Loki Episode One: Glorious Purpose Indeed

The first episode of Loki (Glorious Purpose) gave me Lost fandom flashbacks but in a really good way where you could sit around for ages and discuss not just the episode but philosophy, science, religion, books, out there movies you’ve never even heard of…

Aw those were the days.

And Loki definitely serves up a character deep dive in episode one but also seems to be hinting at those even bigger questions from the MCU.

SPOILERS!

So as we know from the previews after he peaces out of The Avengers ending he is almost immediately picked up by the TVA as a time variant. And we follow his amusing journey into the bureaucratic hell of time travel/ possible inter dimensional detention facilities.

Complete with a Disney ride like video explaining it all which brings us to my theory #1 (yes I know I shouldn’t theorize but I can’t help myself!)

The TVA is bad news.

They basically come off like time dictators when you get right down to it. And as Owen Wilson’s character seems to say later by TVA standards there’s little to no free will. If you go off the sacred timeline they dictate you’ll be pruned or reset. Save for the Avengers time traveling cause when Loki throws them under the bus they say that was supposed to happen.

(I kind of loved that he knew they were time traveling because he could smell the unmistakeable cologne of two Tony Starks.)

And okay I’m willing to hand wave the whole “it was meant to happen” but I know I wasn’t the only person to go well what about Steve??? Maybe they’ll be like an Easter egg file on him as a variant or something but my guess is they’ll just ignore it.

Tom Hiddleston and Owen Wilson had great chemistry and I could have watched the deep dive into Loki’s character for 6 episodes. That was harsh, harsh but true I loved when he showed him clips of the destruction he cause and told him, “that’s not mischief,” and man that line about how Loki’s only real purpose is to cause death and destruction that in turn make other people become the better people they should… brutal.

But that being said not for a second do I believe Loki is broken.

He clocked the insane power of the TVA even before he saw his future death. And old Loki likes power. So I think with a character like Loki there could easily be several reasons why he seemingly caved. Power, the chance to save his mother and right the wrongs of the “sacred” timeline and maybe bidding his time a bit cause he’s backed in a corner.

One way I could see this all ending is Loki who went into his free will is a joke for most living creatures could, in bringing down the TVA, inadvertently return whatever free will they’ve been usurping to seemingly endless amounts of universes.

But then again this is the show that’s getting talk of a season 2 so we may not have any larger end for a while.

Mephisto!

That was my first horrible thought anyway. It’s not but I did think it was a nice touch that the creature in the glass has a blue tongue just like the kid with the gum and considering how hard the animated film went on the multiverse even saying a multiverse war could lead to madness I have to wonder if Loki also isn’t going to play a bigger part in that than we think.

I mean so far considering the leaks that came out from Thor: Love and Thunder Multiverse of Madness is very much still under wraps 🙂 Now that’s the trailer I’m waiting for!