Loki : Episode 6: "For All Time, Always" (Season 1 Finale)

Before giving out the review of this highly anticipated finale of loki, first things first:

The first thing that struck me with this episode was: did we see a sudden end of this season?

We were almost sure about the second season, but the ending was abrupt. Performance wise, as Kang(the name "kang" is not yet revealed) Jonathan Majors did fantastic. The way he explained the origins of TVA and the motive behind his actions is exquisite. Most of the episode revolved around the conversation between kang, loki and sylvie which is interspersed with the argument happening parallelly between Renslayer and Mobius.

As for the mid-credits, there isnt much except the announcement about second season, which was kind of expected.

Reveal of the antagonist

Stepping into the Citadel at the End of Time, Loki and Sylvie meet He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors), who appears to be a primary version of time-hopping comic villain Kang the Conqueror. We already knew this guy was meant to make his MCU debut in February 2023 movie Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.

Since he's never referred to as Kang in this episode, it seems like the Kang has yet to appear. He Who Remains claims to be the last survivor of a multiversal war that broke out when multiple versions of him made contact after the multiverse was discovered in the 31st century.

He tamed and weaponized Alioth, using the trans-temporal being to end the war (probably by gobbling up the other timelines). To stop it happening again, he created the TVA to manage the Sacred Timeline.

In the comics, Kang is a baddy from the 31st century who's faced off against the Avengers many times since his '60s debut.

Kang statue in TVA

TVA also got a new statue that looks like below(revealed at the end).

Loki and Sylvie fight over He Who Remains' fate, with the latter coming out on top. She flings Loki back to the TVA and slays He Who Remains, which lets the timeline branch like crazy -- apparently letting many versions of Kang run amok across the multiverse.

Their influence is soon made apparent in the TVA, when Loki tries to warn best buddy Mobius (Owen Wilson) and Hunter B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku) about the threat. They can't remember him, and Loki turns to see a statue of Kang wearing his comic costume towering over the TVA -- it seems the God of Mischief has been sent to a different timeline's version of the agency, one that Kang is openly controlling.

This presumably leads directly into Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which is due out March 2022, and ties into the WandaVision finale, where Wanda heard her lost sons calling out from some plain of reality -- her search is likely to continue in the Doctor Strange sequel.

It also mostly likely kicks open the doors for What If…? to slot into canon. The animated series, which kicks off on Disney Plus on Wednesday, Aug. 11, explores alternative realities based on events playing out differently in the MCU. And maybe, just maybe, it'll tear down the walls between realities for Spider-Man: No Way Home.

The Future of MCU

Now that Loki Season 1 has triggered innumerable universes or realities, it is worth noting what it means for the upcoming MCU movies:

1. Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness: This is obviously the most important indication that this movie is closely linked to both Loki as well as the events of Wanda Vision. The latest update seems to be that Loki could have a cameo in this movie apart from Scarlett Witch who was already confirmed for a larger role. 

2. Antman and the Wasp: Quantumania: This is another crazy movie heavily focussing on the quantum realm, even though details of its story is scarce. One possibility could be that somewhere in the quantum realm, the multiverse could connect in a way no one could have imagined. Or that the Scott-Lang that we saw in Avengers-Endgame could be termed a variant. Add to that the below screenshot which shows the helmet of Yellow Jacket(villain of the first antman):

The Yellowjacket helmet could have further MCU implications. Though Stoll's Yellowjacket seemingly dies in the 2015 movie, with his malfunctioning suit crushing him into subatomic size, the character is reportedly (via Vanity Fair's Still Watching) appearing in the upcoming Quantumania. If he did survive Ant-Man, the helmet could've belonged to the original Yellowjacket. It may hint a bit about where his story goes in the future. On the other hand, it could just be a meaningless Easter egg. Regardless, the villain was an afterthought in 2015, and this new Easter egg ensures he's not anymore.

3: Spiderman: No Way Home: The other spidermen(Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield) that we see in this upcoming movie could be variants who could have been created through some of these new branches of reality, alongwith their opponents(Doctor Octopus, Electro, etc.)

Keep watching this space for all upcoming projects of MCU.

With love.. Anil

Loki: Episode 5: “Journey Into Mystery”

Loki keeps getting crazy with every episode. If we thought the previous episode topped everything for its twists and handling of the Loki-Sylvie chemistry as well as the mid-credit scene, watch this episode to see how much hilarious can hilarious be!

Watch out for some of the best moments below. Needless to say, proceed at your own risk:

Nexus Events of each of the Four Lokis:

In the initial few minutes, we see what is a kind of destroyed world with physical remains of everything, including the Stark/Avengers Tower. This is revealed to be the "Void" where everyone who is pruned from TVA was dumped.

Here are the ways each of the four Lokis got arrested by TVA and pruned them to send them to the void:

Kid Loki: Killed his brother Thor.

Alligator Loki: Ate a neighbour's cat.

Boastful Loki: Defeated Ironman and Captain America and collected all the infinity stones.

Classic Loki: Escaped from Thanos and lived a lonely life in an isolated planet for thousands of years before he felt remorse and wanted to reunite with Thor, at which time the TVA appeared and arrested him.

A Loki Swarm

Early into the episode, we get to see not just the 4 lokis that guide Loki but also many more as he wants to fight his way out of that void, return to TVA and burn it down. But to his surprise, he finds 10 variants of Loki waiting outside. Loki vs a swarm of 10 more Lokis(plus the 4 Lokis) was a hilarious moment, especially the fight in the enclosure. Loki behaves in his characteristic manner, trying to evade their in-fighting using his well-known(and some more surprises) tricks beautifully.

Alligator Loki

Special mention should be made to the alligator Loki, which no one knows how it came out to be, but it does make up for some of the funniest moments during the conversation among the 4 Lokis. The CGI was top notch as expected from Marvel Studios, but most importantly, it drives the story forward in a very funny way. At one point of time, it eats the hand of the President Loki, which might feel gory for some, but actually feels funny due to the way it was executed.

Throg: The Frog Thor

One fleeting shot reveals a frog trapped inside a glass bottle, which is found to be Thor in the form of a frog. In the comics, the story goes like this:

Simon Walterson was a professional football player until a severe knee injury ended his playing career. He found joy in his wife and the work she did for charity. Unfortunately, that all changed when his wife and unborn child died, causing him to fall into a depression.

Walterson sealed out a musical way of reaching his late wife so he could communicate with her. He finally found a witch who was able to help him talk to his wife and learn about the unborn child. Walterson wasn't able to pay the witch so she cursed him, consequently transforming him into a frog named Puddlegulp.

Puddlegup had a run-in with Thor Odinson, who had been turned into a frog by Loki. As a Frog, Thor learned about the Rat vs. Frog war and decided to aid the frogs in their battle. As Puddlegup is left alone to defend himself against the rats, a sliver of Mjolnir was left on the ground and when he picked it up he acquired the power of Thor.

Thor Odinson returned to Asgard and forced Loki to revert him to his normal form. Walterson/Puddlegup found a new purpose as Throg, leading the frogs against their enemies and even fought greater battles with the Pet Avengers.

It's unclear if the Throg in Loki is Walterson or the Thor that Loki turns into a frog, but it's an unexpected and appreciated cameo regardless. Throg is officially canon in the MCU!

Sylvie-meets-Mobius-meets-Loki-meets-Alioth

Never was a re-union more powerfully shown and engaging like this moment where Sylvie prunes herself to go to the void in an attempt to find Loki, but instead spots Mobius, and these two were found eventually by Loki. This is a family-reunion kind of sorts and their chemistry feels refreshing.

The battle that Sylvie and Loki fought together to defeat the monster called Alioth is a masterpiece in terms of planning, vfx and execution.

Laying the foundations for Kang: The Conquerer

A building with the name "Qeng" is shown in a brief shot, which is the name of the company which bought the Stark (or Avengers) Tower. This Qeng Enterprises is the one that is owned by a man named Nathaniel Richards, who turns into Kang in the comics.

A continual theme is arising within Loki that almost every major plot point has some connection to Kang, making his involvement near certain. However, if Kang truly isn't the one behind the TVA, then Marvel has either been intentionally teasing fans from the beginning or really wants people to start talking about the Ant-Man sequel.

Given the common theme of time travel in the two projects, it makes logical sense for them to link in some way.

Alongside threats like Thanos and Galactus, Kang is one of the biggest threats in Marvel Comics. With the presence of time travel and the multiverse continuing to build in the MCU, the conquering antagonist will likely serve a much bigger purpose going forward than just being the villain of Quantumania.

Arguably, there is no better villain to make the Avengers reassemble than Kang, making him the strongest candidate to oppose the team in the highly-anticipated Avengers 5.

Frankly speaking, this episode has lots of easter eggs which cannot be explained in a single post. More of them would be coming soon on Anilmation: The Stream!

The sixth and final episode of Loki is going to air on Disney+ on 14July, which promises epic action which will solve many of the questions that the viewers will have after this episode.

My Rating: 9/10

With love.. Anil

Loki Episode 4: "The Nexus Event"

This contains spoilers for the show, so scroll down at your own risk:

As I have expected, after the lull of last episode where the chemistry between Loki and Sylvie was explored(very well I would say, but little else was digged in), this episode showed off what kind of twists are awaiting us in this show and the nature of this web series.

This is probably the best episode till now with the below highlights:

Mobius and Loki:

Mobius and Loki have an engaging interaction which leads to funny moments, including a time loop, which was last seen in the "Doctor Strange" movie(2016) when Stephen Strange locked the antagonist Doramamu in a time loop and forced him to accept his deal using his iconic dialogue "Doramamu.. I have come to bargain".

Lady Sif and Loki:

After an altercation with Mobius, a stubborn Loki gets transported to his Asgard and put in a time loop. With whom you guess? The Lady Sif, who was last seen in Thor: Ragnarok. Loki gets kicked multiple times by Sif(for cutting her hair in an unseen event) due to the time loop and he could not bear it.

The Revelation of Renslayer:

As have been predicted by many over all the previous episodes, Renslayer(the judge of TVA) turned out to be quite a liar. She even pruned out Mobius after he found out the truth about all those who are working at TVA.

The Time Keepers:

We finally get to see the time keepers, but they are not what we were made to believe all this time. Their image itself has been downgraded and they do not feel like the true masters of time management anymore.

Sylvie and Loki:

Just as we wait to hear Loki express his feelings for Sylvie, we see him getting "pruned" in a shocking event. Thankfully, those who keep for Loki have hope: He isnt completely erased from existence, but just transported to another world, which was shown in the mid-credit scene.

This mid credit scene reveals something of a new world, previously unseen anywhere. This scene looks to do something similar to what the 2018 animated movie: "Spiderman: Into the spiderverse" did: Multiple versions of Spiderman in the same shot.

So you see the different versions of Loki:

1. Classic Loki(Richard E. Grant) on the right, 

2. Kid Loki(Jack Veal) at center, 

3. Boastful Loki(Deobia Oparei) on the left, 

4. Alligator version of Loki(presumably CGI) which didnt have any comic precedent. There also seemed to be an online debate of whether it is the crocodile or an alligator with the crown of horns

So, here you go, the anticipation for the final 2 episodes has been built very well and it needs to be seen how this series ends.

My rating of this episode: 9/10

Thanks,

anil

Loki: Episode 3: Slow character building of "Lady Loki"

Before going into the review of this third episode, lets have a small recap:

Loki, the villain who debuted as a negative character in Thor(2011) and played the main antagonist in Marvel's Avengers(2012), got his own web series now, thanks to the Disney+ platform. In the previous 2 episodes, Loki is shown to be captured by the TVA(Time Variance Authority) as he tried to escape from the shackles of Avengers using the space stone(tesseract), and he was made to work as a kind of detective to guide the TVA in locating and capturing another variant, which turns out to be Loki himself in a different time line and reality. In the second episode, that variant is shown to be a lady called "Sylvie" and she set off multiple branches of time using TVA's reset charges. As Sylvie teleports to TVA, Loki follows her.

Episode 3:

If you have watched any of the previous episodes, this one feels a little slow in terms of action or the screenplay. That is because it kind of drags on to reveal Lady Loki(Sylvie) with many open ends to her yet-to-be-revealed origin story. That might be revealed completely in future episodes or during the finale as  a surprise, but right now what we know about her is this:

She was tracked by TVA continuously, leading to disruption of her normal life. There isnt much known about her relationship with Thor or Odin or Frigga, but it would be safe to assume that she did know them, based on her conversation with Loki in this latest episode.

There isnt much to comment about the proceedings, since there were lesser number of twists here and the story moves around mostly Loki and Sylvie and almost completely ignores other characters.

This episode gives us ample clues about the back story of Sylvie, like the below dialogues between Loki and Sylvie:

LOKI: “You're not the only tech-savvy Loki.”

SYLVIE: “Don't ever call me that.”

LOKI: “Tech-savvy?”

SYLVIE: “No, a Loki.”

After having spent a lifetime running from capture by the TVA, “Lamentis” revealed Sylvie's distaste for the term "variant" as she says in an outburst of rage “don't call me variant.” Additionally, while Sylvie no longer goes by her Asgardian name, it's made clear that she did at one point as she tells Loki “that's not who [she is] anymore:”

LOKI: “Slow down...variant!”

SYLVIE: “What part of imminent death confuses you? And don't call me variant.”

LOKI: “I'm sorry, but I'm not calling some faded photocopy of me Loki.”

SYLVIE: “Good, because that's not who I am anymore. I'm Sylvie now”

Not only the above dialogues, but even the way Sylvie keeps her past from Loki leads us to believe that she has way more secrets to be revealed in the later episodes.

For now though they are stuck in Lamentis metropolis as the arc that could have saved the people is destroyed before it could take off.

PRODUCTION VALUES

Lamentis metropolis has been created very well and so beautifully that we will get lost by looking at it. The shot where the arc collapses is one of the top shots we have seen in the series and stands out even for its sound design.

CONCLUSION

This Episode 3 of Loki is pretty much the weakest of the trio thus far, despite being still a good one at character development. The dynamics between Sylvie and Loki are top-class.
Loki and Sylvie are set to be a unique pairing through the series' second half, especially as more details come pertaining to which side of the fight Sylvie finds herself on. With the two now stranded in the late 21st century on a planet completely foreign to both of them, the two will need to muster their best efforts to survive, flourish, and find their way into more favorable conditions.

With love.. Anil

Review of Loki: Glorious Purpose(Episode 1, Season 1) ..Beginning of the "Multiverse of Madness"

After a long break, here is the newest MCU series on Disney+(Hotstar) which had lots of buzz created ever since we had that scene in Avengers Endgame where Loki escapes with the Tesseract during the "New York 2012 battle" time heist episode. Every one was wondering what a dangerous thing to happen. A dangerous villain taking control of the space stone(hidden inside the Tesseract) means that the move watchers were wondering how his timeline goes and what does loki do with it!

There were unlimited possibilities to think of and the one we see in the first episode not only sets up the upcoming episodes but also sets up the MCU multiverse pretty well and with lots of expectations.

Okay, so the plot goes like this:

Loki escapes from the present timeline by using Tesseract due to a combination of funny events, which we all know from Avengers Endgame. He lands in Gobi Desert, Mongolia, where the TVA(Time Variance Authority) arrests him. What happens and how it happens next was explained in a very funny and interesting way: the hallmark of Loki.

He gets a ticket to be tried for his crime of creating a new timeline and there he learns of the origins of this TVA.

Origins of TVA

When long time ago there was a huge multiversal war: battle between different timelines for supremacy. The ancient "timekeepers" were the one who created this organization called "TVA" which monitors the main timeline(called the sacred timeline in which all the MCU stories happened till now)

As the head of TVA(Mobius) tries to use Loki as a means to fight other variants, lots of twists start taking place, including a sequence where Loki sees his future, especially the crucial moments like his mother's death, his father uniting with the universe, joining hands with his brother Thor, the destruction of Asgard, him stealing the Tesseract, till his raw, real death at the hands of Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War. This does something to him. It makes him realize the things that he did in his life.

Powerless Loki and Powerless Stones

Loki is shown to be completely powerless in this TVA many times.

At one point of time, all the Infinity Stones were seen hidden in a table drawer and the TVA officer claims that they use them as paper weights. This scene itself shows the hilarious nature of this episode which makes us laugh, especially when we were told how powerful the infinity stones were in Avengers Infinity War and the power of Loki. He couldnt change his shape/identity, nor can he fight off with his power. But when he gets one of the gadgets that TVA officials use to control the variants like him, he looks like a kid in a toy shop, playing with it to see its abilities to the fullest.

Two years are mentioned in this episode where certain events take place:

1. aix en provence, france: 1549(At the beginning of this episode)

2. salina, oklahoma, 1858(Towards the end of the episode)

At the end, Mobius convinces Loki to fight another variant like him at the end of the episode, which is the not-to-be-revealed-yet-spoiler.

The excitement for the next episode will only get higher once viewers watch this one.

"Loki" is currently streaming on Disney+Hotstar and new episodes are released weekly every Wednesday.

With love.. Anil