level. I guess I feel like their connection -- or at least our Loki's connection to Sylvie -- is deeper than a kissy romance. More like their understanding and acceptance of each other will be what helps them both to heal and move forward.
Failing that, I could probably live with a reprisal of Tom Hiddleston's 'Only Lovers Left Alive' relationship, with Sophia di Martino standing in for Tilda Swinton.
posted by myotahapea at 7:32 AM on July 8, 2021 [8 favorites]
Sylvie's learning of her adoption in childhood could have set her on a path away from the megalomania and sense of betrayal that characterised our Loki, and (in the opinion of the TVA) required her erasure. A secure, well-adujsted Loki has no place in the Timekeepers' Asgard.
Sylvie and Loki's blanket chat is allowing me to hold out a shred more hope for an aromantic relationship between these two (though Loki's gushing over her to the alts undercuts this a bit). To me, at least, these two feel more like one of those rare friendships between two people who really get one another on a fundamental level. I guess I feel like their connection -- or at least our Loki's connection to Sylvie -- is deeper than a kissy romance. More like their understanding and acceptance of each other will be what helps them both to heal and move forward.
Failing that, I could probably live with a reprisal of Tom Hiddleston's 'Only Lovers Left Alive' relationship, with Sophia di Martino standing in for Tilda Swinton.
posted by myotahapea at 7:32 AM on July 8, 2021 [8 favorites]
I suspect though that Sylvie is either going to get killed, or wind up betraying Loki or being irrevocably separated in some way. I think despite Loki's character arc here he's still going to lose this one in some meaningful way, while still surviving.
Would melding the two into a reintegrated and stronger whole count? I can kind of see Sylvie as Loki's missing female side and the only way they can win is to truly become one.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:47 AM on July 8, 2021 [4 favorites]
Would melding the two into a reintegrated and stronger whole count? I can kind of see Sylvie as Loki's missing female side and the only way they can win is to truly become one.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:47 AM on July 8, 2021 [4 favorites]
Great episode, really inverted the usual story arc. Usually the penultimate episode would be the one with the Big Battle and the setup for the finale. Here we had a Big Battle but it was a farce, all the Loki variants squabbling and brawling. I did think the actual story dragged more than a bit but it was mostly redeemed by Richard E. Grant hamming it up and then summoning a truly beautiful and grand illusion.
The Loki/Sylvie romance is delicious for me because it's so transgressive. Incest? Narcissism? I was going to post something about the theory of genetic sexual attraction, but Wikipedia says that theory has no evidence supporting it. Not sure human psychology would apply to Asgardians anyway.
I think Loki/Sylvie is creepy because we know deep down Loki is a bad person. Like I'd never let a friend of mine date him, he's gonna break your heart. But these two Lokis are sort of on even footing there so maybe they could make it work? No, two raging narcissists who compulsive lying doesn't sound like a very good setup.
But that's the Loki in my head and the Lokis we're seeing on screen are not that. Instead both our Loki and Sylvie seem to have been fully redeemed and are just boring ordinary characters now. I'm with everyone above in thinking if Sylvie sacrifices herself so that Loki can be the hero and fulfill his destiny I'm gonna be really disappointed. This show has a chance to turn that kind of trope upside down, I hope they don't blow it.
posted by Nelson at 7:58 AM on July 8, 2021 [4 favorites]
The Loki/Sylvie romance is delicious for me because it's so transgressive. Incest? Narcissism? I was going to post something about the theory of genetic sexual attraction, but Wikipedia says that theory has no evidence supporting it. Not sure human psychology would apply to Asgardians anyway.
I think Loki/Sylvie is creepy because we know deep down Loki is a bad person. Like I'd never let a friend of mine date him, he's gonna break your heart. But these two Lokis are sort of on even footing there so maybe they could make it work? No, two raging narcissists who compulsive lying doesn't sound like a very good setup.
But that's the Loki in my head and the Lokis we're seeing on screen are not that. Instead both our Loki and Sylvie seem to have been fully redeemed and are just boring ordinary characters now. I'm with everyone above in thinking if Sylvie sacrifices herself so that Loki can be the hero and fulfill his destiny I'm gonna be really disappointed. This show has a chance to turn that kind of trope upside down, I hope they don't blow it.
posted by Nelson at 7:58 AM on July 8, 2021 [4 favorites]
I’d be curious to know a bit of the backstory of all the alt-Lokis. I definitely got the feeling that Hiddleston’s other Loki (the one who shows up in some promo shots) was meant to be a Trumplike figure, and headdress-guy on the left really seemed to be a reference to that guy from the 6 January uprising in the US Capitol. Probably just a coincidence that this episode aired one day after the six-month anniversary …
Loved the sly insertion of the USS Eldridge, which I'd not heard of, and led me down quite the Philadelphia Experiment rabbit-hole.
Having a classically trained Actor don a pajama suit with horns and bellow with theatrical flourish
I so want to see more of REG’s Classic Loki. Monologuing about his exile and wanting to see his brother again, hamming up his conjuring-of-Asgard scene, sipping the finest wines known to humanity, he was pitch-perfect in every moment. He had a glorious death but I almost hope it was some sort of trickery so we could see him again in future.
I also didn't understand why Sylvie believed Ravonna enough to self prune.
The only way out is through.
She’d run out of options. Even if she made it past Ravonna and her backup, all that's left is to go on the run again, having lost her one advantage of hiding out in apocalypses undetected. And so she decided to take the chance that there had been some truth in Ravonna’s lies, and even if not, she still gets to go out on her own terms.
posted by myotahapea at 8:09 AM on July 8, 2021 [3 favorites]
Loved the sly insertion of the USS Eldridge, which I'd not heard of, and led me down quite the Philadelphia Experiment rabbit-hole.
Having a classically trained Actor don a pajama suit with horns and bellow with theatrical flourish
I so want to see more of REG’s Classic Loki. Monologuing about his exile and wanting to see his brother again, hamming up his conjuring-of-Asgard scene, sipping the finest wines known to humanity, he was pitch-perfect in every moment. He had a glorious death but I almost hope it was some sort of trickery so we could see him again in future.
I also didn't understand why Sylvie believed Ravonna enough to self prune.
The only way out is through.
She’d run out of options. Even if she made it past Ravonna and her backup, all that's left is to go on the run again, having lost her one advantage of hiding out in apocalypses undetected. And so she decided to take the chance that there had been some truth in Ravonna’s lies, and even if not, she still gets to go out on her own terms.
posted by myotahapea at 8:09 AM on July 8, 2021 [3 favorites]
In the end, it was an act of faith. In what or whom, we don't know.
posted by Mogur at 8:37 AM on July 8, 2021
posted by Mogur at 8:37 AM on July 8, 2021
Not sure whether it's been mentioned or not, but I've started wondering if Sylvie's learning she was adopted was her nexus event.
Have we definitely been told what either Sylvie or Loki's nexus events are? Maybe it's their teaming together to take-down the TVA and whatever power created it? Seems like locking them up might be a good way to stop that happening, from the viewpoint of the power in-control.
posted by Thorzdad at 9:08 AM on July 8, 2021
Have we definitely been told what either Sylvie or Loki's nexus events are? Maybe it's their teaming together to take-down the TVA and whatever power created it? Seems like locking them up might be a good way to stop that happening, from the viewpoint of the power in-control.
posted by Thorzdad at 9:08 AM on July 8, 2021
That would be a nice paradox because without the TVA they would never meet at all
posted by emjaybee at 9:18 AM on July 8, 2021
posted by emjaybee at 9:18 AM on July 8, 2021
Sylvie was playing with a boat when she was taken, didn’t the camera linger on it for a second?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:29 AM on July 8, 2021
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:29 AM on July 8, 2021
One thing I thought about this morning: this reconfigures things back to practically the first scene of the series, for the second time really. But at least when we found out about pruning, it seemed near instantaneous deaths. But instead, those people in the desert, the little kid in France, presumably a bunch of Renfair attendees, were all dropped into a post-apocalyptic future to run for their lives from a demonic cloud, and those that survived to live out however long scrabbling for survival in the wreckage.
posted by tavella at 9:42 AM on July 8, 2021 [7 favorites]
posted by tavella at 9:42 AM on July 8, 2021 [7 favorites]
But instead, those people in the desert, the little kid in France, presumably a bunch of Renfair attendees, were all dropped into a post-apocalyptic future to run for their lives from a demonic cloud, and those that survived to live out however long scrabbling for survival in the wreckage.
I think the erasing/resetting an entire timeline (as the hunters do when they catch a variant) is probably more permanent than the pruning of individuals. In the former, it will be as if that entire universe never happened. The pruning is merely tossing individuals into a pocket universe. The kid in France never existed, after the timeline was reset.
posted by Thorzdad at 9:54 AM on July 8, 2021
I think the erasing/resetting an entire timeline (as the hunters do when they catch a variant) is probably more permanent than the pruning of individuals. In the former, it will be as if that entire universe never happened. The pruning is merely tossing individuals into a pocket universe. The kid in France never existed, after the timeline was reset.
posted by Thorzdad at 9:54 AM on July 8, 2021
No, that's the whole point of the void and why there is all that debris there. It was explained by Renslayer and we even saw it, with the battleship from the pruned timeline being dropped in. Apparently whatever material objects and people that are in the radius that diverged from the 'sacred timeline' gets dumped there when they reset timelines. So certainly the desert people who spoke to Loki, presumably the whole cathedral and the kid, and whatever RenFest people that had were in the interaction chain there.
posted by tavella at 10:02 AM on July 8, 2021 [6 favorites]
posted by tavella at 10:02 AM on July 8, 2021 [6 favorites]
I still think that there's some magnification effect from Loki and Sylvie working together (or, theoretically, any variants of the same person who are able to sync properly.) By the show's logic, a sharp timeline divergence in the middle of an apocalypse implies that something is going to happen that will either have enough impact to not get annihilated by the impending destruction or to avert some or all of that destruction entirely. My best guess, given that Loki was able to learn and boost enchanting by channeling Sylvie, is that Sylvie was about to learn and boost either Loki's telekinesis or his teleportation.
We saw the Eldridge show up with a full crew on board, so it seems likely that all sorts of collateral civilians must have turned up at the wreckage at the end of the universe during pruning. What are the odds all those buildings were empty when they got sent forward?
posted by Karmakaze at 11:13 AM on July 8, 2021 [2 favorites]
We saw the Eldridge show up with a full crew on board, so it seems likely that all sorts of collateral civilians must have turned up at the wreckage at the end of the universe during pruning. What are the odds all those buildings were empty when they got sent forward?
posted by Karmakaze at 11:13 AM on July 8, 2021 [2 favorites]
I had a passing thought that whoever is past in the Void is another Loki. Maybe a REG Loki who survived and finally got their kingdom (per the exchange between Sylvie and Classic Loki) and realized they were destined to meet another Loki from another timeline who would take it from them, so created this as a series of ruses to protect their throne.
It would explain why they kept pruning so many Loki’s - any that were destined to survive or avoid their death at the hands of Thanos were subject to pruning.
In the spirit of the What If…? Promo that dropped, I’m assuming that there’s an “acceptable” series of timelines that don’t deviate too drastically that are allowed - so one with a female Loki who is killed by Thanos does exist - but maybe not ones that could risk deviating to the point of jeopardizing the Kingdom of the one true Loki. Or if not Loki, some paranoid powerful entity beyond the void.
posted by mrzarquon at 1:20 PM on July 8, 2021
It would explain why they kept pruning so many Loki’s - any that were destined to survive or avoid their death at the hands of Thanos were subject to pruning.
In the spirit of the What If…? Promo that dropped, I’m assuming that there’s an “acceptable” series of timelines that don’t deviate too drastically that are allowed - so one with a female Loki who is killed by Thanos does exist - but maybe not ones that could risk deviating to the point of jeopardizing the Kingdom of the one true Loki. Or if not Loki, some paranoid powerful entity beyond the void.
posted by mrzarquon at 1:20 PM on July 8, 2021
By the show's logic, a sharp timeline divergence in the middle of an apocalypse implies that something is going to happen that will either have enough impact to not get annihilated by the impending destruction or to avert some or all of that destruction entirely.
This is how I saw it as well. The fact their divergence on Lamentis-1 not only was detectable by the TVA, but was a spike of a magnitude not previously seen (at least by Mobius) seemed to indicate that whatever was happening in the link between them would either divert the apocalypse itself or allow them to survive the event. Even if the TVA had somehow found them, absent that spike Loki and Sylvie likely would have been left to their deaths; the fact they were scooped up at the last moment means they needed to be caught, because their timelines would continue after the apocalypse.
I'd read complaints somewhere that the TVA grabbing them right before they were killed in an unsurvivable disaster was lazy, or a plot hole, but instead it seems to be saying that the two of them working together are exponentially more powerful, which supports their ability to enchant the smoke monster together this episode.
posted by myotahapea at 1:27 PM on July 8, 2021 [3 favorites]
This is how I saw it as well. The fact their divergence on Lamentis-1 not only was detectable by the TVA, but was a spike of a magnitude not previously seen (at least by Mobius) seemed to indicate that whatever was happening in the link between them would either divert the apocalypse itself or allow them to survive the event. Even if the TVA had somehow found them, absent that spike Loki and Sylvie likely would have been left to their deaths; the fact they were scooped up at the last moment means they needed to be caught, because their timelines would continue after the apocalypse.
I'd read complaints somewhere that the TVA grabbing them right before they were killed in an unsurvivable disaster was lazy, or a plot hole, but instead it seems to be saying that the two of them working together are exponentially more powerful, which supports their ability to enchant the smoke monster together this episode.
posted by myotahapea at 1:27 PM on July 8, 2021 [3 favorites]
Sylvie pruning herself is an act of faith in herself. Loki survive, they survive, they always survive.
Unless Thanos snaps their neck, then they either die or hide and then survive.
At this point I feel like having anyone other than a Loki running the show would be an actual letdown even though it seems so obvious.
posted by M Edward at 1:36 PM on July 8, 2021 [4 favorites]
Unless Thanos snaps their neck, then they either die or hide and then survive.
At this point I feel like having anyone other than a Loki running the show would be an actual letdown even though it seems so obvious.
posted by M Edward at 1:36 PM on July 8, 2021 [4 favorites]
Here's the thing though; creating a bureaucratic agency like the TVA seems very un-Loki-like. It's not his/her style.
posted by emjaybee at 1:46 PM on July 8, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by emjaybee at 1:46 PM on July 8, 2021 [2 favorites]
Manipulating someone else to run the TVA sounds very Loki like, especially if it’s about destroying other timelines that could become more powerful than this one.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 1:52 PM on July 8, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 1:52 PM on July 8, 2021 [1 favorite]
Given Kang is already cast for another movie, I can't see it being him. Though I guess they could use one of his many variants and alternates? Still, Marvel likes these TV shows to be self-contained, so King Loki at the end of time seems the most likely option. I'd agree, though, that bureaucracy doesn't seem to be his thing. Maybe he had an ally?
posted by tavella at 1:53 PM on July 8, 2021
posted by tavella at 1:53 PM on July 8, 2021
Except maybe it's Queen Sylvie at the end of time. The TVA was created by the Time Keepers who were real until Sylvie killed them and subverted the TVA's mission to keeping other Loki variants from messing with her future kingdom, which is not at The End of Time, but just farther in the future than the fake "End of Time" the TVA maintains as a barrier to keep the past from interfering with it.
Kang and Immortus rule ages further still into the future.
posted by straight at 2:25 PM on July 8, 2021
Kang and Immortus rule ages further still into the future.
posted by straight at 2:25 PM on July 8, 2021
I'm on team TVA NOT run by a Loki. The conflict in this show has been between the normality and order preserving mundanity of the TVA and the anarchic inspired freedom of Loki (and the Lokis). It's implied that by keeping down the Lokis, the TVA has been stultifying the sacred timeline. I think that works great as a big theme, the danger of over-control, applicable to personal psychology or organizational psychology.
Then... who IS at the top? The Wizard of Oz parallel suggests something or someone mundane, as at the bottom of the organization, just another pencil-pusher. Maybe it is Ravonna, maybe there's a side to her we don't know. I've been imagining maybe it'll be CGI Stan Lee. Or a team of pruned variants who just inherited the structure from previous generations of pruned variants, and it evolved organically.
posted by Schmucko at 2:29 PM on July 8, 2021
Then... who IS at the top? The Wizard of Oz parallel suggests something or someone mundane, as at the bottom of the organization, just another pencil-pusher. Maybe it is Ravonna, maybe there's a side to her we don't know. I've been imagining maybe it'll be CGI Stan Lee. Or a team of pruned variants who just inherited the structure from previous generations of pruned variants, and it evolved organically.
posted by Schmucko at 2:29 PM on July 8, 2021
If Disney wants to run with same playbook as the first 10 years of the MCU, Kang ought to make a brief appearance in this and in Multiverse of Madness, and maybe in Eternals and/or Spider-Man: No Way Home before stepping out as the main villain in the next Ant-Man and the Wasp movie.
posted by straight at 2:29 PM on July 8, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by straight at 2:29 PM on July 8, 2021 [1 favorite]
The Wizard of Oz parallel suggests something or someone mundane
Oh, I do hope it's Pillboi.
(Please note, my dismal record of being right about literally anything at all, but it would be cool if it were Pillboi.)
posted by Grangousier at 2:32 PM on July 8, 2021 [13 favorites]
Oh, I do hope it's Pillboi.
(Please note, my dismal record of being right about literally anything at all, but it would be cool if it were Pillboi.)
posted by Grangousier at 2:32 PM on July 8, 2021 [13 favorites]
They might reference Kang, probably obliquely, but any actual teasers for him will be in the movies, going by the way Disney has handled things so far. So there has to be a real character for them to meet. Pillboi would be amusing, but to the extent the show has had a theme it's about Loki confronting himself.
posted by tavella at 2:42 PM on July 8, 2021
posted by tavella at 2:42 PM on July 8, 2021
The show is definitely telegraphing that Renslayer know more than she is letting on. Maybe she's not the big bad, but maybe she's in league with the big bad?
posted by medusa at 2:46 PM on July 8, 2021
posted by medusa at 2:46 PM on July 8, 2021
(singing) "It Was Miss Minutes All Along"
posted by Mogur at 2:57 PM on July 8, 2021 [25 favorites]
posted by Mogur at 2:57 PM on July 8, 2021 [25 favorites]
I disagree on Loki confronting himself being the theme of the show. Loki changes through confronting his opposite, the TVA. And the TVA (such people as Mobius and Hunter B-15) changes through confronting Loki and the Variants.
If a Loki is ALREADY at the top of the heap, that begs a few questions.
Why would having our Loki and Sylvie supplant Loki On Top change anything?
If Loki On Top "outsourced" the control of the TVA to someone less anarchy-minded, that shifts away the focus on the TVA and its mentality of control by making it just another tool that the mischief maker on the top uses, even if it's contrary to his own psychology.
Having a Loki on top of the TVA doesn't make much organizational sense. Look how the US was run under mischief-maker Trump. Personnel decisions were made capriciously. We joked about how short Scaramucci intervals were.
Loki On Top would basically HIRE someone, because rule-following organizations aren't his thing, but who has this power and technology when we know Loki doesn't? How did Loki On Top get there in the first place?
Maybe keeping the Big Bad faceless would be best. Maybe the real issue isn't the "leaders" of the TVA, but that so many found it more comfortable to be followers. That the workers had their memories wiped--known to only a few like Ravonna--would make that a difficult sell.
posted by Schmucko at 3:32 PM on July 8, 2021
If a Loki is ALREADY at the top of the heap, that begs a few questions.
Why would having our Loki and Sylvie supplant Loki On Top change anything?
If Loki On Top "outsourced" the control of the TVA to someone less anarchy-minded, that shifts away the focus on the TVA and its mentality of control by making it just another tool that the mischief maker on the top uses, even if it's contrary to his own psychology.
Having a Loki on top of the TVA doesn't make much organizational sense. Look how the US was run under mischief-maker Trump. Personnel decisions were made capriciously. We joked about how short Scaramucci intervals were.
Loki On Top would basically HIRE someone, because rule-following organizations aren't his thing, but who has this power and technology when we know Loki doesn't? How did Loki On Top get there in the first place?
Maybe keeping the Big Bad faceless would be best. Maybe the real issue isn't the "leaders" of the TVA, but that so many found it more comfortable to be followers. That the workers had their memories wiped--known to only a few like Ravonna--would make that a difficult sell.
posted by Schmucko at 3:32 PM on July 8, 2021
"It Was Miss Minutes All Along"
Laugh now while you can, variant. Miss Minutes is definitely my bet for Big Bad at this point. It would be *perfect* for this goofy show.
posted by mediareport at 4:27 PM on July 8, 2021 [7 favorites]
Laugh now while you can, variant. Miss Minutes is definitely my bet for Big Bad at this point. It would be *perfect* for this goofy show.
posted by mediareport at 4:27 PM on July 8, 2021 [7 favorites]
I mean, that whole "golly gee willikers it sure is taking me a long time to find that information you want about the origin of the TVA!" thing.
posted by mediareport at 4:33 PM on July 8, 2021 [6 favorites]
posted by mediareport at 4:33 PM on July 8, 2021 [6 favorites]
That whole "golly gee willikers it sure is taking me a long time to find that information you want about the origin of the TVA!" thing was a ruse Miss Minutes used, and got Renslayer on board with, to stall Sylvie.
posted by cooker girl at 6:36 PM on July 8, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by cooker girl at 6:36 PM on July 8, 2021 [2 favorites]
Except Renslyaer makes the same request later after interrogating B-15 and Miss Minutes does this sorta, Well, okay, I'll go try to find all that and have it on your desk by next episode...
posted by straight at 6:46 PM on July 8, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by straight at 6:46 PM on July 8, 2021 [1 favorite]
The Big Bad is Kablooie magnate Violet Beauregard.
posted by HeroZero at 7:07 PM on July 8, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by HeroZero at 7:07 PM on July 8, 2021 [4 favorites]
The Big Bad is Kablooie magnate Violet Beauregard.
::: crosses fingers for a Gene Wilder crossover :::
posted by tilde at 7:15 PM on July 8, 2021 [1 favorite]
::: crosses fingers for a Gene Wilder crossover :::
You get nothing! Good day sir!
posted by wabbittwax at 7:26 PM on July 8, 2021 [3 favorites]
You get nothing! Good day sir!
posted by wabbittwax at 7:26 PM on July 8, 2021 [3 favorites]
AV Club review:
Maybe the core of a Loki is a desire to betray, as DeObia Oparei’s “Boastful Loki” does to hilarious results this week. (It turns out he isn’t the only Loki with a fondness for backstabbing). Or maybe it’s a desire to assert his dominance and rule, like Jack Veal’s Kid Loki, who murdered Thor and has now fashioned himself King of The Void—the space at the end of the Sacred Timeline where variants are sent when they’re pruned. Or maybe it’s just a certain touchy sensitivity, which Alligator Loki seems to have in spades.posted by jenfullmoon at 9:27 PM on July 8, 2021 [1 favorite]
But the purest distillation of Loki comes from Richard E. Grant’s Old Man Loki, who offers a glimpse of a path our Loki easily could’ve taken. Instead of trying to defeat Thanos in Infinity War, Old Man Loki faked his own death and set up shop on a deserted planet as the self-styled “God of the Outcasts.” But after centuries alone, he started to get lonely. He missed his brother, as he specifically notes in one heartbreaking moment. So he set out to reconnect with his family only to be pruned by the TVA. Maybe what makes a Loki a Loki is the fact that they’re doomed to never get what they want.
Old Man Loki and Kid Loki agree that the one thing that’s guaranteed to get a Loki pruned is when they try to fix themselves—to grow beyond their backstabbing ways and evolve as a person. But maybe that fundamental desire to change is what makes a Loki a Loki too. After all, Old Man Loki ultimately goes out in a blaze of selfless glory this week, setting aside his desire to survive for a greater glorious purpose.
Still, I’m trying my best to get onboard with the Loki/Sylvie pairing in the way the show clearly wants me too. And it certainly helps that Hiddleston was born to play an outwardly brash but secretly insecure romantic leading man. (Someone cast him as Cyrano stat.) Loki and Sylvie’s big, romantic blanket-sharing sequence offers another intriguing riff on what makes a Loki a Loki. Like a classic rom-com protagonist who keeps putting work above her love life, Loki’s dedication to his “glorious purpose” is really just an excuse to put off forming human connections. If he dedicates his life to striving for power, he can ignore the fact that he’s terrified of being alone and terrible at making friends. It’s a workaholic coping mechanism he seems to share with Sylvie, who’s also as committed to her “professional” life as she is stunted in her personal one.
Loki x Sylvie isn't lighting a burning fire in my soul like I usually get with ships but I will continue to carry the torch forward because I like the concept so much.
I still think he's confusing genuine love/trust for romance, but it's nice to see him stop running from his emotions for once. They held haaaands
posted by lesser weasel at 12:44 AM on July 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
I still think he's confusing genuine love/trust for romance, but it's nice to see him stop running from his emotions for once. They held haaaands
posted by lesser weasel at 12:44 AM on July 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
Alright, we've already had guesses that our Loki, Sylvie, some other Loki variant, Renslayer, and Miss Minutes are going to be the ones really in charge beyond the void at the end of time. I'm going to throw one more name into the hat: Mobius.
Maybe as a consequence of his going back to the TVA to burn it all down, he finds he needs to take charge of the timeline up to that point to ensure that it stays burned down. Now that I'm typing this out I realize that it'd end up being an echo of some of the major themes from Nolan's Tenet, but Marvel doesn't shy away from borrowing ideas from elsewhere.
posted by radwolf76 at 3:27 AM on July 9, 2021 [6 favorites]
Maybe as a consequence of his going back to the TVA to burn it all down, he finds he needs to take charge of the timeline up to that point to ensure that it stays burned down. Now that I'm typing this out I realize that it'd end up being an echo of some of the major themes from Nolan's Tenet, but Marvel doesn't shy away from borrowing ideas from elsewhere.
posted by radwolf76 at 3:27 AM on July 9, 2021 [6 favorites]
I still think he's confusing genuine love/trust for romance, but it's nice to see him stop running from his emotions for once.
Yea, this. Loki is inexperienced at emotional connection, and often in that situation deeper feelings are automatically assumed to be romantic in nature, when in reality they can be much subtler. Having him realise this, or having her reject him romantically but they then go on to have a strong, enduring friendship would IMO be much more satisfying than "now we're a couple/now we're gonna fuck each other's brains out". I guess I'm okay with him crushing on her a bit -- he's found this other (arguably better) version of himself, who is strong and self-sufficient and has a purpose that goes beyond personal glory, so it's not unsurprising he's taken with her -- but will be disappointed if this goes in the textbook rom-com relationship territory.
posted by myotahapea at 3:38 AM on July 9, 2021 [6 favorites]
Yea, this. Loki is inexperienced at emotional connection, and often in that situation deeper feelings are automatically assumed to be romantic in nature, when in reality they can be much subtler. Having him realise this, or having her reject him romantically but they then go on to have a strong, enduring friendship would IMO be much more satisfying than "now we're a couple/now we're gonna fuck each other's brains out". I guess I'm okay with him crushing on her a bit -- he's found this other (arguably better) version of himself, who is strong and self-sufficient and has a purpose that goes beyond personal glory, so it's not unsurprising he's taken with her -- but will be disappointed if this goes in the textbook rom-com relationship territory.
posted by myotahapea at 3:38 AM on July 9, 2021 [6 favorites]
Having a classically trained Actor don a pajama suit with horns
Well, as Classic Loki is now living in a ruined bowling alley at the end of time, it is more like a classically trained actor reduced to the status of a bum.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:16 AM on July 9, 2021 [2 favorites]
Well, as Classic Loki is now living in a ruined bowling alley at the end of time, it is more like a classically trained actor reduced to the status of a bum.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:16 AM on July 9, 2021 [2 favorites]
Maybe keeping the Big Bad faceless would be best. Maybe the real issue isn't the "leaders" of the TVA, but that so many found it more comfortable to be followers.
Maybe the real treasure was the abrogation of personal responsibility we found along the way.
posted by Halloween Jack at 5:19 AM on July 9, 2021 [6 favorites]
Maybe the real treasure was the abrogation of personal responsibility we found along the way.
posted by Halloween Jack at 5:19 AM on July 9, 2021 [6 favorites]
I so want to see more of REG’s Classic Loki. Monologuing about his exile and wanting to see his brother again,
So in the timeline where Richard E. Grant is Loki, who is Thor?
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:23 AM on July 9, 2021
So in the timeline where Richard E. Grant is Loki, who is Thor?
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:23 AM on July 9, 2021
Brian Blessed, obviously.
posted by TheophileEscargot at 5:28 AM on July 9, 2021 [30 favorites]
posted by TheophileEscargot at 5:28 AM on July 9, 2021 [30 favorites]
I Just want Sylvie to Survive.
I don't want Loki to be the first character in history to get character development by watching the Fridge-ing of *themselves*
posted by Faintdreams at 5:29 AM on July 9, 2021 [14 favorites]
I don't want Loki to be the first character in history to get character development by watching the Fridge-ing of *themselves*
posted by Faintdreams at 5:29 AM on July 9, 2021 [14 favorites]
I would vote for Patrick Stewart to be Thor to Richard E grants Loki, because the real life ages, fit well and in his younger days Stewart was *jacked up*
posted by Faintdreams at 5:32 AM on July 9, 2021 [7 favorites]
posted by Faintdreams at 5:32 AM on July 9, 2021 [7 favorites]
Brian Blessed, obviously.
With all due respect to Faintdreams, I think TheophileEscargot knocked it over the fence there. Tell me that some other timeline’s circa-1990 Thor movie with Blessed and Grant is not perfect.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:55 AM on July 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
With all due respect to Faintdreams, I think TheophileEscargot knocked it over the fence there. Tell me that some other timeline’s circa-1990 Thor movie with Blessed and Grant is not perfect.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:55 AM on July 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
I still think he's confusing genuine love/trust for romance, but it's nice to see him stop running from his emotions for once. They held haaaands
Loki: I have… feelings for you.
Sylvie: I… I think I have feelings for you, too.
Ron Howard: That feeling was called “friendship.” Neither of them had ever experienced it before.
posted by DoctorFedora at 6:26 AM on July 9, 2021 [30 favorites]
Loki: I have… feelings for you.
Sylvie: I… I think I have feelings for you, too.
Ron Howard: That feeling was called “friendship.” Neither of them had ever experienced it before.
posted by DoctorFedora at 6:26 AM on July 9, 2021 [30 favorites]
also boy is this show ever horny for discontinued beverages from the nineties or what
posted by DoctorFedora at 6:27 AM on July 9, 2021 [8 favorites]
posted by DoctorFedora at 6:27 AM on July 9, 2021 [8 favorites]
Given the bowling alley / fallout shelter vibe, I was just glad it wasn't Nuka-Cola™.
posted by jenkinsEar at 7:48 AM on July 9, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by jenkinsEar at 7:48 AM on July 9, 2021 [2 favorites]
also boy is this show ever horny for discontinued beverages from the nineties or what
I suppose that's what they expect the target demographic to recognize as familiar but discontinued. I'd love to see a bottle of coca-wine, though. Quirst might also be fun, if a bit more obscure and a bit less provocative.
posted by Karmakaze at 7:52 AM on July 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
I suppose that's what they expect the target demographic to recognize as familiar but discontinued. I'd love to see a bottle of coca-wine, though. Quirst might also be fun, if a bit more obscure and a bit less provocative.
posted by Karmakaze at 7:52 AM on July 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
also boy is this show ever horny for discontinued beverages from the nineties or what
I loved the old Burger Chef sign sitting behind Sylvie and Loki as they confronted the monster. A piece of childhood.
posted by Thorzdad at 8:28 AM on July 9, 2021 [4 favorites]
I loved the old Burger Chef sign sitting behind Sylvie and Loki as they confronted the monster. A piece of childhood.
posted by Thorzdad at 8:28 AM on July 9, 2021 [4 favorites]
One minor thing that was bugging me this episode; the pizza car. It was hilarious! Also it looked very familiar. I finally realized it reminded me of the funnel cake van in WandaVision. Different novelty car but a similar role of a zany car driving in a zany way.
posted by Nelson at 8:47 AM on July 9, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by Nelson at 8:47 AM on July 9, 2021 [2 favorites]
I don't want Loki to be the first character in history to get character development by watching the Fridge-ing of *themselves*Well, no worries about him being the first. Steven Universe has already been there.
🎶I learned to stay true to myself 🎶
🎶By watching myself die🎶
posted by Tabitha Someday at 9:55 AM on July 9, 2021 [5 favorites]
He literally already did have character development from his own fridging when he watched the playback of his future death by Thanos though. But I definitely agree that we DO NOT need Sylvie to die to make Loki better.
posted by wabbittwax at 10:53 AM on July 9, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by wabbittwax at 10:53 AM on July 9, 2021 [4 favorites]
It was weird to me that the void at the end of time was populated by several flocks of levitating-sphere-headed birds, several flocks of Lokis, and precisely one Mobius.
Also that he's shown precisely no interest in Sophie helping him remember his before.
posted by DebetEsse at 11:45 AM on July 9, 2021 [2 favorites]
Also that he's shown precisely no interest in Sophie helping him remember his before.
posted by DebetEsse at 11:45 AM on July 9, 2021 [2 favorites]
Well, they explained that Lokis are survivors. So maybe most Mobiuses who arrive in the Void get eaten by Alioth? They are not survivors as much. I would be ok with the Big Bad at the End of Time being some version of Mobius. Something out of left field, or the Marvel universe outside of the show (Kang?) might seem extraneous. Though it begs the question of how the OverMobius got to his position.
posted by Schmucko at 12:58 PM on July 9, 2021
posted by Schmucko at 12:58 PM on July 9, 2021
I can’t find an easy linkable pic, but Thor (mythological, not marvel) shows up in Sandman, and the character reference was 100% Brian Blessed. Grant would have made a good Dream, I think. Just the right amount of melancholy, but yes, a perfect Loki too.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 1:11 PM on July 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Jon Mitchell at 1:11 PM on July 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
Well, Brian Blessed could be rightly called barrel-chested, but come on.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 1:39 PM on July 9, 2021
posted by ricochet biscuit at 1:39 PM on July 9, 2021
Ok maybe 1000% Brian Blessed
posted by Jon Mitchell at 1:56 PM on July 9, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by Jon Mitchell at 1:56 PM on July 9, 2021 [2 favorites]
Croki.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 2:10 PM on July 9, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 2:10 PM on July 9, 2021 [4 favorites]
Having a classically trained Actor don a pajama suit with horns and bellow with theatrical flourish
‘Do you really want to spend your life in make-up and tights?’
posted by myotahapea at 4:30 PM on July 9, 2021 [11 favorites]
‘Do you really want to spend your life in make-up and tights?’
posted by myotahapea at 4:30 PM on July 9, 2021 [11 favorites]
Just photoshop some wings out and Brian Blessed has already played Thor in that famous movie Thor vs. Flash Gordon
posted by q*ben at 8:08 AM on July 10, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by q*ben at 8:08 AM on July 10, 2021 [2 favorites]
As with the scene the other week when Loki and Sylvie ran from side to side in a soundstage with green walls, I was struck that Hiddleston didn't do a very good job fighting the dark cloud. You'd think he'd have enough experience with green screen acting, but it looked awkward to me. Maybe it's not his fault -- I don't know how the process works.
posted by The corpse in the library at 9:46 AM on July 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by The corpse in the library at 9:46 AM on July 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
The joys of pandemic is that a lot more people probably have more of an idea of what it is like to act in front of a green screen now! It is awkward!
Plus...y'know, fighting a dark cloud.
posted by jenfullmoon at 12:18 PM on July 10, 2021 [2 favorites]
Plus...y'know, fighting a dark cloud.
posted by jenfullmoon at 12:18 PM on July 10, 2021 [2 favorites]
Yeah, but I could clearly see the choreography of "take three steps, pause, lunge right," or whatever, which I shouldn't be noticing.
posted by The corpse in the library at 5:06 PM on July 10, 2021
posted by The corpse in the library at 5:06 PM on July 10, 2021
Hmm, I assumed that they'd be using "The Volume" / Stagecraft / rear projection instead of greenscreen. But after googling I found some unsourced reddit comments saying Loki didn't film that way, so maybe it wasn't available.
posted by TheophileEscargot at 8:32 PM on July 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by TheophileEscargot at 8:32 PM on July 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
They need to re edit Classic Loki's last stance with this song.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:16 AM on July 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:16 AM on July 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
Pointless conjecture time:
posted by Grangousier at 7:30 AM on July 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
- The resident of the castle is most likely to be a Loki, or poss. a Sylvie.
- Alternatively, it would be most likely be a Mobius. But not the same Mobius.
- There will be many Mobiuses, back at the office. Or Mobii, I'm not sure.
- Kang will debut in a mid-credits sequence, as Valentina did in F&WS, and Thanos did in... whichever film that was.
- Yes, two completely different things are both most likely. That's why we have to keep the Multiverse under control, dammit, or sensible likelihood goes out of the window.
posted by Grangousier at 7:30 AM on July 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
I just realized: It’s interesting that Nebula achieves growth by killing her past self, while Loki achieves growth by learning to love himself.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 2:13 PM on July 11, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by 1970s Antihero at 2:13 PM on July 11, 2021 [2 favorites]
There will be many Mobiuses
Or one Mobius. Looping.
posted by Buntix at 2:57 PM on July 11, 2021 [10 favorites]
Or one Mobius. Looping.
posted by Buntix at 2:57 PM on July 11, 2021 [10 favorites]
Fun episode. I feel like Renslayer is a Loki variant.
posted by turbid dahlia at 3:47 PM on July 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by turbid dahlia at 3:47 PM on July 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
I'm vaguely curious how the timeline in the void is supposed to work. Mobius, Loki, and Sylvie all appear at what at least could be the same relative time to each other as the time of their pruning, which makes a fair amount of sense since they were all pruned in the same place. But the battleship that dropped in was far back in Loki's timeline at least, and quite possibly Mobius', if we assume the jet ski fixation is a bit of old memory seeping in. Which could be solved by the relevant timeline always being the TVA's, i.e., some agent went back to trim a timeline while stuff was happening at the TVA.
Except... in that case the whole place should be covered with very recent debris from the time-line bombing that was just hours ago TVA time. Instead it's mostly well-worn stuff and a lot of grass.
posted by tavella at 4:43 PM on July 11, 2021
Except... in that case the whole place should be covered with very recent debris from the time-line bombing that was just hours ago TVA time. Instead it's mostly well-worn stuff and a lot of grass.
posted by tavella at 4:43 PM on July 11, 2021
Aaron S. Bailey on Twitter posted art of Mobius and Alligator* Loki on a Jetski. Prints are available.
* I know it should be a crocodile
posted by Pronoiac at 8:57 PM on July 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
* I know it should be a crocodile
posted by Pronoiac at 8:57 PM on July 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
No he is clearly an alligator.
posted by emjaybee at 9:07 PM on July 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by emjaybee at 9:07 PM on July 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
I'd based that on a quick glancing around online, so I could be totally wrong?
posted by Pronoiac at 9:37 PM on July 11, 2021
posted by Pronoiac at 9:37 PM on July 11, 2021
very recent debris from the time-line bombing that was just hours ago TVA time
Has there been even a line of dialogue about what happened with those bombs Sylvie launched a few episodes back?
posted by straight at 7:54 AM on July 12, 2021 [5 favorites]
Has there been even a line of dialogue about what happened with those bombs Sylvie launched a few episodes back?
posted by straight at 7:54 AM on July 12, 2021 [5 favorites]
Ravonna the terminatrix has quite the sordid history.
as does Kang.
as does, the grand master.
So as to who's behind the looking glass? its not farfetched to see ravonna being the one to found the TVA, then zapping her mind to a blank slate, and working for it as another drone.
or is it?
posted by xcasex at 12:27 PM on July 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
as does Kang.
as does, the grand master.
So as to who's behind the looking glass? its not farfetched to see ravonna being the one to found the TVA, then zapping her mind to a blank slate, and working for it as another drone.
or is it?
posted by xcasex at 12:27 PM on July 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
Has there been even a line of dialogue about what happened with those bombs Sylvie launched a few episodes back?
That does seem weird that they caused such a panic, and then were never mentioned again. I imagine there's a missing scene that went over the aftermath, was shot, and later removed for runtime reasons.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 4:13 PM on July 12, 2021 [3 favorites]
That does seem weird that they caused such a panic, and then were never mentioned again. I imagine there's a missing scene that went over the aftermath, was shot, and later removed for runtime reasons.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 4:13 PM on July 12, 2021 [3 favorites]
* I know it should be a crocodile
No he is clearly an alligator.
It's not that hard to tell them apart, really. The definitive test is whether you see them later, or in a while.
posted by Naberius at 5:00 AM on July 13, 2021 [23 favorites]
No he is clearly an alligator.
It's not that hard to tell them apart, really. The definitive test is whether you see them later, or in a while.
posted by Naberius at 5:00 AM on July 13, 2021 [23 favorites]
An alternative test that's slightly quicker to administer is to see whether you've got the blues, or whether you're all smiles.
posted by polytope subirb enby-of-piano-dice at 6:35 AM on July 13, 2021
posted by polytope subirb enby-of-piano-dice at 6:35 AM on July 13, 2021
Has there been even a line of dialogue about what happened with those bombs Sylvie launched a few episodes back?
There was a shot of the timeline screen that showed it back to normal, so I think the TVA could deal with all the nexus events, the scale of it was just a distraction to allow her to reach the golden elevator.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 6:45 AM on July 13, 2021 [2 favorites]
There was a shot of the timeline screen that showed it back to normal, so I think the TVA could deal with all the nexus events, the scale of it was just a distraction to allow her to reach the golden elevator.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 6:45 AM on July 13, 2021 [2 favorites]
Mod note: Comment and a few replies removed. Let's please make a consistent effort to not drag in unaired stuff for the purposes of plot speculation etc; better to err on the side of caution on that stuff, let people enjoy the show as it proceeds. There'll be a thread for the last episode and "well here's what I was theorizing a few episodes ago and why..." bragging rights.
posted by cortex (staff) at 7:05 PM on July 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by cortex (staff) at 7:05 PM on July 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
Um, the last episode drops in a couple of hours; would making the last post early be ok, for speculation and theorizing?
posted by Pronoiac at 9:26 PM on July 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Pronoiac at 9:26 PM on July 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
I see a summary for episode 6, but no title, so it'll wait, checking the clock, another 20 minutes.
posted by Pronoiac at 11:40 PM on July 13, 2021
posted by Pronoiac at 11:40 PM on July 13, 2021
More pics of pre-CGI Alligator Loki. Positively adorable.
posted by rmd1023 at 8:10 AM on July 23, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by rmd1023 at 8:10 AM on July 23, 2021 [4 favorites]
You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments
I've been holding out for this show to get 15% weirder and I was not disappointed. This was the most fun and anarchic episode. The romantic moments between Loki and Sylvie seemed to drag on a bit though. And as in the Lamentis episode, it seemed the disasters from the outside abated just in time for our heroes to have their quiet moments.
It seems there's something almost hypnotic about having a completely outrageous character like Alligator Loki, once you start to accept something like that instead of making the whole show seem ridiculous, accepting all the other fantastic elements seems easy by comparison.
Last Stand of Old Man Loki was well done.
Oh, and Mobius in the pizza delivery car, while leaving maddening gaps for those who want some kind of plot continuity instead of the theater of the absurd we got, seems somehow fitting. His role was to ground in normality the high-flying claims of the variant Asgardian prince.
posted by Schmucko at 12:54 AM on July 7, 2021 [5 favorites]