And, the second episode of ‘Loki’ is here – “The Variant”. This episode-wait felt more like a month than a week… Well, make that two months. It didn’t feel as bad as we had to wait for the series to begin, but it was close. Then again, rarely has a series pilot started off so well that we couldn’t wait to watch the next one almost instantly. And the wait, DEFINITELY DID NOT DISAPPOINT (Capitals for emphasis). Marvel being Marvel dropped the episode with loads of references and blink-and-you-will-miss Easter eggs. The info dump in this episode is nuts and there is plenty to nit-pick here (then again, you can do that with any Marvel “product”), so we decided to pick out 9 of the most important references and call-backs which we will either be important in the series going forward, important in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) in general or in other MCU projects (Because explaining every reference in detail would probably take us a week, at least):
Green & Gold
There it is again, Green and Gold Marvel logo. We didn’t mention it in our previous Easter eggs video because we thought it would be a one-off, but it has happened again. Also this episode has a lot of green and gold mixed in together as well. With the Marvel logo change, we expect a colour change to happen by the end of this season, but what colours though?
Also green and gold is the colour scheme of our Variant Loki (and other variant “Loki(s)”) as well.
The Time Travel Conundrum
There was a brilliant blink-and-you-will-miss moment. Well, there were several but this one was one of the more interesting ones out there. When Miss Minutes was going back into her PC, there was a review question (a proper question with three multiple choice questions) for Loki on it which will have us questioning about the rules of Time Travel (at least, within the MCU). Here’s the abridged version down below:
Question:- Thanos has 2 apples, which he eats because he is hungry. Realizing he wants more, he goes back in time to eat those two apples again. Does this mean that the apples will not have existed in the timeline he left?
Choices:-
(i) No, because time is constantly flowing.
(ii) The question doesn’t matter because a branch cannot change another time branch.
(iii) When Thanos time travelled, he would have felt hungry again, as the mass of the apples which he ate first would vanish once he moved back in time AKA The Grandfather Paradox.
A brilliant, thought provoking question.
The first option is a brilliant call-back to the explanation of time travel in Avengers: Endgame. This was later confirmed by The Ancient One in the same film.
The third option is the “debunked theory” (by Hulk) within the same movie, which follows the logic of ‘Back To The Future’.
But surprisingly, the second option is the highlighted one on Loki’s screen and that makes this quite interesting. The second option doesn’t say that the first option is wrong, but in a way expands on it. Does this mean there is more to option number (i) and we are just scratching the surface of time travel?
Hopefully, we will get an explanation of this theory within the series itself, as there is a lot of time traveling done here.
The “Loki” Mythos
Ha Loki! Turns out Loki has been running afoul of the TVA since its inception. Why are we not surprised? Does this mean Loki rarely keeps his “Tom Hiddleston” form? Did he regularly change his physical attributes before the ‘Thor’ movie? Or are there different versions of Loki to begin with? How does that work? So many questions.
TVA Technology
The Variant Loki has been stocking up on “Reset Charges” for some time now, and we are shown what she does with it at the end of this episode. But it goes to show that TVA’s technology is powerful enough to affect the timeline on their own. It is both scary and awe-inspiring, but that begs the question – what is this technology? How is it made? And what is the energy within the capsules of the Charges that can create chaos in the “Sacred” Timeline.
The MCU TV Series Theme
Marvel TV shows have had some important themes – ‘WandaVision’ talks about depression, grief and self-harm. ‘The Falcon and The Winter Soldier’ talks about equal opportunity, racism and unchecked power. ‘Loki’ talks about God/religion, fate/destiny and free-will. Each series talks about very important things and the way they are tackled is brilliant to see. This makes us wonder if this is a recurring theme for all MCU TV shows or all Phase 4 Projects as a whole. We will have to wait and see.
Mobius, Loki & TVA Propaganda
Mobius and Loki get a lot of screen time together in this episode. We see Loki make a friend, or at least acknowledge that another person exists with intelligence and it is brilliant to watch them do a back and forth. Even if it is TVA propaganda.
Loki’s scepticism and Mobius’s acceptance of the law of his “TVA universe” is very similar to an atheist and a believer of God who is talking about the topics of fate and religion, but that’s another thing that makes this show great. We believe there is more of Mobius to come and hopefully, we will get to see him in other MCU projects.
Also, the TVA propaganda. We see it in more vivid detail in this episode and we expect a very cult-like head at the top who is managing the whole of TVA. This is because even Mobius, who has worked with the TVA for a long time, has not seen the Time Keepers, so either they don’t exist, or they are not in charge of the TVA currently. We should see a resolution to this theory by the end of ‘Loki’.
Hey, Roxxcart… I mean Roxxon!
Roxxon Corporation has made an appearance in ‘Agents of SHIELD’, ‘Daredevil’, ‘Runaways’, and even ‘Cloak & Dagger’. There has even been a reference to it in the TV series, ‘Agent Carter’. This fictional global conglomerate is also a part of Marvel comics and has acted as adversaries to the Avengers in the past. In this episode, we are shown a huge megastore called Roxxcart in the year 2050. Looks like they are still going strong. We expect that this won’t be the last time that we see or hear about the Roxxon Corporation.
Time-travelling Superior Loki
First of all, let us acknowledge the fact that this is the first time we got to time travel into the future in an MCU movie or TV show.
And second, Superior Loki is right. Our Loki gets his ass handed to him by Sophia Di Martino’s portrayal of Loki, and she wasn’t even physically present during most of the ass-kicking. Also, the fact that Variant Loki says “This isn’t about you”, could mean that she is doing something that has nothing to do with any Loki in general. She just attacked the Sacred Timeline by literally bombing various locations and times with the reset charges she has been hoarding upon.
Cliff-hanger Numero Dos
Again, we end with a cliff-hanger. Granted the last episode of cliff-hanger was a name drop while this is a proper cliff hanger, we will still have to wait for a week for this cliff-hanger to make any sense. The Variant Loki dropped multiple “bombs” in various parts of the Sacred Timeline. And she walks out like a boss. And our Loki follows her. Her next move. Who knows? Why is she doing this? No idea. Do we want more? Hell yes.
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