Loki: Episode 5

5. Journey Into Mystery

Loki ends up in the Void, where all pruned realities are dumped to be devoured by Alioth, a giant angry cloud. He is taken by his other four variants to a hiding place where they recount their own nexus events: Boastful Loki (DeObia Oparei) claims to have vanquished Iron Man and Captain America; Alligator Loki ate the wrong neighbor’s cat; Kid Loki (Jack Veal) killed Thor; and Classic Loki (Richard E. Grant) escaped death in the hands of Thanos. They are ambushed by another variant Loki and a battle royale ensues which Loki, Kid Loki, and Classic Loki manage to escape from. An alliance between Sylvie and Renslayer fails to materialize as the latter tries to betray the former. Sylvie prunes herself, lands in the Void, and is rescued by Mobius. The duo finds the trio. Sylvie plans to enchant Alioth to discover who is the puppet master behind it all. Mobius bids them goodbye as he heads back to the TVA with Renslayer’s stolen TemPad. Kid Loki walks away. Classic Loki sacrifices himself so Sylvie and Loki could enchant Alioth.

Kudos to Mbatha-Raw for being delightfully vague. You simply don’t know what Renslayer is up to. I'm not even sure whether she really has no inkling as to who she is working for or whether she is just putting up appearances to protect whoever it might be. She is so hard to read, and that half smile in her last scene makes it even more ambiguous. Surprise us in the finale, Ravonna. I would have wanted to see more of Classic Loki but it appears as though this has always been a one-time gig for Richard E. Grant. He probably doesn’t want to commit to a restrictive multi-picture deal? On the contrary, Kid Loki seems to be here to stay. After all, the MCU is setting up the Young Avengers, aren’t they? Less revelations in this episode. If anything, it serves more as a breather for all the discoveries in the previous one. What I don’t like, though, is how this whole embracing the magical side of the MCU is starting to become but a mere colorful show of lights. Lots of crimson in Wandavision. Lots of green in Loki. I do hope the last episode wouldn’t let us down.

“When we prune a branched reality, it's impossible to destroy all of its matter. So we move it to a place on the timeline where it won't continue growing. Basically, the branched timeline isn't reset. It's transferred.” –Ravonna Renslayer

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