Loki series premiere has the God of Mischief being burdened with a ‘glorious purpose.’. The first episode premiered on Disney+ on June 9 and held up to its promising expectations.
The production design and score are unlike any other MCU films and series and fit the series perfectly. The series has a very Loki-like feels to it.
The first episode, titled ‘Glorious Purpose,’ begins in New York 2012 and takes us back to the time heist scene from Avengers: Endgame.
This acts as a refresher and an establishing plot point for the series. Whereas, the episode ending helps set up the direction the show could go in.
After escaping with the Tesseract, Loki is captured by the Timekeepers, led by Hunter B-15, in Gobi Desert, Mongolia. Hunter B-15 tells this Loki variant that he has committed ‘crimes against the Sacred Timeline.’
Loki ends up in the Time Variance Authority (TVA) headquarters, where he, along with the audience, is given a brief introduction of the TVA by Miss Minutes.
A few minutes later, we meet Agent Mobius M. Mobius in Aix-En-Provence, France, circa 1549, where he analyzes a Timekeeper squad’s murder scene in a cathedral. A guard notes that it’s the sixth attack in the last week.
When Mobius asks akid if he saw who murdered the squad, the kid points at a glass-painted window of the devil with horns, already setting up for the big reveal of the series ‘villain.’
Mobius rushes back to the TVA when he finds out that Loki is on trial for creating a branch in the timeline. Loki is presented in front of Judge Ravonna Renslayer, who calls Loki Variant L1130.
Loki refuses to plead guilty and argues that it only happened because the Avengers violated the timeline first. Renslayer counters this by telling him that the Avengers did what was supposed to happen. Loki question the TVA’s authority to dictate the official flow of time.
Loki is understandably annoyed. He is sentenced to be reset, but Mobius steps in and stops this. He tells Loki that he knows how powerful Loki is and what he’s capable of, despite not being able to use those powers in the TVA headquarters.
Loki gets to see bits of his life in the Time Theatre. His whole life is stored in a reel, and Mobius tells him that he knows everything about Loki’s past and future.
Loki insists on having free will and that his actions are his alone and not as something that was destined to or supposed to happen.
Loki breaks down in tears when he sees what was in store for him, had he not decided to escape S.H.I.E.L.D. custody. Loki sees Frigga and Odin’s deaths, Ragnarok, his reconciliation with Thor, and eventually his death at the hands of Thanos.
Loki tells Mobius that he doesn’t enjoy hurting people; he does it because he feels that he’s had to as it’s part of the illusion he must maintain. He calls himself a villain, to which Mobius disagrees.
Mobius reveals that another dangerous Loki Variant is killing his agents, and he needs this Loki’s expertise to track the dangerous one down.
The final scene of the episode takes us to Salina, Oklahoma, in 1858. Near a barn and surrounding field damp with oil, the Timekeepers find an anachronistic shovel. They dismiss it as not being important and set a reset charge, but before they can set it off, a mysterious cloaked figure appears.
The mysterious person throws a lantern to the ground, igniting the field to burn all the Timekeepers. If our deductions are correct, this is the dangerous Loki variant that Mobius tells the TVA Loki about.
Where does this lead us now, and what to expect from the two Loki variants?
Mobius says that the TVA has a record of everything in the ‘Sacred Timeline.’ Hence, it might be safe to assume that the branches are a threat based on a hypothesis that the TVA has no records of where exactly the branched futures lead.
This would result in total chaos in the timeline as there would be no predictable flow and, therefore, an unforeseen future.
TVA needs Loki to help them because who else could understand the God of Mischief better than himself?
Now, what if this rogue Loki variant is the same Loki, i.e., Variant L1130. And over the course, he realizes that because the TVA cannot see his future to set him on a ‘path,’ he really is in control of his own actions.
Maybe, the dangerous Loki variant isn’t a villain at all but just set out to destroy the TVA, as, throughout the episode, the first variant struggles to accept that TVA controls everything. Dangerous Loki has only been killings agents of the TVA, with perhaps a plan to lead a future where destinies aren’t predetermined.
Other theories range from fans suspecting the true villain to be various other versions of Loki like Lady Loki, Kid or Teen Loki, President Loki (who appears in the trailer), etc.
Multiverses are in play as well, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if Loki makes an appearance in Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness.
Cast
| Tom Hiddleston | Loki |
| Owen Wilson | Mobius M. Mobius |
| Erika Coleman | Florence Schaffner |
| Gugu Mbatha-Raw | Ravonna Lexus Renslayer |
| WunmiMosaku | Hunter B-15 |
| Sophia Di Martino | – |
| Richard E. Grant | – |
| Tara Strong | Miss Minutes |
About Loki
Loki is an American TV series created by Michael Waldron for Disney+ and Marvel. It is based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name and is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with events of the series taking place after Avengers: Endgame.
Tom Hiddleston reprises his role as Loki along side new faces like Owen Wilson, Gugu Mbatha Raw, Wunmi Mosaku, Sophia Di Martino, Richard E. Grant, Sasha Lane, Eugene Cordero and Erika Coleman.
After stealing the Tesseract in Avengers: Endgame, Loki is apprehended by the mysterious Time Variance Authority (TVA) and their Time-Keepers. Loki is given a choice between fixing all the timelines he broke with the Tesseract and death at the hands of the TVA.
No Comments on Loki Is Burdened With A Glorious Purpose In Disney+ Series Premiere