‘Loki’ Recap: ‘Ouroboros’

10/6/2023

Written by John Edward Betancourt

(L-R): Ke Huy Quan as O.B., Wunmi Mosaku as Hunter B-15, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, and Owen Wilson as Mobius in Marvel Studios' LOKI, Season 2, exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Gareth Gatrell. © 2023 MARVEL.

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the Season Two Premiere of ‘Loki’. To revisit the Season One Finale, clickhere. Also, this piece was written during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Without the labor of the actors currently on strike, the series being covered here wouldn’t exist.

It is definitely safe to say that the Disney+/Marvel series, Loki, was one of the more unique shows to air in the last couple of years. Courtesy of the fact that this series… defied convention really. For it took the villainous Loki and presented him in a vastly different light. One that was tragic in nature, giving us a different perspective regarding this trickster, that managed to humanize him and prompt us to root for him and enjoy his journey toward learning to love and accept himself. Not to mention, it presented us with an organization that looked as though it was ripped from the pages of a comic book, since the TVA was quite the outlandish and retro place, and filled with mystery and those two elements really did offer us a quirky show that was off the beaten path but also… supremely enjoyable.

Not to mention, the show also introduced us to the next big bad in the MCU, Kang the Conqueror. Who came forth in the most unique manner possible, via fear and distrust and well, that amazing ending from ‘For All Time. Always.’ left us wondering what season two was going to look like. Since this story now had the potential to either take a more conventional road forward by having Loki battle the next great villain in this story… or… it could stay the course and keep things weird in all the right ways and at long last… we have our answer as to which way things are going to go. For yesterday saw the season two premiere drop on Disney+ and ‘Ouroboros’ quickly made it clear to us… that weird and unconventional storytelling will be the name of the game for season two, and that’s not a bad thing by any means.

Because weird made for one compelling episode, one that deepened the mystery of Kang’s reach, while giving Loki focus for this new season. And it accomplished all of those goals, by picking up almost immediately after Loki was purged from the palace of He Who Remains and well… Loki came to understand that he wasn’t traversing the multiverse following the collapse of its borders, but that he was in essence, traveling through time. Which helped him to understand that Kang had a grip on that as well, and that drastic action needed to be taken to stop Kang’s reach from causing more trouble. Which in this instance, involved… chaos. Because despite showcasing the trouble at hand, there was no consensus within the TVA on a way forward. Just a desire to go after Sylvie and place blame upon her. Which meant, that Loki needed to stabilize his ability to jump and keep her safe while formulating a plan with Morbius as to how to save all of the multiverse from a monster.

But of course… Loki needed to take one step at a time in such matters. And the priority here was to get the time jumps, or time slipping as it was officially referred to, to end. Which involved a delightful sequence involving a new character named Ouroboros, or O.B. as he liked to be called, who was played brilliant by Academy Award Winner Ke Huy Quan. Wherein O.B. deduced that the only way to keep Loki stable and in the fight, was to prune him from all other timelines, and focus his entity in the prime one. And in order to make that happen, Morbius had to step close to the source of the muiltverse, the Temporal Loom. To tether Loki to everything, which brought forth a thrilling and fun conclusion that saw Morbius risk his life for a new friend and saw Loki successful in his endeavors to stop slipping about the timestream. Checking one box off of his list in his fight to save all of time and multiverse space from a powerful, powerful monster.

All of which made, for an unconventional season premiere. Since this episode didn’t really offer up a specific plot or build toward the fight. It was just chaos and panic, and a desperate battle to stabilize the moment… and it was great. Because it made for a fun and unpredictable ride, one that ended in an epic manner as well, with the good news that Sylvie might be okay for the time being since she’s hanging out at a McDonald’s in an alternate Oklahoma and well, in the end, this was just a delightful adventure through and through. One that really did entertain and offer up more of what we love about this series. And now that Loki has fixed his little problem and now that Sylvie is safe, it will be interesting to see what kind of plan comes together to combat Kang’s influence over the TVA, and whether or not that plan will be successful, when one considers the power and reach of the one known as the Conqueror. Until next time.

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