With Season 2 of “Loki” wrapping up on November 9th, I thought it would be a good time to recap Season 1 in case anyone else becomes interested and for a quick refresher for those watching. To start off, Tom Hiddleston reprises his role as Loki, Sophia Di Martino plays a Loki variant named Sylvie, and Owen Wilson portrays Mobius, an analyst within the Time Variance Authority. Tara Strong also plays the role of the talking A.I. clock: Miss Minutes who monitors and operates the TVA.
The show begins in 2012 New York, where Loki seizes the Tesseract during the Avengers’ time heist in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, the show swiftly transitions to Loki being arrested by the Time Variance Authority or (TVA) for breaking his part and deviating from the “sacred” timeline. The sacred timeline is considered the primary timeline where everything that is supposed to happen, happens. All other timelines are “pruned” which means they are disintegrated. Here, we meet Mobius, a key figure for the TVA, who engages in a thought provoking analysis of Loki’s life to uncover his deeper motives, posing the question to Loki, “Do you enjoy hurting people?” Mobius underscores the purpose behind Loki’s creation – enabling others to achieve their best selves, exemplified through his confrontation with the Avengers in 2012.
As the story unfolds, Loki and Mobius unite to confront a rogue Loki variant on the timeline, named Sylvie, who poses a threat to the TVA. The TVA is able to track “nexus events” in which there is another universe created from something that veers off the sacred timeline. Loki proposes that Sylvie isn’t causing a nexus event since she’s hiding in apocalypses where nexus events cannot be created. This pursuit takes them to a supermall located around 2050 amidst a colossal disaster, where Sylvie elicits a transformation in Loki who joins her. Loki and Sylvie escape to an apocalyptic world: Lamentis 1, since the TVA cannot track apocalypses. It is here that the two begin to get to know each other and realize they are in the midst of one of the most notorious apocalypses in history.
On Lamentis 1, a backdrop for their potential demise, Loki and Sylvie are about to perish when they are saved by the TVA. Their love creates an unexpected nexus event in which the TVA are able to pick up. The two are brought to the TVA and to the enigmatic timekeepers. Loki also learns Sylvie’s timeline was destroyed when she was young.
Amidst revelations about the Timekeepers being robots and the true nature of TVA personnel being brainwashed variants, Loki’s journey culminates in a confrontation with “He Who Remains,” played by Jonathan Majors at the end of time. “He Who Remains” is the true creator of the TVA and has been ruling it in secret from afar for thousands of years with the help of his AI creation: Miss Minutes. “He Who Remains” is the only one holding together the TVA and preventing another multiversal war. The series poses a difficult question: rule the multiverse or plunge it into chaos?
A clash between Loki and Sylvie ends Season 1, where Loki is pushed through a portal by Sylvie, and Sylvie kills “He Who Remains” symbolized by a changed statue in the TVA’s HQ. The death of “He Who Remains” means the TVA has lost their leader and there is the potential of a multiversal war and massive chaos. The end of the season is left on a significant cliffhanger that is later explored in Season 2. If you haven’t already, I’d recommend watching the second season as the story continues to deliver in a variety of ways.
