June 30, 2021 – Life and Other Disasters

Once again, I’m coming to you with an all new Loki review/recap! Beware of spoilers for this week’s episode “The Nexus Event” moving forward!

What was it about?

Suspicions grow among the TVA agents as the two Lokis are captured.

My thoughts?

My head is still spinning a little bit, if I’m being completely honest. I keep thinking that I know what’s going to happen, just to be surprised by some (albeit not all) developments. As with previous Marvel shows, we’re really getting into the nitty-gritty parts of the series in its second half. I like that I at least know to expect that much from the narrative.

Now where to start with this week’s breakdown? How about the beginning!

We finally learn how Sylvie got involved with the TVA. Although we never find out what Nexus event caused her to be taken in, we start off the episode with a little flashback. Ravonna, still being a Hunter back then, tracks down Sylvie when she was just a child to arrest her for crimes against the sacred timeline. At court, Sylvie manages to steal Ravonna’s TemPad and flee into the timeline, having jumped through place and time ever since. It’s so heartbreaking to watch, because Sylvie literally never did anything wrong. She just existed and was a mere child, who then got to grow up during the ends of a thousand worlds. I’m honestly surprised she isn’t more messed up.

While everyone at the TVA is scrambling to find the Variants, Loki and Sylvie have one more essential bonding moment as the world around them is ending. Sylvie shares her past, Loki genuinely seems to care about her. It’s now evident that I wasn’t imagining the heavy romantic undertones last time, because them holding hands and developing feelings for one another causes one of the biggest and most drastic Nexus events – ultimately leading the TVA to them and saving them before they perish on Lamentis.
HOWEVER, according to Kate Herron, this relationship is “not necessarily romantic”. I think people will find it difficult to not see that side, just because Mobius straight out calls it a crush later on in the episode, but I do see her point. It could all just be an elaborate tale of self-love and acceptance. Then again, Michael Waldron (showrunner) said they were falling for each other. No clue anymore. I will have to see future episodes to really tell, because not going to lie to you all, I still haven’t decided how I fell about a possible romance. It 100% makes sense with Loki’s narcissistic nature, but it’s also twisted.
Loki and Sylvie get separated, with Loki being put in a Time Cell. In there, he has to relive a bad memory with Lady Sif (what a fun and unexpected cameo and very on brand with the actual mythology) and it was really interesting to see him come to realizations about himself throughout that looped bad interaction. I think his feelings for Sylvie (whatever they may be) really clicked in that cell as well, because he kept being told that he was alone and always would be, but with Sylvie he really found someone who understood him.
Throughout the entire episode, we can see the growing suspicion about the TVA with several agents. Mobius’ doubt is fueled by his budding friendship with Loki and the desire to want to believe the trickster. B-15 got to experience memories while she was enchanted by Sylvie and even temporarily breaks her out to see more of her previous life. All the while, Ravonna becomes more and more shady as she hid the real reason C-20 passed away or why she wants to keep Sylvie isolated.
It all comes to a head when Mobius tries to side with Loki and gets pruned by Ravonna. You could see they had a special relationship and that it wasn’t easy on her, but she didn’t hesitate to have him erased. Her character seems to grow darker with each bit of information we learn about her. And losing Mobius … that was tough to watch, especially because Loki had grown really attached to him and so have we, as viewers, in the short span of time.
Ultimately, Loki and Sylvie both get brought in front of the Time-Keepers to get pruned themselves. B-15 shows up in the nick of time to bring Sylvie her trusted sword and a fight ensues. It looked like the Lokis were doing well, having defeated almost everyone and facing the Time-Keepers, just to find out they are fake and mindless androids. So, who is truly behind the TVA? Is Ravonna working for the real masterminds? Your guess is as good as mine.

In what looked like Loki trying to confess his feelings for Sylvie (again, let those be whatever they are?), us viewers get dealt one final blow – Ravonna prunes Loki. I knew he wouldn’t be gone. This is his show after all, but … that moment hurt. He came such a long way.

We got our first post-credit scene! I was waiting for it, because I knew it was going to happen in the second half of the season. I’m glad they didn’t leave us with too much of a cliffhanger as to what happened to Loki after he got pruned, but rather with more excitement and even more Lokis! (We have a spectacular Richard E. Grant in classic Loki attire, a kid Loki, boastful Loki AND alligator Loki!) I’m currently loving the theory that they are at a place where all the things that get erased go.

When Tom Hiddleston said that episode 4 and 5 were going to be game changers, he wasn’t lying. Aside from the fact that the body count went up considerably … so much just happened! While the suspicions towards the TVA were always warranted, I have an incredibly hard time imagining where all of this is supposed to go. No matter where we end up though, I keep enjoying the ride! All these characters are so well developed that I don’t even mind a couple smaller plotholes here and there.