FULL SPOILERS AHEAD

We’re now halfway through Loki, and the previous episodes have left us with several answers but even more questions. The fourth episode, “The Nexus Event,” is no exception to this, raising the stakes and introducing some characters I’ve been waiting for. So let’s not waste any more time!

We open with a flashback to a young Sylvie getting nabbed by the TVA for undisclosed time crimes. At her trial, she steals Ravonna’s time-travelling device, the TemPad, and escapes into the timeline. Back on Lamentis-1, turns out I was wrong and Loki and Sylvie are indeed facing their deaths. They share a moment together, and that somehow overpowers the impending apocalypse and creates a nexus event that the TVA uses to find them. The two are captured, and Loki’s imprisonment includes being trapped in a looping memory of Sif (Ms. Jaimie Alexander) kneeing him in the balls. Mobius tries to get information out of Loki, but what he gets is the truth that all the TVA agents are actually brainwashed variants. He’s doubtful of that, but Hunter B-15 believes it after seeing glimpses of her previous life when Sylvie briefly enchanted her back in episode 2. Mobius eventually believes Loki after stealing Ravonna’s TemPad and watching the debriefing the TVA gave to Hunter C-20, the agent that Sylvie got information on the Time-Keepers from. She fully remembered her life before all this, and was apparently killed for it. Mobius tries to stand up for Loki, but he gets disintegrated–“pruned” as the TVA calls it. Loki and Sylvie are brought before the Time-Keepers, but Hunter B-15 steps in to aid the variants. The agents are defeated with B-15 and Ravonna is knocked out. Sylvie attempts to kill one of the Time-Keepers, but it turns out they’re just robots. Loki tries to confess his feelings to Sylvie, but he gets pruned by Ravonna. Sylvie holds off on killing her, demanding answers.

But this episode has a mid-credits scene! Turns out Loki survived somehow and is found by an interesting cast of characters: a Loki wearing the classic comics costume from the 60’s (Richard E Grant), a Kid Loki (Jack Veal), a black Loki with a hammer credited as “Boastful Loki” (Deobia Oparei), and a little alligator with a Loki crown. Not sure if that’s Kid Loki’s pet or a fourth version of Loki.

One theory going around is that the TVA is controlled by Kang, a time-travelling Avengers foe who is officially set to debut in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. I’m not sure I believe this, but you know what character in the show has a sordid history in the comics with Kang? Ravonna Renslayer! First appearing in Avengers #23 (1965), she was the daughter of King Carelius of Earth from the 40th century. She caught Kang’s attention, who kidnapped the Avengers at that point in the 20th century–Captain America, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, and Quicksilver–so he could fight them, proving his strength to her. Kang’s refusal to kill Ravonna made his guards turn against him, because sure, why not. Ravonna professed her love for him–it’s a comic in the 60’s, so the portrayal of women wasn’t the best–right as she gets killed by the guards. But Kang is a master of time, and later he would rescue her right before her death, leaving her in a half-alive state. Ravonna would be revealed to be alive and kicking in Avengers Annual #21 (1992) thanks to the Grandmaster–yes, the same guy from Thor: Ragnarok–and had sworn a vendetta against Kang for choosing to kill the Avengers over saving her in a different battle. She was presumed dead as of Avengers Forever #3 (1998) and hasn’t appeared since, but there’s always the possibility she’ll pop out of the timeline at some point, especially after appearing in Loki.

Okay, so I was wrong about the destruction of Lamentis-1 being an illusion cast by Loki (unless everything in this episode is also a part of that, which is too much to believe). But back in episode 1 I did suggest that Richard E Grant could be an older Loki! I refer to him in that post as Ikol, which I explained–along with Kid Loki–during episode 3. Boastful Loki has the internet scratching its head since there hasn’t been (to the best of my knowledge) a black Loki in the comics. The interesting hammer he wields is also an unknown. Could it be that reality’s version of Mjolnir? Or was there a Fear Itself-style event where multiple people got hammers of power, and that Loki was one of them? And is that little alligator (or crocodile, I’m not knowledgeable enough to tell the difference) a pet or yet another Loki? I imagine next episode should give some more answers!

Previous: Lamentis
Next: Journey into Mystery

---

Follow Me Elsewhere

• WordPress
• Twitter
• Facebook