‘Loki’ Recap: ‘Glorious Purpose’

Written by Shae Rufe

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the series premiere of ‘Loki’.
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‘Glorious Purpose’. Can we just take a moment to talk about how utterly brilliant this title was? Because, guys, come on, this is amazing. Alright, let’s just jump right in, shall we? Final warning for any spoilers for the new Loki show, beyond this point it is not safe!

Right, so, I will be the first to admit that I was not super hyped about this show. Don’t get me wrong, I was really excited about it, I had high hopes, but my big Marvel Show of the year had been The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. So, when I say that I was blown away by Loki, I genuinely mean I was blown away. This show is really worth the watch. Owen Wilson does an amazing job as Agent Mobius; Tom Hiddleston literally slays the role of Loki, and their comedic chemistry is utterly brilliant. Marvel has spared no expense when it comes to their shows. the cinematic quality of their set design, costumes, special effects, all of it is on par with any of their major motion pictures. The details have really paid off.

And in case anyone missed the tiny half second glance at Loki’s file, he is indeed Gender Fluid. Happy Pride Month!

We start with the bit in Endgame where Loki steals the Tesseract and bloops out of there so fast it’s not even funny. He ends up in a desert and is shortly apprehended by the TVA, the Time Variance Authority, where he is essentially processed and brought to trial. The whole thing is delightful, mostly because this is Loki from 2012, not the Loki who’s evolved and actually done a few good things. Loki actually pleads guilty at his case and more importantly, we get to learn about the Time Agency and the Time Keepers. Do I think this is leading into Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness? Yes, 100%.

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​Loki doesn’t get sentenced though, well he kind of does, and then Mobius steps in. Mobius brings him to a room and basically gives Loki a Psych Eval meets Therapy session. Loki actually gets to see how some of his actions pan out. Like the time he got his mother killed by Dark Elves. The entire time, Mobius has one important question for Loki, does he like to hurt people? He asks it multiple times. We know from earlier that Mobius is hunting something big. And no, it wasn’t Mephisto either. It’s obvious that Mobius is going to enlist Loki’s help, and before he can even get there, Loki escapes. Well, kind of. It turns out that magic doesn’t work in the TVA and neither do the Infinity Stones. Yes, you read that right. Infinity. Stones. It turns out that the TVA has a lot of them just sitting in a box from multiple timelines.

Loki ends up back in the room Mobius had brought him to originally and goes through the rest of the footage, or his file, or his life essentially. He sees his mother dead, again. Sees Odin tell him and Thor he loves them, before dying. Sees the fall of Asgard. He even sees he and Thor reconnecting. By the end of it, however, he sees his death at the hand of Thanos. Now, is this the catalyst, the change Loki really needs to be good? When Mobius finally finds him, Loki answers the question he’s asked all along. No, he doesn’t enjoy hurting people, it’s just part of the illusion of power and control and he’s been doing it his whole life. Loki is a Trickster, the God of Mischief. But is this his big breakthrough? Can he really be trusted? Considering that the Variant Mobius needs help hunting down is Loki, I genuinely doubt it.

Truthfully, there are multiple timelines at play, the Loki causing Chaos and the Loki Mobius needs help from are definitely from two different Multiverses. However, I do strongly believe Loki and Loki are going to team up at some point. Because, come on, how could they not? I suppose we will have to see as the show continues. It will be interesting to see what larger themes this show plays with. WandaVision was about grief, mental health, and trauma. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was about trauma and racism. I’m wondering if Loki will be about self-love, healing, and/or confronting oneself. With just five episodes left, I can’t wait to find out!

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