Loki Episode 1 introduces us to the TVA, the Sacred Timeline, and a lurking villain. The God of Mischief finds himself in a new world.
Loki begins right at the point where he escaped with the Tesseract in Avengers: Endgame. The first episode straight away makes many things clear to us. But at the same time, it gives us a lot of things to think about till the next episode arrives. From the TVA to the Time-Keepers to a new Devil, there is more to it all than meets the eye.
Watch: Marvel Studios’ LOKI | EPISODE 2 PROMO TRAILER | Disney+
The Past (2012) – The God of Mischief in Mongolia
Nothing is a coincidence with Marvel, even Loki arriving at a desert in Mongolia after escaping with the Tesseract. The place has a history with En Sabah Nur AKA Apocalypse where he fought through a horde of Mongols in the 12th century. Nur found a celestial ship, controlled by the A. I Prosh that was created millennials by the Celestials, the same group of cosmic beings who created the Eternals.
The Present- Loki Variant at the TVA Headquarters
Loki is brought to the Time Variance Authority on the charges of breaching the Sacred Timeline. He is told that TVA ensures that the past and future of everyone follows the proper flow. We come to know about the original Time-Keepers, a body of 3 “Space lizards” who formed the Scared Timeline. They also created the Time Variance Authority to ensure its safety. We get the true meaning of a Variant as one who strays off the Sacred Timeline. This breach is called a Nexus event which if left unchecked can lead to a multiversal war.
Interestingly, Scarlet Witch is a Nexus Being and so is the demonic Elder God Chthon who gave her the Chaos Magic. In the comics, Wanda’s ability to warp reality would form a breach in the timeline for Chthon to arrive at Earth. This might be the very multiversal war that Miss Minutes mentions.
In that same scene, we also see a Skrull Variant. While there is not much to discuss, this seems to be a step by Marvel to set the stage for the Secret Invasion show in the works. The Secret Invasion comic storyline does deal with Skrull Variants.
The Past (1549) – The Devil
The scene where we get to meet Agent Mobius for the first time tells us that there is someone more “mischievous” than Loki here. The year is 1549, the location is France and someone who, like Loki, has broken away from the sacred timeline is on the loose and very dangerous. Although Mobius later reveals that it is none other than another Loki variant, it seems unlikely. The little girl points to an image, of what appears to be the Devil, on a glass window.
The Present – The Interrogation of Loki
“If looks could kill,” says Agent Mobius as Loki variant and he, both sit down for a formal interrogation. While it seems like a jab at Loki for the people he has had fun killing, there is another side to it. What if Mobius did mean it in the way we use it i.e. to appreciate looks? We already know of the bromance, that is making rounds among fans, between Loki and Mobius. We also know that Loki’s gender-fluid sexuality will be explored in the show. So, is this some kind of a nod to that?
Mobius mentions that he specializes in the pursuit of “particularly dangerous variants.” And Loki appears to be a “pussycat” compared to them. A relatable example is again, Kang the Conqueror who is notorious for breaking the Sacred Timeline multiple times.
Mobius shows Loki his future, including the death of his mother using a projector device. Mobius then leaves for a “situation.”
Loki Realizes the Truth About TVA
He escapes in search of the Tesseract. But instead ends up in awe at the superiority of the TVA, “the greatest power in the universe,” when he discovers infinity stones lying in the drawer of a guy who has a desk job at the TVA. None of them work and neither does the Tesseract because that is the way things work at the TVA. It makes us stop to think as well for a few seconds. So many infinity stones mean that all of them were recovered from Variants who breached the Sacred Timeline! Wait what?!
With nowhere to go, Loki returns to the room and uses the device, only to see the death of his father as well as of himself. All this makes no sense to him but us. We are watching, from the TVA’s perspective, the things that have already happened. But Loki, who is a variant, cannot fathom all this because, for him, none of these has happened.
Mobius returns to the interrogation room to find a broken Loki who, for the first time, reveals his true self to Mobius and us all. “It’s the cruel, elaborate trick conjured by the weak to inspire fear.” and asks him a favor. And that is his help in finding out another fugitive Loki variant who is wreaking havoc across the Sacred Timeline.
The Past (1858) – The Devil Returns
Rewind to Oklahoma in 1858, a group of TVA’s Minutemen are killed by an unknown being who seems to have used a time machine, belonging to the early 3rd millennium (present) to travel back with a motive. And from the looks of it, he was not there for gold as thought by the Minutemen. This hooded figure, is he the Loki variant? Or is he Kang? Or is he someone else? The first episode throws many questions at us to think about until the second one arrives on June 16th.
Marvel Breaches Reality
The first episode also connects to reality multiple times. By doing this, Marvel add one more layer to the show.
Goldman Sachs
During the scene where Loki is brought into the TVA headquarters, a TVA guard brings in a guy who claims to the son of a board member of Goldman Sachs. And as a matter of fact, Goldman Sachs acted as the financial advisor to Walt Disney when it made the deal with Marvel (whose financial advisor was Merrill Lynch i.e. Bank of America).
D.B. Cooper
Marvel takes another dig at a real incident in the interrogation scene. Mobius shows a clip of Loki hijacking a plane to Seattle using a bomb for a ransom before jumping off and vanishing into thin air (thanks to Heimdall and his Bifrost portals.) This is exactly what happened in the case of D.B. Cooper, the unidentified man who hijacked a Boeing 727 between Portland and Seattle. He collected his ransom at the Seattle-Tacoma airport along with 4 parachutes and jumped off the place somewhere over south-western Washington. Despite a large manhunt and an investigation by the FBI that lasted 45 years, there is no update regarding the man’s identity or fate. The name D.B. Cooper was a result of news miscommunication of the alias of the man, Dan Cooper, the name he used while purchasing the flight ticket.
