Even in a six-episode arc, "Loki" somehow found time to sidestep the momentum it had built for itself after two episodes in favor of a still-appreciated character-building story to give us an up-close look at Lady Loki (played by Sophia Di Martino quite nicely). I did not expect a slowed-down episode, but I have a sneaking suspicion a lot of subtle hints were sprinkled throughout the dialogue that will come back into play later and prove quite important. In fact, we did get one nugget of information that thickens the plot quite a bit. More on that later.
After we watch a short-lived action scene that continues from the end of last week's episode, Loki and Lady Loki barrel through the TVA in an attempt to reach the Time Keepers, clobbering any guards along the way. I love how the TVA agents are impervious to all magic in the entire universe, but they apparently don't know the first thing about hand-to-hand combat. Seriously, if getting beaten up is your ONLY vulnerability, why wouldn't you, I don't know, train harder?
Eventually the two Lokis get cornered in a hallway, and 2012 Loki is forced to get them out by opening a random time portal. They end up on a planet called Lamentis-1 at a point in time way in the future (even the future for Lady Loki, based on what we know of her so far, anyway). With a giant cracked moon hanging low in the sky, Lamentis-1 is immediately interesting. A meteor shower is threatening the planet. A lone hermit with a giant gun hides out in her shack in the middle of nowhere (not to be confused with"Knowhere" like in Guardians of the Galaxy (bad joke, I know)). Later we see a dining room on a train that knacks of cantina scenes from Star Wars.
The planet was begging to be developed, like a lore-enriched locale. The planet's exposure didn't overstay its welcome, which probably makes it all-the-more alluring (sometimes less is more). And for those of you screaming at me while reading this, I'm sure there are plenty of comics that explore Lamentis-1 in greater depth (such as its connection to the Kree, X-Men and other major events), but I'm not concerned about any of that at this point. I only care about the planet's place in this show and the MCU, and this Lamentis seems to be on its way out. Who knows, maybe Loki saves the planet next week and creates a huge time branch (to the chagrin of the Time Keepers, I'm sure), which may connect to Doctor Strange or Kang the Conqueror or...no one really knows at this point.
The point of this whole sidestep episode, of course, is to get insight into Lady Loki. We find out Lady Loki's alias name is Sylvie (her actual name in the comics). She's a version of Loki who knew she was adopted the whole time. It's ironic that these two are paired together, because Sylvie and Loki would be a perfect match for each other (instead of this "Lucky bow" postman who apparently is at the end of the rainbow for Sylvie). They both deflect deep emotions once the conversation gets too close to home. They both try to outwit their counterpart - such as their attempts to define whether love is hate or mischief - and they both have ulterior motives to their ulterior motives. She "lacks vision" and is hesitant to work with 2012 Loki, but he eventually wins her over as he always does. On the train, Loki starts singing a soft love song like he's Aragorn from Lord of the Rings and goes off on a love metaphor using a dagger. Sylvia slowly lets her guard down, which likely means our 2012 Loki will get the better of her when the final cards are on the table.
After the train ride, we do get to see a neon glow-in-the-dark spaceport during the episode's final act. With the planet's demise imminent and debris flying every which way in a spectacular-looking scene (though the CG wasn't perfect in a couple of spots), Loki and Sylvie head for the Ark, the planet's last hope for escape. But a giant meteor crashes into the ship, and Tom Hiddleston perfectly conveys the hopeless defeat in the moment for Loki as all chances of escape are dashed.
Then the camera pulls away, and that's the end of the episode. Pretty harsh ending, but I suppose a cliffhanger like that keeps the fun going.
So what about that golden nugget?
At the beginning of the episode, Sylvie pulls an inception trick on one of the TVA guards to find the best way to get to the Time Keepers. When she's describing how she did this to Loki on Lamentis, she mentions that the TVA guard she mind-controlled once had a life outside of the TVA. This, of course, contradicts what 2012 Loki was told earlier in the season, which is that all TVA agents are created in the TVA.
Translation? Even the TVA guards are variants of themselves, but they don't know it. And what this could mean going forward is fascinating.
First of all, we're completely vulnerable to the idea that no one is really who they started out to be. Any character now can be a variant. I suspect Mobius is already on this train of thought about himself, but that's purely speculation.
Secondly, it's interesting that the female guard that Sylvie mind-controlled still had those memories from hundreds of years ago outside the TVA. Do variants keep memories of the original? If Sylvie is a variant of Loki, but she had a completely different life growing up, does she know about 2012 Loki's past (It seems she doesn't)? While I'm on the subject, what exactly created her timeline anyway, and when did it happen? Is 2012 Loki even the original Loki?
Thirdly, I wonder if the Skrulls are going to play a factor in this at some point. I easily could see a Skrull pretend to be a variant of someone, which would add another chaotic variable into whatever all of this is building towards.
Something interesting to remember: when Loki first arrived at the TVA, they were going to "reset" him. What does that mean exactly? Does someone who is reset still have memories of their previous version? It'd be crazy if we get into some West World territory, which is an awesome HBO show. But resetting is different than, say, "pruning the branches," which implies wiping out of existence altogether. Seems like Loki's part to play is pretty significant if the Time Keepers/TVA deemed him worth keeping around.
Notes:
-I didn't love the hip-hop techno song at the beginning of the episode.
-Even when the show isn't trying to be comedic (Owen Wilson didn't appear in the episode at all), it's still funny. Sylvie's line about needing a little bit of power for inter-dimensional power and several other quips and exchanges kept the light-hearted feel going.
-Seeing the Lamentis moon gave me Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. flashbacks, and I'm glad it did.