Loki Spoiler Recap: Lamentis
You know how you can spot good writing?
Good writing is when a story strikes that perfect balance between furthering ongoing character arcs and story arcs while filling in the world around the main action.
Which means I can say, without a doubt, that Loki has good writing. Excellent writing, even.
This week, the episode opens right where we left off last week. Or almost, anyway. We see the Loki Variant enjoying what looks like a frozen margarita with C-20 at some kind of run down, health-code-violating bar. What starts as light-hearted banter turns unnerving when the Variant starts asking C-20 about the Time-Keepers and how to find them. She almost loses control of the situation a couple of times but ultimately gets the answers she wants. We knew she would, given what C-20 said last week about telling the Variant where to find the timekeepers, but it’s how it happened that’s of interest, and will come back into play later. For now, all we know is that the two of them were never at the bar, it was just the Variant pulling some kind of enchantment on C-20.
The time door the Variant and Loki disappeared through last week opens up onto the TVA, where she tries to get to the Time-Keepers, Loki tries to get her to talk, and everything goes wrong when Ravonna Renslayer catches them. When Loki realizes that the Variant is prepared to kill him and the TVA couldn’t care less, he snatches the TemPad and drops himself and the Variant into one of the apocalypses she has saved.
Unfortunately, the one he picks is just about the worst one possible: Lamentis-1, in the year 2077. But not only are they lost in the future (technically, I guess, since time is relative and all that), they’re stuck on a moon on the verge of destruction with a TemPad that is officially out of battery.
Given that their only two options are to kill each other or form a truce, Loki and the Variant - who tells him her name is not Variant, or Loki, but rather Sylvie - decide on the latter. Or rather, he forces the issue by concealing the TemPad somewhere on his person while they look for a power source large enough to charge it.
In their search, a lone resident of Lamentis-1 tells them that anyone looking to evacuate is headed to “The Arc”, which is accessible by the train at the edge of town, but warns them that they’re unlikely to be able to get tickets. But since when has common sense or advice ever stopped Loki?
The whole next sequence was my favourite part of the episode, both because it showcased the strengths of this series so well, and it also made a larger point about the MCU that I think has been really prevalent in Phase 4.
What this series has done very well, and what it continues to do, is it allows for quiet moments amidst all the bombast to allow characters to sit down and talk. To process their feelings, and reflect on things. It actually lets things slow down once in a while.
Rather than building out the mystery of Sylvie’s powers, we get an answer on how they work in this very episode. Though once we learned it works by touch, I started to get very nervous anytime she put her hands on Loki.
While on the train - after Loki sneaks them on board - they actually sit down long enough to have a conversation about their mothers, how Loki loved his and Sylvie barely remembers hers. They talk about love for crying out loud. Love. Almost every Marvel movie has a love interest of some kind, but I think this is only the second time I’ve ever seen love depicted in the MCU with such emotional sincerity (the first is WandaVision, obviously) and they didn’t even say anything much on the subject. Just how hard it is to find something deep and meaningful with someone else.
Also of note, this episode canonizes the fact that Loki is bisexual, something that was very important to showrunner Kate Herron. This is a small step in the right direction for representation, and I appreciate how naturally that detail was included while also making it explicit. A far cry from Disney’s quarterly announcement of their First Ever Gay Character who has maybe one line of dialogue, but may or may not have a name? Looking at you, Endgame.
On a larger story scale, one thing we’ve seen throughout Phase 4, with WandaVision, and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, is that whatever approach the Avengers had in any given scenario is wildly different from how the rest of the universe deals with things.
Wanda is left to wallow in her grief after the war she was dragged into took everyone and everything away from her, and then almost killed when she tries to cope the only way she knows how. Bucky and Sam (and hell even Zemo) are left reeling after the Avengers cause widespread damage then walk away as if nothing has happened. They are all considered cogs in a larger machine. A machine that doesn’t especially care about them as an individual. Their respective series, then, became about them claiming their individuality and identity in a world that couldn’t care less.
Loki has been many things in the MCU. He has been a foil, a villain, a reluctant ally and finally a Revenger. He was never the principal character, despite the charisma and talent of Tom Hiddleston elevating him beyond supporting character status. And now, in his first ever solo outing, he is continuing in that Phase 4 tradition of putting himself first.
Where am I going with this? The scene where Loki and Sylvie go to board the train, they bypass a long line of miners and families who are being held back by the guards so wealthy patrons can board the train instead. This is not anything new. We’ve seen this class divide in countless pieces of media. What makes this scene unique though is that Loki and Sylvie make absolutely no attempt to help anyone else get on the train. They’re not interested in that. All that matters to them is getting themselves on board. They don’t even think twice about it. They barely comment on it. This was especially jarring because you know if this was one of the Avengers, they would have tried to help everyone. They would try and focus on the larger scale of things. But the large scale is not what Phase 4 is about. Phase 4 is more personal, more selfish, and I think this scene exemplifies that beautifully.
It doesn’t make a difference if everyone gets on that train or not because as far as the timeline is concerned, everyone on the moon - train passenger or not - is about to die. So why go against their own self-interest for a fight they know they won’t win.
It is the same kind of call that Wanda has to make when giving up her family. Granted, hers is a selfless decision, but it’s because she knows she can’t win the fight otherwise. It’s a little grayer in Falcon and the Winter Soldier because they are still trying to make that heroic, large-scale decision. But the higher global stakes mean that once again, for all that they’ve saved the world, people down the line will still be hurt by the ramifications. And in a more intimate, character focused Phase 4, I would be very surprised if that wasn’t explored further.
One more element I want to shout out this week before I wrap up is the set design, in particular the port city where the Arc is located. It was bright and thoroughly overwhelming, but also so personally nostalgic. I grew up in the 90’s and 00’s, where blacklight paint was a huge deal and seemed to be everywhere when it came to places designed to keep children entertained. The entire set felt so much like the glow-in-the-dark minigolf that used to be down the street from my house that I could practically smell it. All this to say that the visuals this week felt very unique even for the MCU and it was a welcome break from the 50 shades of brown at the TVA.
Lingering thoughts:
Loki can’t sit backwards on trains. Honestly, same.
Last week it was Latin, this week it was drunk singing in Asgardian. What language will Loki speak next week?
We learn that C-20 had a life before joining the TVA and that everyone who works for the TVA is a Variant who was probably made to forget their life before. I cannot wait to see how this comes back up.
Worth pointing out, as I discussed with a friend, that in the lone mention of the inequality on Lamentis, Loki does sound upset about it. Character growth? In my MCU? Love to see it.
The final thought I leave you with is this: we got absolutely no mention of the fractured Sacred Timeline this week. It wasn’t even in the “previously on” portion. Is it because it has yet to alter the timeline fully, and Loki and Sylvie are still within it? And for that matter, now that the Arc is destroyed, and their chances of getting out just got more complicated, is it possible they won’t even be able to return to their version of the present at all? Or does the TVA, as we suspect, truly operate beyond the realm of Time and Space?
Loki airs Wednesdays on Disney+. Check back here every week for our spoiler recap at noon Eastern.
