It's the penultimate episode of Loki, and things have gone fully wacky n' weird. We're quickly given some answers as to where Original Loki has ended up – a relatively nondescript timeline known as ‘The Void', which seems like standard fare for Marvel. It has a bit of a Stalker-like ‘The Zone' attitude to it, but with a much more blunt and in-your-face malevolence from Alioth, the all-consuming gaseous devourer. It's revealed that pruning doesn't actually destroy all matter (it's closer to an interdimensional recycle bin), which means someone has to be dragging and dropping people into it. Once again, we have another link to Kang, as Alioth is one of Kang's greatest foes – this combined with Renslayer, messing with timelines, the idea of a ‘Sacred Timeline' points all fingers to Kang being the ultimate string-puller in our finale.
Off the post-credit stinger of last episode, there's more Lokis than you know what to do with. We've got Richard E. Grant's melancholic Classic Loki, poisoned by loneliness and self-loathing. There's Deobia Oparei's Boastful Loki, whose lies roll off his tongue like water off a duck's back. Hiddleston even plays an alternative 2012-Loki known as President Loki, a reference to Christopher Hastings' Vote Loki run. However, the most significant is Jack Veal's Kid Loki. To many casual MCU viewers, this is just another Loki variant, but fans of the comics and diehard MCU fanboys will know that we'll be seeing Kid Loki again, as he's an integral member of the Young Avengers. There's a lot of intrigue swirling around Ant-Man 3, as Kang's confirmed to appear in it alongside rumours of the early assembling of the adolescent super-teens, so where Kid Loki ends up and how is a question on many people's minds. However, undeniably the best Loki is and perhaps will always be Alligator Loki.
The Loki team continue to showcase their adoration for the comics and pop culture, as you'll find easter eggs literally scattered across the intrepid wasteland of The Void. Most notably is the THANOSCOPTER – THE THANOSCOPTER IN THE MCU? There's also a brief glimpse at Throg, our reptilian Thor in a jar, the mythical Polybius arcade cabinet tucked away in the Loki Lair, Thanos' ship from Endgame as they overlook Alioth, possibly the decapitated head of the Living Tribunal. It's a veritable feast for channels and MCU diehards to scan over, and I'm sure in the coming days we'll find more and more to dissect.
I said previously this could be the MCU's greatest endeavour yet. This episode goes above-and-beyond in telling you, yes, this is the best MCU project to date. Despite the wacky comical nature of Lokis backstabbing and arguing with one another, there's a rich emotional core that grounds us – Sylvie and Loki's moment of closeness, Mobius and Loki's beautiful reunion, Loki's acceptance of true friendship. The show has always been, at its heart, about self-reflection both literally and metaphorically – accepting yourself for who you are but also understanding that who you are can change. Like Mobius said, no one is ever truly bad or truly good – we are inherently chaotic beings, and chaos can be a powerful force for good. Just look at Loki.
Episode 5 of Loki is available now to watch on Disney Plus.
