New York City 2012: Loki (Tom Hiddleston) is captured by the Avengers and taken down by elevator. He notices the case holding the tesseract is dropped from Tony’s hand, pushed across the floor, and picked up by someone else. Hulk smashes through the door, resulting in the case opening and the tesseract landing next to Loki’s feet. Loki picks it up and disappears.
Loki crash lands in the Gobi Desert, Mongolia. He is greeted by a few locals and immediately, Loki gets up to make a speech to them but is disrupted by three people who arrive out of thin air and get close to the tesseract. Another, Hunter B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku) of Time Variance Authority, arrests Loki for crimes against the Sacred Timeline. Loki questions her and states that he’s not in the mood for people in armored suits. When Loki moves toward her, Hunter B-15 hits him in the jaw with a device that slows his movement but allows him to feel the pain. She puts a device on his neck, instructs the rest of the crew to reset the timeline, then leaves with Loki.
The two arrive in the reception area where Loki questions where they are then he tries to run off. Hunter B-15 clicks a button and Loki arrives back next to her. Twice. She drops the tesseract with the receptionist (Eugene Cordero) then pushes Loki into a room where a robot picks at his clothing before dematerializing it off of his body. Loki is dropped and goes into another room where he has to sign documents of everything he has ever said. Even the words he just said. After being dropped to another floor, he is asked to confirm that he is not a robot and does have a soul before going through a door where he is instructed to take a ticket, despite it only being him and another guy. Loki yells out of frustration that he shouldn’t be here and is immediately answered by Ms. Minutes over a TV. Ms. Minutes informs about the vast multiversal war where countless timelines battled for supremacy, nearly destroying everything. The Time-Keepers stepped in by reorganizing the timelines into one, naming it the Sacred Timeline. But sometimes people who are called Variants veer off and create a new timeline that possibly could start another multiverse war. TVAs were created to capture Variants and set time back to its predetermined path. Now that Loki doesn’t have a place in the timeline, he must stand trial for his offenses. Loki doesn’t believe it but then witnesses the other guy get incinerated when he doesn’t supply a ticket.
Aix-En-Provence, France 1549: Mobius (Owen Wilson) and his team assess the murder of a hunter and their minutemen in a cathedral. They were surprised by a Variant. It’s consistent with other attacks to minutemen on missions who are attacked and resetters are taken. A child rushes into the cathedral and is almost shot by a hunter but Mobius steps in. He gives the child a phone to play with then asks if the child knows who did this. The child points at a stained window of the devil. Mobius notices that the child has blue teeth and asks where he gets them. The child shows him the candy. Mobius asks for it to be run through the data then tells the child to leave so they can reset the timeline. Just before he leaves, Mobius is informed that Loki is about to go to trial.
Loki is brought before Judge Rovanna (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) and asks how he pleads. Mobius sneaks in to watch. Loki doesn’t think he is guilty of the crime against the Sacred Timeline and states that the Avengers are the true criminals. He is willing to hand them over if provided a team to assist. Rovanna informs him that the Avengers did what they were supposed to do. Loki questions how anyone would know what he is supposed to be doing and thinks he should speak to the Time-Keepers themselves, ya know, god to gods. He eventually pleads guilty and tries to use his powers which won’t work. Loki is found guilty and sentenced to be reset. Loki is heavily displeased by the fact that his life is being dictated in such a way and that no one knows what he is capable of. Mobius steps, stating that he does know what Loki is capable of, and speaks to the judge who allows him to take Loki. Mobius walks Loki through TVA where Loki gets a view of the outside world where it is technologically advanced.
Loki refuses to believe that the TVAs and Time-Keepers are truly responsible for the lives of trillions of people. He questions why he never heard of them before and does not like the answer that he stayed in his timeline. After a bad attempt at taking out Mobius, he sits down and listens to Mobius’s explanation. Mobius goes after dangerous Variants that are bigger than Loki. He just wants to ask Loki a couple of questions then he may just give Loki what he wants. Off the bat, he asks Loki upon his return what would he do. Loki claims that he will go finish what he started: become king of Earth then the Nine Realms. He states that freedom has brought in too much trouble for many people. The two go back and forth with a small banter but then Mobius plays a reel for Loki. The reel shows New York, the last image of the Avengers standing over Loki. Mobius points out that if Loki is born to rule, he loses a lot. Loki says the last person who said that (Phil Coulson) died. This prompts Mobius to show Loki his terrible actions, starting with killing Phil, pointing out that Loki is not a god of mischief and seems to enjoy terrorizing people. Loki doesn’t answer.
Mobius moves on to Loki’s escapes. Loki does really awful thing then escapes. His favorite is when Loki is on the Northwest Orient Airline 305 to Seattle where Loki hands a flight attendant a note. The flight attendant calls him Mr. Cooper and Loki states that he has a bomb. He is handed a bag of cash, then he jumps out of the plane and, as he is falling, he is transported home. Mobius states his excitement of Loki being D.B Cooper, to which Loki responds nonchalantly that he was young and lost a bet to Thor. (I want the full story of this bet.) Loki asks where the TVA was while he was playing around. Mobius says they were there allowing the flow to happen. Mobius brings the conversation back to Loki’s escapes and questions what he is really running from. Loki says enough then gets up. Mobius brings him back. Loki tells him that he was getting up for emphasis. He gets up and questions what Mobius really wants. Loki doesn’t believe him and tells him that he knows that this place is an illusion conjured by the weak to inspire fear, a desperate attempt to gain control, as if they are divine powers of the universe then states that his choices are his own. Mobius responds by showing Loki the consequences of his latest attempt at conquest. Loki sees his future where he sees himself in chains and speaking to his mother, Frigga. In the clip, Frigga questions if she is not his mother where he responds she is not. Mobius then informs Loki that the Dark Elves attack, and Loki gives them direction to Thor but instead sends them to his mother, where she is killed.
Loki watches his mother killed by a Dark Elf, then asks where Frigga is. He doesn’t believe that that happened. Mobius points out that it is true and then asks Loki if he enjoys hurting people. Loki states that he will kill Mobius, to which Mobius responds by asking, “Like you did your mother?” Loki throws his chair at the screen and attempts to attack Mobius. Mobius uses the time twister to loop Loki back to where he stood before attacking him. Mobius informs Loki that he was born to cause suffering and death, and that others will achieve the best version of themselves. He shows the Avengers.
Loki asks what this place is but takes Mobius’s hand to get him up off the floor. Hunter B-15 walks into the room and asks what Mobius is doing and informs him that they have a situation. Mobius leaves Loki in the room alone. Outside, Hunter B-15 tells Mobius that talking to Loki is a mistake and Loki should be reset; she also tells Mobius that they have lost another unit. Mobius returns to an empty room and realizes that Loki took his time twister. Loki appears in a hallway where he sees the receptionist from earlier. He follows him to an office and quietly asks the receptionist what is his name. Casey, the receptionist, is threatened by Loki to hand over the tesseract but does not understand what being gutted like a fish means because he doesn’t know what a fish is. Casey asks what he is being threatened of before he complies. Loki states that it will be painful death, which prompts Casey to open his drawer and pull it out. Loki gets a peek into the drawer and sees multiple infinity stones and questions how Casey has them. Casey responds that they get a lot of them and some of the guys in the office use them as paperweights. Loki slowly realizes that this place is truly bigger than he initially thought and asks if it is the greatest power in the universe.
Hunter B-15 disrupts the moment by charging in attempting to reset Loki. Loki disappears back to the room. He sits down and rewatches the reel of his mother laying there dead, then forwards it to his father saying he loves him and Thor before he dies (Thor Ragnorak), then to his brother stating that he thought the world of Loki, thought they would be fighting side by side forever, that Loki isn’t that bad and he would give him a hug if he could, which Ragnorak Loki responds that he is there. The last clip is Loki attempting to impale Thanos in Infinity War but is stopped then choked by Thanos, and his last words are that Thanos will never be a god. Then you hear bones cracking, see Loki laying there, and then an explosion. The reel ends. Loki, now standing and has shed a few tears for those he lost, laughs a little but is interrupted by Hunter B-15 who asks what he is laughing at. Loki responds, “Glorious purpose,” then picks a physical fight with her but the first few punches he is brought down. Then Loki gets the upper hand by grabbing the time looper, removing the band around his neck, and placing it on Hunter B-15 while she is in his hands. Loki loops her out then back in multiple times for fun then loops her out to the hallway. Hunter B-15 bumps into Casey who points out that the Variant got away.
Mobius walks into the room stating to Loki that there’s no place to run. Loki says he can’t go back to his timeline and admits that he doesn’t enjoy hurting people, he does it because he has to. Mobius requests a further explanation. Loki says it is part of the illusion, a cruel, elaborate trick conjured by the weak to inspire fear. Mobius is relieved that Loki knows who he is but he doesn’t think Loki is a villain. Loki picks up the tesseract, saying he tried to use it several times but realized it is impossible. Mobius tells Loki that he can’t offer salvation but something better. He informs Loki that a fugitive Variant is killing their Minutemen and they need Loki’s help because the Variant they are hunting is him. I’m just as surprised as Loki.
In Salina, Oklahoma 1858, a unit of Minutemen arrive to a field where they find oil on the ground and a weapon of some sort. Just when they are about to reset, they see someone a bit further down the field. That someone lights up the field, which goes up in flames as well as do the Minutemen.
I am loving how Marvel is giving so much in these different shows. Just like everyone else, I was excited to see Loki disappear with the tesseract, but this storyline is a great setup. Watching 2012 Loki witness all he does beyond that year, experiencing grief, acceptance, and then love from his family as well as returning it is heartwarming. Loki also does reveal that he knows he is weak and that’s why he does the things he does. Since we are dealing with Time-Keepers and multiverses, I have to wonder how this show affects Dr. Strange: Multiverse of Madness? Also, how would I know if I’m a robot or not? Most importantly, HOW IS LOKI THE DANGEROUS VARIANT THAT IS KILLING MINUTEMEN?! Which timeline is this evil Loki from? I can’t wait for answers.
