While this show is not one of my personal favorites, it’s still a great series overall. After obtaining the Tesseract and using it to escape from his capture, Loki finds himself at the mercy of the Time Variance Authority, a group that maintains the singular timeline and prevents the existence of the multiverse. However, instead of killing Loki, an agent of the TVA decides to recruit him in a case where another Loki is killing their agents. But as the series goes on, it soon grows far beyond a simple murder case: as he delves into the truth behind the TVA, Loki ultimately discovers his true glorious purpose—and what that means for everyone he cares for.

Pro/Con #1: World Building and Plot

One thing I admire the most about this show, much like any other story in any genre, is the insane depth and complexity of its lore. The very TVA itself, for instance, is basically its own world. Not only does it exist outside of space and time, but in that first episode when Loki looks out the window, it appears to expand forever. Also, the very fact that Infinity Stones are powerless—even used as paperweights—in this place is crazy! But what truly captures my attention is the concept and mystery behind the Sacred Timeline. At first, the plot seems straightforward: a trio of powerful time deities stop a multiversal-scale war and create a singular timeline, and the TVA prevents other universes or variants from existing. However, we find out that it was all a lie! Kang the Conqueror, or He Who Remains (as they refer to him), was the true mastermind behind it all! And the previously mentioned war? It was all because Kang’s variants fought each other until HWR took care of it, and apparently they will all return should HWR ever die. This whole, encompassing story is perfect for Kang’s character since the guy is an egotistical maniac, infamous for waging war across his or any other timeline in the comics. Of course variants of the same character would try to conquer each other, and why HWR would go through all this trouble to keep his perfected all to himself. The more I dwell on this whole plot and its rich history, the more mind-blowing it becomes and I am here for that!

However, while this gives me a headache in a good way, there’s also huge migraines that I simply can’t ignore. For instance, consider in “Avengers: Endgame” when Banner talked about the actual rules of time travel. Basically, changing the past doesn’t change the future, but it seems to create branched timelines instead. So, if that’s the case, shouldn’t they be called the Space Variance Authority instead? Time clearly doesn’t seem to matter that much, so why should it be a concern? Anyway, when you add true time travel on top of concepts like branched timelines, pruning, or time-slipping, it just piles up. Now, that isn’t to say that all of it is incomprehensible, but the effort to understand all this complicated lore and piece it together is mentally exhausting. In addition to all of this, there are also some parts of this show that seem to be unnecessary. Like, if you’ve already decided you’re gonna kill the variant you arrested, why even put them through a trial? Why make them sign papers of everything they’ve said in life? And especially why make them wait in line for their turn in a rigged mock trial? If I were leading a squad against a variant, knowing full well we were just gonna prune them anyway, I would’ve just done it on the spot no questions asked. There could be some “time politics” to explain these questions, but to be frank, it just seems stupid and pointless to begin with. 

Pro/Con #2: The Characters

Aside from Mobius, I honestly never paid much attention to the side characters in the show. This is most likely because, in season one, we mainly focused on Loki and Mobius hunting down Sylvie, before Loki and Sylvie hunt down the brains of the TVA. However, this is rectified by the time of season two, as we get to spend more time with the rest of Team Loki. For example, ever since Sylvie restored B-15’s memories in season one, we begin to see her drive to find answers and do the right thing. By season two, she’s actively fighting to preserve the lives of everyone in the multiverse, no longer tangled in strings as a mindless enforcer of the TVA. Seeing such passion to fight for what’s right, as well as the love and compassion for others, is always inspiring and heartwarming to watch. As another example, take OB, who was seemingly thrown into the season two premiere with little to no context. However, it’s not hard to see why this was the case: he’s an extremely nerdy tech, and the TVA most likely put him down there to forget he existed. But in spite of such treatment, he proves himself to be a major help to Loki and eventually the TVA itself. After all, he helps Loki understand his time-slipping, as well as provide a lot of crucial information on the TVA’s computer systems and the Loom. One could argue that Team Loki’s success wouldn’t have been possible without OB, which comes to show how even the most quiet thinkers can be one of the most crucial members of any group. 

The only problem I have with the characters, though, is the same one I’ve had with the previous content I’ve reviewed so far: unremarkable villains. Now, before I get into this, I just want to say that Ms. Minutes is definitely a terrifying villain. I mean, that AI clock smiles with those wide, creepy eyes while watching a group of people get crushed into a cube. That is nightmare fuel, and could even give Ultron a run for his money. However, the same thing unfortunately cannot be said for Ravonna. She was definitely antagonistic in her efforts to undermine Loki and Mobius, posed a major threat in her attempt to take over the TVA, and even has an understandable reason (basically in Kang messing with her memories). In spite of that, she’s simply not interesting enough to glance twice at. Of course, it doesn’t help that the setup for Kang was completely botched. I remember seeing all these teases in season one, watching Ant-Man 3, and just getting hyped to see how Kang develops in Loki season two. However, my hopes and expectations were completely shattered when they made Kang’s past self a stuttering nerd. While I’m glad he turned out to be a nice guy in the end, I was really excited to see Kang become the infamous time-traveling conqueror we know and love. While I’m aware that the Jon Major’s incident behind the scenes had something to do with it, I’m overall saddened and disappointed that we won’t see one of Marvel’s oldest and most iconic villains on either the big or small screen. 

Pro/Con #3: Loki Himself

I’ll be honest: I was not a fan of the way they handled Loki’s character growth at first. I felt like they had squeezed about a decade’s worth of character development, spread throughout multiple movies, into five minutes of one episode. However, the more I thought about it, the more I understand and appreciate it. For instance, even though Loki watched that recording of his whole life story, we still see him struggle with that “pre-2012” personality while also slowly becoming a good guy. Even then, he still had difficulty putting his pride and ego on the shelf while trying to do the right thing. But then that all changes after meeting He Who Remains. After such a traumatic experience, it drives him to finally get his act together and come to care for his new friends. But the cherry on top is when he becomes the god of stories, sustaining the whole multiverse through himself and therefore making the ultimate sacrifice to keep everyone safe. I will still always prefer the original character arc, but this was still a satisfying and emotional journey nonetheless. After all, it’s a unique perspective to see Loki take a step back from Thor and find his own way, ultimately becoming the brother Thor always believed he was. The only thing that would make it better is if Thor could actually see Loki as he is now, because I can just imagine the heartfelt reunion and Thor tearing up at seeing Loki fulfill his true glorious purpose. 

Yet for all of Loki’s amazing qualities in this show, there are a couple qualities that simply rub me the wrong way. For starters, there’s the way that they presented Loki’s new powers in time-slipping and in becoming the god of stories. The powers themselves are awesome, but it isn’t fully made clear how he got them. Instead, we get very brief and off-handed dialogue or scenes that “explain” everything. For example, when discussing with Mobius about how he might’ve gotten his time-slipping abilities, the following dialogue was exchanged:

”Okay, and Sylvie kicking you through the Timedoor into the past, that somehow started all this?”

“All I know is I was in the past. It was He Who Remains’ TemPad, so maybe that’s how it was possible.”

After that conversation, the show never expanded on that explanation or even brought it up again. But if that wasn’t enough, there’s also the mystery of how he became the literal center of the multiverse. Nothing is explicitly made clear here, either. All Loki does is have a moment of clarity, give a heartfelt goodbye, and then just walk up to the Loom and destroy it. With no context or explanation, Loki instantly became the god of stories and that was that. But the questions still remain: how was this possible? Did his time-slipping have something to do with it? What exactly happened? While Loki has gained a new perspective on time and space, I’d imagine sustaining the whole multiverse would take a power, endurance, and understanding far beyond Loki’s capabilities at the time. Because otherwise, it seemed like Marvel pulled one of those deus ex machina moments for the sake of having an ending. 

Conclusion

Loki’s spinoff isn’t really for me, but it’s still “Top 10” worthy in my book. As previously mentioned, I’ll always prefer Loki’s original arc. But either way, I’m just very happy to see Loki redeem himself and truly understand what “glorious purpose” means. But I’m especially excited to see where this might lead in the upcoming “Avengers: Doomsday” and “Secret Wars” movies, along with high hopes of seeing a reunion between Loki and Thor.