Marvel recently dropped the second and final season of the hit show “Loki,” a part of the most recent era in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
So far, this recent addition to the MCU has been a booming success. The impressive CGI, cast and, most importantly, plot have re-engaged viewers who may have turned away from Marvel in recent years.
The series starts right back where the season one cliffhanger left us — Loki (Tom Hiddleston) is back in the Time Variance Authority (TVA), being pursued by Mobius (Owen Wilson) and other guards. It is then revealed that this hostile welcome didn’t happen without reason; Loki has in fact entered a different timeline. But that revelation is short-lived, as Loki is thrown back through time to the “correct” timeline. This resolves the prior season’s cliffhanger, and allows the focus to shift to the character development of Loki. This shift from the previous season, where Loki didn’t have that much autonomy and relied on the TVA, to a new start where Loki is taking charge and working with Mobius was an excellent way to develop Loki into a more dominant protagonist.
The show also introduces a different antagonist, He Who Remains (Johnathan Majors), who is fittingly made out to be the ultimate creator in all universes. Back in the right timeline, Loki and Mobius meet with a new character, Ouroboros AKA O.B., played by Oscar-winning actor Ke Huy Quan. Although O.B. is a technician in the TVA, he plays an integral role throughout the season, serving as the main brains behind the mission.
The mission in question is fixing the Temporal Loom, which will solve Loki’s time-slipping problem while simultaneously preventing every timeline from dying out. Right from the start, there is a lot of action and jumping around. While this seems like it would be difficult to follow, it was quite the opposite. There were many side quests that needed to be fulfilled in order to prepare for the big finale against He Who Remains: finding Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino), kidnapping Victor Timely who is in fact He Who Remains and assessing how to fix the timelines from being destroyed. Although this season threw new information, alternating perspectives and plot changes at the audience, it managed to keep the momentum of the show going so that viewers didn’t get completely lost.
The main thing that made this show easy to follow was the script. There were many serious moments, but pockets of lively dialogue changed the pace of each scene, adding variety to each interaction and making the show much more entertaining. For me, at least, I like having some humor incorporated into entertainment, so it was a nice blend of comedy and (im)mortal peril.
Another fun incorporation was the “Groundhog Day” time loops that Loki was trapped in in the season finale. Adding onto the lighthearted banter between characters, this obstacle in particular highlighted Hiddelston’s acting. Hiddelston was able to show the intense feelings that Loki was feeling, ranging from a comic exasperation to the situation he was in to a vulnerability that has never been seen from him. This point of the show was what really stuck with me, the way that Loki finally opened up and shared his feelings that even the audience was unaware of. It turned out that Loki was never a true villain, he was just alone.
In the end, Loki finds his “glorious purpose” that he has been searching for ever since his character entered the MCU, and in doing so, truly meets the definition of a redemption arc. Although it was heartbreaking to realize that Loki would be on his throne alone when all he wanted was to be reunited with his newfound friends, it was clearly a sacrifice that he was willing to make to ensure that every timeline would be safe.
With the curtains closing out on Loki, I’m expecting more from upcoming Marvel projects. This show has carried the franchise since the second season dropped, which should show Marvel what works and what doesn’t. For me, Loki was a hit — it created an extremely nuanced and powerful experience around just one character. I would say that this is certainly one of the best Marvel projects that I have seen since Endgame.
