We’ve reached episode 4 of Loki Season 2, and like other Marvel series, it was a doozy. It’s all starting to come together, and if I’m being optimistic, it should lead to an exciting last two episodes. But I’m getting ahead of myself because this episode was the best of the season, even if I have some concerns for the next two episodes. Titled “The Heart of the TVA,” this episode had meaningful plot development, fun character interactions, and one of the most gruesome kills in the entire MCU. But before we get into that horrifying mess, let’s start with a quick plot breakdown.
The episode started with Miss Minutes (Tara Strong) revealing Renslayer’s (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) backstory to her at the end of time. Turns out, she and He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors) were war besties and worked together to win the war against the other Kang variants. But it turns out He Who Remains wasn’t a bestie for restie because he has Miss Minutes wipe Renslayer’s and the entire TVA’s memories (dick move, dude). Flashforward back to the TVA, and Loki (Tom Hiddleston), Mobius (Owen Wilson), Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino), and Victor Timely return and immediately head to O. B. (Ke Huy Quan) to try and figure out how to fix the temporal loom. Loki, Mobius, and Sylvie decide to let the smart people figure it out. Mobius then suggests they get some pie (hooray for pie), but Sylvie says that’s dumb, gets mad, and storms off (boo, no pie for Sylvie).
While the gang is trying to save the TVA, Renslayer arrives and immediately tries to recruit the rogue TVA agents from Episode 2, which includes General Dox (Kate Dickie) and Brad (Rafael Casal). Brad is the only one to join the evil duo (of course, he’s a little bitch), and the orange cube machine of death from episode 2 slowly crushes the rest (you don’t see it, but you do hear it). Some shenanigans ensue, and we finally see who pruned Loki in Episode 1 (spoiler, it was Loki).
After further shenanigans that include Renslayer being pruned by Brad (he was mind controlled by Sylvie, but at least he did something right), the device to fix the loom is complete. Victor Timely volunteers to go out and fix the machine. Unfortunately for Victor, he disintegrates the second he steps outside (I called it that he was gonna die). With the plan having failed, the loom explodes, and that’s how the episode ends. All in all, it was an exciting episode, and I’m counting the days until we get to see what happens next, even if Victor and O. B. don’t get to meet again.
This episode had a lot of characters pair up for some fun times. My favourite pair was, without a doubt, O. B. and Victor because they were hilariously adorable. It turns out that they admire each other’s work (thanks to time shenanigans), and they end up fanboying over each other. It was a much-needed wholesome moment in this otherwise tense episode. I also enjoyed Loki and Sylvie interacting in this episode. I was never a fan of the romance between the two (is it incest if it’s with yourself?), but seeing them talk things through and understand each other’s point of view was interesting to see. My favourite moment from their interaction is when Sylvie says they can’t play god, with Loki calmly saying, “We are gods.” Sometimes, it’s easy to forget that.
The duo that was a little less fun to follow was that of Renslayer and Miss Minutes. After making up after last week’s split, their return to the TVA was nothing short of eventful. Now they’ve decided to run the joint themselves, their planned coup went into effect, and it was a tad excessive if you ask me. Circling back to the orange cube machine of death, Renslayer seemed uncomfortable watching her former colleagues get crushed. Miss Minutes, on the other hand, looked like a full-blown psychopath, which wasn’t at all concerning. I thought that these two were going to be the big bad for the second half of the season, but after Miss Minutes was rebooted and Renslayer got pruned, I don’t know where they’re going with this plot now.
While I’ve been enjoying Season 2 of Loki, I’m concerned with where the season is heading. I’ve enjoyed these four episodes, but it also seems like a lot of stuff is happening while, at the same time, nothing is happening. A possible villain duo was removed from the equation with two episodes left, and any other antagonist has already been dealt with. I feel that the ending will come out of nowhere and leave me unsatisfied. My other concern is the lack of Loki’s presence that I’ve started to notice in the past two episodes. I understand that he doesn’t need to be in every scene, but he feels increasingly more like a side character. This is a sentiment shared by a few of my fellow contributors, but I hope these next two episodes shift the focus back onto the God of Mischief.
“The Heart of the TVA” was an exciting episode of Loki. I enjoyed the tense plot and interaction between characters, new and old. I’m curious to see how they handle the next two episodes, and I hope that they’re able to do something extraordinary. But only time will tell if Season 2 will finish as well as Season 1 or if it’ll stumble like Secret Invasion.
Have you seen the latest episode of Loki? What did you think? Do you think Miss Minutes was too excited to see people get crushed? Let us know in the comments where we can talk about how much Brad sucks.
