LOKI's Penultimate Episode Reveals The Past Lives Of TVA Agents And Teases Reality-Breaking Finale - SPOILERS

LOKI's Penultimate Episode Reveals The Past Lives Of TVA Agents And Teases Reality-Breaking Finale - SPOILERS

The latest episode of Loki is an absolute must-see, with the penultimate chapter setting the stage for a game-changing finale. Before we get to that, though, who were the TVA agents in their past lives?

By JoshWilding - Nov 02, 2023 10:11 PM EST
Filed Under: Loki

In a masterful 40 minutes of television, Loki's penultimate episode - titled "Science/Fiction" - finally reveals the past lives of our favourite TVA agents. 

We find Casey breaking out of Alcatraz on a branched timeline in 1962. He's a crook and not the hapless evidence collector who has proven so endearing since we first met him. As for Hunter B-15, she was a paediatrician in New York City in 2012. 

Then, there's Mobius. Sorry, Don. As many of you suspected, he did indeed sell Jet Skis - in 2022 - and even owned a couple. However, he's a single dad to two troublesome boys (his wife appears to have left him and their children) and not having much luck actually shifting the darn things. 

As for OB, way back in 1994, he's a scientist and wannabe science fiction writer who successfully builds a TemPad after Loki gives him the TVA Handbook. 

The God of Mischief encounters each of his old friends as he slips through time and eventually rounds them up ahead of reuniting with Sylvie. Unlike everyone else, she remembers her Variant and we learn the destruction of the Time Loom sent everyone back to where they should have been before He Who Remains plucked them from branched timelines to turn into his soldiers. 

While she's happy with her new life, that timeline soon undergoes spaghettification, with the effect spreading throughout the Multiverse as all these timelines start dying. Loki witnesses his friends die in front of him before mastering his time-slipping abilities and returning to the TVA seemingly right before Victor Timely tried and failed to save the organisation his Variant created.

Loki plans to "rewrite the story" and, if these new abilities stick around, he might just be the most powerful being in the Multiverse. Is this what He Who Remains wanted? If so, what does it mean for the Asgardian moving forward? Here's hoping we find out next week. 

Loki season 2 will pick up in the aftermath of the shocking season finale when Loki finds himself in a battle for the soul of the Time Variance Authority. Along with Mobius, Hunter B-15 and a team of new and returning characters, Loki navigates an ever-expanding and increasingly dangerous multiverse in search of Sylvie, Judge Renslayer, Miss Minutes and the truth of what it means to possess free will and glorious purpose.

The series stars Tom Hiddleston, Sophia Di Martino, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Wunmi Mosaku, Eugene Cordero, Rafael Casal, Tara Strong, Kate Dickie, Liz Carr, Neil Ellice, with Jonathan Majors, Ke Huy Quan and Owen Wilson.

Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead, Dan Deleeuw and Kasra Farahani direct episodes. The Head Writer is Eric Martin.

Five episodes of Loki season 2 are now streaming on Disney+.

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SonOfAGif
SonOfAGif - 11/2/2023, 10:05 PM
Not even an hour after the episode airs does Josh skip a beat to post a spoiler filled article. Never fails with this guy.
patmanqc
patmanqc - 11/2/2023, 10:14 PM
@SonOfAGif - Nobody made you click on the article
JoshWilding
JoshWilding - 11/2/2023, 10:21 PM
@patmanqc - I have the guy blocked, but it's weird, right? Why would you click on an article with spoilers to complain about spoilers being posted? Some of these people just live to bitch and moan...
SonOfAGif
SonOfAGif - 11/2/2023, 10:21 PM
@patmanqc - nObOdY MaDe YoU cLiCk On ThE aRtIcLe.
comicfan100
comicfan100 - 11/2/2023, 10:22 PM
@SonOfAGif - My guy, why would you click on an article before watching the episode if you knew it was here to be discussed?
SonOfAGif
SonOfAGif - 11/2/2023, 10:23 PM
@comicfan100 - I saw the episode. I'm not complaining about being spoiled. I'm just talking about how Josh as an editor loves to be the first to block his fellow editors from posting something. Even if it means spoiling someone for others. He will even post a spoilery thumbnail to piss people off
Clintthahamster
Clintthahamster - 11/3/2023, 10:22 AM
@SonOfAGif - The headline says, in big red letters, SPOILERS. The screenshot doesn't reveal anything that wasn't shown in the mid-season trailer. Everything's okay.
ShellHead
ShellHead - 11/2/2023, 10:12 PM
Finally glad to get some character driven and emotional conversation this episode. Loki having a reason for all this beyond just generic "I have to stop bad guy" was really missed in the first four episodes.

Still feels like this is all happening in like a day though. Like a short film extended over 5 and a half hours
SethBullock
SethBullock - 11/2/2023, 10:52 PM
@ShellHead - Yeah, and my problem with all of this story happening (apparently) in such a short period of time is that Loki was the villain we saw in the first Avengers movie just "a few days ago" and now he is this supernice guy who just loves all these TVA friends he really barely knows and wants to save the multiverse not just to rule it but to get that everybody has a great life, the most selfish thing he is thinking about now is having these new friends around back in the TVA.

I know the intention is to show that Loki has changed or that he never was really such a bad guy, but come on, he hasn't been in the TVA for too long and he was commanding a Thanos army to conquer Earth and kill anyone who dared to oppose him like a week ago in the show's time, or that has been my impression, he has not been there for months or for years to justify why he has changed so much and why he now loves all these TVA people when he would have had them all as slaves just a few days ago if he could.

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SauronthePower
SauronthePower - 11/2/2023, 11:20 PM
@SethBullock - he has lived countless days within a short span which is exactly the crux of what this show is about

Think microcosmic universes within a drop of water

If that doesn’t focus it, go listen to ‘Natural Science’ by RUSH

This represents EASILY Top 10-15 MCU and most definitely the single greatest hour of MCU television
Variant
Variant - 11/2/2023, 11:21 PM
@SethBullock - Just to reel the convo in a bit, this certainly hasn't been happening over the course of a couple days. But also, the character development here is actually quite brilliant. It shows someone like Loki not being so one dimensional. There is so much that has occurred between S1 and S2 that justify his motives for SEEMINGLY being good. He's a survivalist. And although he's mischievous at heart, does that mean he can't also have some compassion?
SauronthePower
SauronthePower - 11/2/2023, 11:22 PM
@ShellHead - see everything I wrote above ^^^

and I am on -record as absolutely detesting Season 1. The change in showrunners REALLY amped up the quality of writing this season
SauronthePower
SauronthePower - 11/2/2023, 11:25 PM
@Variant - 💯

He has lived almost a lifetime of activity within the confines of the compressed timelessness of the TVA

I REALLY think Feige is dripping out the multiverse threat-level with this one. The spaghettification smacked very similar to the ‘dusting’ in Infinity War and I do not feel that that is a coincidence

I feel like this episode is the gateway to unboxing Marvel’s macro strategy for the Multiverse Saga
Variant
Variant - 11/3/2023, 12:13 AM
@SauronthePower - Now this is the level of theory crafting I love to see!
whoknows
whoknows - 11/3/2023, 4:16 AM
@SethBullock - Thor changed after his time one earth, how long was he on earth without powers, and I feel like most shows and movies are only over couple days to weeks, unless you count old 22 episode shows like smallville that might give you a whole school year possibly but definitely most shows and movies takes place less than a month, some only a few days, and you have plenty of character growth. Hang over is like 2 days, I’d say Stu has a lot of character growth in those 2 days lol all jokes aside there really isn’t much time that passes in most movies but not many question the growth like some question lokis. And if it takes Joker just one bad day to turn into a mad clown. What can one Great say do? Surely one great test score after a semester of bad scores could motivate you to do your best in the next upcoming test. They say it takes two weeks to build a habit, that could be going from junk food to a healthy lifestyle, and that doesn’t mean it took 2 weeks for your to change, you took one day to change and kept up that change for 14 days until it became habitual. so how long do you really need for character growth?
kg8817
kg8817 - 11/3/2023, 7:00 AM
@whoknows - Couldn’t have said it better. Loki has been in dozens of hours of MCU stories by now. That person complaining is just trying to nitpick, but it doesn’t hold weight.
elcapitan
elcapitan - 11/3/2023, 9:11 AM
@SethBullock - overthinking it a bit? It’s entertainment. Just watch and enjoy.
SethBullock
SethBullock - 11/3/2023, 6:54 PM
@SauronthePower - Well, I didn't see that he has lived for countless days in the TVA, but idk, maybe I should watch Season 1 again, maybe I missed something showing he has been there for a really long time. 🤷‍♂️
SethBullock
SethBullock - 11/3/2023, 6:59 PM
@Variant - Maybe he could have some compassion on his heart, but certainly didn't look like that in the first Avengers movie where he commanded an army to conquer and slave humanity and was willing to kill anyone who opposed him, and that happened right before he arrived to the TVA in season 1.

And like I said before, maybe he has been in the TVA for a long time, idk, I didn't feel like he has been there for so long, maybe I should rewatch season 1 to see if I've missed something, but for me it feels like if all of this story has happened within just a few days max.
SethBullock
SethBullock - 11/3/2023, 7:03 PM
@whoknows - Thor was just a selfish asshole, but good at heart, Loki however wanted to conquer Earth and slave humanity and kill anyone who opposed him right before he was caught by the TVA, I don't think that could be compared to Thor's situation on his first movie. 🤷‍♂️
SethBullock
SethBullock - 11/3/2023, 7:10 PM
@kg8817 - "Loki has been in dozens of hours of MCU stories by now."

That's the original Loki, iirc this Loki variant was caught by the TVA right after stealing the tessaract in the Avengers tower, when he was stopped by The Avengers after trying to conquer Earth, after trying to slave human kind and kill anyone who opposed him, he had just caused all the destruction on Manhattan, he didn't seem to care much about all the people who could have been killed there.

He has not lived through all the stuff that original Loki went trough in Thor 2 and 3 or in the other MCU stories.
WarMonkey
WarMonkey - 11/4/2023, 5:47 AM
@SethBullock - I watched season 1 and don't recall anything about him being there longer than a couple days at most. He was there for a few hours before they showed him his future and he started to cry like a bitch and "changed" to a completely different character who does nothing but follow Sylvie around like a simp. I haven't bothered with season 2 as it sounds extremely boring so maybe they retconned the 1st season length?
SauronthePower
SauronthePower - 11/4/2023, 7:22 AM
@SethBullock - I think it’s supposed to be time spent on various escapades time-jumping and then he keeps returning to the same point in time when he time-cubes back to the TVA.

A lot of real, ‘lived,’ time elapses during those side journies but he is still only within the TVA for a few days because he keeps returning to the same origin point
SauronthePower
SauronthePower - 11/4/2023, 7:24 AM
@WarMonkey - I would agree that the Infinity War retcon to his character at the end of S1, Ep 1 was rushed, stupid, and unearned

However, Loki has MORE than earned his reclamation by now
WarMonkey
WarMonkey - 11/4/2023, 7:47 AM
@SauronthePower - I just don't see it. Loki was one of my favorite character arcs in all of the MCU up to IW where he tried to take out Thanos knowing it was a long-shot. I can't get passed thinking that Loki would have seen his future and instead of crying about and changing his ways he would have said "F that, I'm not going out that way. Thank you for showing me how I lose in the future so now I'll go harder and make sure I win."

Seeing him change completely so quickly and hanging out with office bureaucrats that he bonded super fast with is just something I can't get excited by. I was so super excited for Loki's show too and I've tried to enjoy it but I just can't. I keep forgetting that Loki the God of Mischief is in the show and not some other Tom Hiddleston character. I really really wish I could get past it cause I want to enjoy it. Like for me this show would be watching Hela all of the sudden become an angel of love cause she saw the future where she apparently died (I'm hoping they bring her back so put in apparently). And I know that's not the exact same cause she was gleeful about Odin's and death while Loki mourned.
whoknows
whoknows - 11/6/2023, 6:10 PM
@SethBullock - I disagree, because their both characters and can have arcs, and one could still say loki is not being completely altruistic, he doesn’t want to be alone but also if you look back at loki pre tv show, what did he want to be, a King, he had a lot of pride in being a God. I’d say his goal back then was influence and we could debate whether is exact goal still now is influence or that he’s turned from seeking out that influence directly and now he’s in a place where he will have way more impact than Thor, and even Odin. Loki God of stories, weaving stories through time.

But let say put all that I said aside and address what one of your points in a different way. One thing I think you forgetting is that the Scepter was influencing Loki, here’s an official statement that was on marvels site; “Gifted with a Scepter that acted as a mind control device, Loki would be able to influence others. Unbeknownst to him, the Scepter was also influencing him, fueling his hatred over his brother Thor and the inhabitants of Earth.“ this doesn’t absolve Loki of all his mischievousness but does highlight that he wasn’t as far gone as you’ve stated. This really isn’t that crazy of a character growth, at least not as unreachable as you make it seem.
Fanmar16
Fanmar16 - 11/2/2023, 10:18 PM
The Mobius thing was incredibly stupid and uninteresting, again a Marvel series stupidly simplifying any theory
Spidey91
Spidey91 - 11/2/2023, 10:30 PM
@Fanmar16 - what theory?
Variant
Variant - 11/2/2023, 11:23 PM
@Fanmar16 - You sound like one of those folks that doesn't understand something so they just call it stupid.
SauronthePower
SauronthePower - 11/2/2023, 11:28 PM
@Variant - or one trying to parlay forum-cred by nihilizing the theory as simplistic to their supposed intellect

This episode was a Grand Slam.

Showrunners completely hit it out of the park on this one
EskimoJ
EskimoJ - 11/3/2023, 4:48 AM
@Variant - Which is, of course, so ironic... 😂
comicfan100
comicfan100 - 11/2/2023, 10:21 PM
Loki officially the God of Stories. I knew it.
Spidey91
Spidey91 - 11/2/2023, 10:34 PM
If they stick the landing next week this is gonna go down as a top 5 MCU production for me, easily.
SauronthePower
SauronthePower - 11/2/2023, 11:30 PM
@Spidey91 - complete agreement

**(maybe Top 8, for me)
SauronthePower
SauronthePower - 11/2/2023, 11:13 PM
EASILY the single best episode of Marvel television to date
elcapitan
elcapitan - 11/3/2023, 9:13 AM
@SauronthePower - totally agree! Next level for Marvel TV
HeavyMetal4Life
HeavyMetal4Life - 11/2/2023, 11:14 PM
Excellent episode!
SauronthePower
SauronthePower - 11/2/2023, 11:33 PM
@HeavyMetal4Life - yes it was

They let the actors breathe and that slow-burned the emotional stakes involved with the multiverse saga.

This ep, to me, was like the first act of ‘Endgame,’ wherein they allowed the actors to drive the story by wallowing in the consequences of losing, and of loss.

Also, Owen Wilson has been the low-key MVP of this entire series. Funny thing is is that I have never really liked his schtick but he is absolutely on-fire with this material
kg8817
kg8817 - 11/3/2023, 7:05 AM
@SauronthePower - When he plays up at that emotion when the spaghettification happens and he says “I just need to go back to my son’s” that was some great acting, and IMO what the Multiverse saga needs to keep in mind.

You’re not telling a story of world ending stakes anymore, which already turns off people because of the power scale. Now you’re telling a universe ending story. Multiple in fact. People don’t understand that level of power, so they don’t find attachment in it. Would you care if the universe died? Yes, because whatever makes up YOUR world is in it. For Mobius, it was his sons.

Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars need to introduce all these characters, but keep the reason they’re fighting small. For Logan, a chance to keep the X-Men - his family - alive and together. For Tobey, MJ and maybe his daughter alive. For Tom Holland’s Spidey? Perhaps a chance to have those he lost remember him again. Thats what people grab on to.
SauronthePower
SauronthePower - 11/2/2023, 11:16 PM
I have been one to be highly critical of Season 1 (I calked it trash last year in these forums)

The past 4 episodes have been just simply flat-out escalating levels of exponential awesome and THIS episode just threw itnover the top

The acting was top-shelf, the story beats were note-perfect, and the emotional stakes were present and heart-tugging

This will easily go down in the books as a bellwether of Marvel quality
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