Loki: A brief review of one of Disney's most interesting projects

It’s been a while since we last saw something good on Disney+. Over the last year, Disney+ has struggled to produce content that meets the expectations of its audience, and has failed to position any of its series as true fan favorites. Despite being in operation for four years, the platform still hasn't managed to develop a cult series. In this internal context, a relatively long list of frustrated attempts quickly joins the ranks of series that aim to continue the Marvel universe on the small screen. Among the many attempts, there have been some high-profile premieres, such as "WandaVision" (2021), "Hawkeye" (2021), and "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" (2021), which all failed to survive beyond their first season. In short, Marvel's "Loki" could be the company's last hope to achieve a breakthrough success in this new era of television industry.

First season

Right from the first few minutes of the opening episode, it becomes evident that Loki is a unique story unlike any other in the Marvel universe. It is not just because Loki is one of the most significant villains in the Marvel world, but mostly because the project presents a new narrative style that defies the conventional expectations of Marvel fans who are used to the traditional storytelling of these projects, which usually comprises mostly action with minimal dialogue. In Loki, we are presented with a rare opportunity to comprehend the motivations of one of the most beloved villains in the Marvel universe, and it is executed in a remarkable way that makes for an engaging and distinctive story. For these reasons, Loki promises to be a pleasant surprise for all Marvel fans.

“Adventure, action, and suspense blend perfectly in this thrilling masterpiece"

The series takes us back to the year 2012 in New York City. However, it is important to note that this is not the same setting as the first Avengers movie. In the first movie, Loki needed to obtain a powerful energy source called the "Tesseract," which is a cube-shaped container designed to contain the Space Stone. This Stone is later revealed to be a vital component for Thanos to complete his "Gauntlet".

Now, let's remember that in "Avengers: Endgame" the members who survive the event known as "The Blip" (also known as "Thanos' snap") must travel to different timelines to retrieve all six Infinity Stones to undo the damage caused by Thanos, and thus, be able to effectively make that one reality out of 14,000,605 in which the Avengers finally defeat Thanos and save planet Earth. When Tony Stark, Scott Lang, Bruce Banner "Hulk," and Steve Rogers travel back to the year 2012 to retrieve two Infinity Stones, they encounter difficulty in obtaining them. Bruce Banner successfully obtained the Time Stone, but the Tesseract, which contains the Space Stone, proves to be more challenging. This is where the series picks up: in an alternate reality where Loki manages to steal the Tesseract and escape. However, his triumph is short-lived.

“I am Loki of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose”

In this particular story, that is a fundamental phrase that helps to structure the narrative. While playing this phrase, Loki is suddenly interrupted by officers of the TVA (Time Variance Authority) who burst into the current space and time. They inform Loki that he is under arrest for "crimes against the sacred timeline."

Loki has been arrested and taken to the headquarters of an institution called the TVA This institution is responsible for regulating the proper functioning of space and time. The TVA facilities resemble the authoritarian regimes that were established in Europe and Asia during the 20th century, with illustrated propaganda on large posters, bureaucracy, authoritarianism, and monuments of the leaders of this organization. All of these elements make it clear that Loki is in serious trouble.

"Miss Minutes" is a significant character in the story, who may be easy to miss but plays a fundamental role. It is a kind of artificial intelligence depicted as an adorable cartoon watch with a distinct personality and attitude. This character provides Loki with a detailed explanation of his location and current situation.

“Miss Minutes” explained that a massive multiversal war occurred in the distant past, with numerous timelines battling each other for supremacy. The war resulted in almost complete annihilation of everything. However, the omniscient guardians of time intervened and brought peace by organizing the multiverse into a single timeline, known as the Sacred Timeline. It is now the responsibility of the Time-Keepers to safeguard and maintain the correct flow of time for everyone and everything. However, some individuals veer off the path the Time-Keepers created. The Time Variance Authority (TVA) calls them "Variants."

In the view of the TVA members, Loki is a "variant" which is basically a rebel, someone who deviates from what is established.

It is important to adhere to the path established by the Time Variation Authorities to avoid facing sanctions. Maybe you started an uprising, or were just late for work. Whatever it was, stepping off your path created a “nexus event”, which, left unchecked, could branch off into madness, leading to another multiversal war. Even if your intentions were harmless, deviating from the established path can create a "nexus event". Therefore, it is crucial to avoid such events to maintain stability and peace in the multiverse.

To make sure that doesn't happen, the Time-Keepers created the TVA and all its incredible workers. Timekeepers are responsible for maintaining the proper flow of time, and their workers are tasked with resolving any issues that may interrupt that flow.

So, basically, the main responsibility of the TVA is to manage any "variants" and prevent them from causing "nexus events". These events refer to situations or actions that can disrupt the established order and have significant consequences for the history of humanity.

The TVA has intervened to fix Loki's mistake and return time to its predetermined course. Since Loki's actions have been detected by the TVA, he must be put on trial for his crimes against the "Sacred Timeline" in an unknown location where he cannot use any of his powers. Loki must confront the challenging situation he is in without his shape-shifting power, and he will not be able to create illusions or use his duplication spell. All of his powers have been neutralized by an unknown technology that operates within the TVA

At the end of the day, Loki is found guilty and sentenced to be "reset." The character played by Owen Wilson, Agent Mobius, becomes Loki's adventure companion throughout the first season. Mobius is one of the workers who make up the TVA workforce and was created by the Time-Keepers to protect the Sacred Timeline. He is an "analyst" specializing in hunting down "dangerous variants" and basically works as a detective.

It is important to note a key characteristic of the work carried out by officials of the TVA This understanding is essential to grasp how this authoritarian institution operates. All TVA officials have a pre-assigned role to fulfill, and this role is executed as if it were an unbreakable covenant. All members of the TVA are under the influence of an ideology that was clearly explained to Loki by "Miss Minutes" and later reinforced by Mobius. They believe that the Time-Keepers have created them to fulfill this purpose. Consequently, these officers carry out their assigned roles without questioning the order.

The TVA members exist to serve the Time-Keepers and protect the Sacred Timeline

But this agent, "Mobius", appears to be distinct from other officials, at least based on his actions. When we first see him, we can sense that he doesn't behave like other authorities. During Loki's interrogation, Mobius seems more inclined to use dialogue rather than violence as a strategy. This suggests that even though these agents are defending and serving an authoritarian regime, they are still human beings with emotions.

Mobius, perhaps due to his residual human emotions, chooses not to “reset” or “prune” Loki. These terms are used frequently throughout the series to describe the TVA's actions of eliminating "variants" or humans deemed subversive to their established order. The agents use a cane-like technology that functions as a lethal weapon, which we'll see throughout the series. This device is the official weapon of the "minutemen," the TVA's special forces.

Anyway, we will soon find out that Mobius requires Loki's assistance in catching a "fugitive variant" who is murdering "minutemen" across various timelines. The plot takes a turn when they realize that the variant they are trying to capture is actually a variant of Loki himself.

In the first season the main storyline revolves around Loki's search for his "glorious purpose". But meanwhile he is tasked with serving the Time-Keepers and protecting the Sacred Timeline. To do so, Loki must become an agent of the TVA and help Mobius locate a "fugitive variant". As the story unfolds, the variant is found to possess a unique power that is crucial in understanding the TVA and reaching some certainties about it.

Throughout this season of the show, we will witness a different version of Loki from the one we are familiar with. This new Loki has to fight to unravel some uncomfortable truths and find the answers he seeks. He is a Loki who has lost all of his powers, and as a result, must navigate the bureaucracy and hierarchy of the A.V.T. as if he were a regular employee. This will surprise us as we will see Loki wearing a uniform for most of the series, and when he is not wearing the A.V.T. uniform, he appears in a shirt and tie. The series tells the story of a villain in crisis who finds himself in a completely strange and unfamiliar environment, stripped of everything that made him the great "god of mischief".

Second season

Ever since they announced the premiere of the second season of the TV series featuring one of the most beloved villains in the Marvel universe, we all knew that it would be filled with adventures involving unique characters, scenarios that sometimes border on the fantastic and at other times are completely conventional, surprisingly critical and complex dialogues, and most importantly, we look forward to the continuation of that incredible story that kept us on the edge of our seats throughout the first season.

Once again, the series portrays a confused Loki trying to navigate his current circumstances. With the help of his trusty ally, Mobius, he will face even more challenging obstacles than those he faced in the first season.

To recap, we've realized that the "Omniscient Time-Keepers" were not real, but were created as part of a grand deception - an ideology - that constructs a false reality to maintain balance in the timeline. But it's worth noting that the timeline itself is real. This fictional order was established through a lengthy series of multiversal wars by a being who is a key character in the story. Loki and Sylvie encounter this individual at a fortress beyond the end of times, where he introduces himself as "He who Remains".

In the final episode of last season, this individual gave a long defense speech to Loki and Sylvie. As per his statement, it is crucial to maintain the entire social structure to prevent the occurrence of another multiversal war. The battles will be fought by the current variants of "He who remains." These variants of "He who remains" exist within the Timeline and their power is limited by the order that "He who remains" is accountable for maintaining.

"He who remains" is basically the representation of an authoritarian leader. He is like one of the great characters in history who were responsible for distancing humanity from free will. He is the one who established a new social order with the help of the creation of an institution and loyal followers of said institution. The TVA and its officers. We can establish an analogy with the social order established by the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages and the order established by the TVA The resemblances are in front of our eyes. Restriction of knowledge, absolute control over the population, established beliefs that are never questioned. This is a kind of new obscurantism.

But let's not forget that while Loki believed every word of He Who Remains's speech, the Sylvie variant did not and decided to kill him in the final episode of the first season, so from the start we know what to expect for this season: absolute chaos.

In this season the TVA must face a legitimacy crisis as a consequence of the power vacuum after the death of “He who remains”, and the discovery of the farce about the “Time-Keepers”. Now that Ravonna Renslayer (a judge of the TVA lower court) has disappeared, there is a new commission of judges in power (General Dox and Judge Gamble) who must confront the crisis. But this will not be the only problem, nor even the most serious. What is truly in danger is the TVA’s “temporal loom”.

When “He Who Remains” was killed, the sacred timeline experienced a modification that resulted in the appearance of multiple branches of the original timeline. These new branches overload the “temporal loom”. The “temporal loom” is the heart of the TVA, it's where raw time is refined into physical timeline. It is a very powerful artifact that is used as a channel for the immense flow of time, and it's not constructed to weave together so many new branches, so it's overloading. In these branches are lives that the loom is responsible for controlling. If the loom is not repaired in time those lives will be lost forever.

The ramifications are now out of control. Generally, the TVA oversaw "pruning" the ramifications of the timeline. But now, during a crisis of power, and with the death of their leader, Loki, and his companions will need the help of one of the "variants" of "He who remains" (Victor Timely) to solve this problem and prevent the destruction of the existence of everything they know.

Furthermore, Loki faces a new problem, now he is the victim of some kind of space-time rupture, and this causes him to move from the past to the future in an endless vortex. This phenomenon causes a tear, an affection in its physiognomy. For this reason, Loki will need the help of someone else, a new character: Ouroboros (or simply “O.B.”).

Although this expert (in repairs of technological devices from the TVA) succeeds in helping Loki with his problem, he will not be able to repair the Temporal loom alone. He will need the help of one of the most benevolent variants of “He who remains”: Victor Timely, a young inventor from the late 19th century. He is the inventor of all the technological devices used within the TVA, such as the “tempads” used by TVA officials, or the “timesticks”.

Also, in this season Loki and Mobius get some answers to questions about the mysteries of the TVA, but also about its true purpose. And they are both finally convinced that Sylvie's warning about the TVA is probably true. The claim about the Time-Keepers not creating them, but kidnapping them from the timeline. For Sylvie, these people, before being forced to work for the TVA, had a very different parallel life, she even thinks that these people perhaps had family, friends, in short, an autonomous existence.

“The Time-Keepers didn't create you. They kidnapped you from the timeline”

- Sylvie (Loki’s variant)

Apparently, all members of the TVA are variants that were kidnapped from their true timelines. They are basically human beings dragged violently into that single hegemonic reality, convinced to serve the Time-Keepers. Loki now is fully convinced and claims that their memories have been erased, and it is this that determines their benevolent subjection to the TVA authoritarian system.

In this way, the end of the season brings us great surprises. For all the fans who were hoping for a great ending for this villain, Loki gives us everything we had been waiting for and more. The series leads us towards the incredible story of a villain in crisis. A god who must question the reason for his own existence. A being that has not yet found its true purpose, and therefore must fight to find that purpose. In a place completely unknown to him, and surrounded by people he doesn't know either, Loki will become the protagonist of his own story.

The series gives us a totally different perspective of this villain, without the need to fall into any argument that tries to justify his past actions, for the first time we will be able to see Loki not only from the eyes of an “Avenger”, and we will also be able to know his true nature.

After a long time, Disney has listened to the cries of its audience and has succeeded in repairing one of the obscenest mistakes within the Marvel cinematic universe: the death of Loki at the hands of Thanos in Infinity War. Tragic, rushed, and meaningless, this abrupt ending needed to be amended to give this villain a satisfying ending. Although we cannot be sure that this is the definitive end of Loki's story, at least now we can say that this story has succeeded in getting us closer to the outcome of the cycle of Loki, one of the most complex and compelling characters in the Marvel universe.

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