Things are ramping up in the world of the TVA as worlds collide and enemies clash. Lots of reveals this week so expect plenty of spoilers in our Loki Season 1 Episode 4 recap, including spoilers for other Marvel shows and related Marvel films.
A quick recap of the previous episode kicked off Episode 4 with a highlight of the relationship between Judge Ravonna and Mobius, as well as a look at Sylvie’s enchanting powers and how they affected both C-20 and Hunter B-15. Loki and Sylvie’s adventure on Lamentis is also detailed with a reminder that the duo was left stranded with no way out of an impending apocalyptic event.
Escaping an Apocalypse
A pristine Asgard opens the episode where a young Sylvie plays with a toy ship in the palace. The peaceful moment is quickly interrupted with the appearance of Minutemen entering through a Time Door. Judge Ravonna is among them and personally takes Sylvie back to the TVA. Young Sylvie goes through the new variant process as we saw with Loki in the first episode, right down to her presentation in front of a judge. Sylvie pulls a quick one, stealing Ravonna’s TemPad and hopping through a Time Door. Cut to the present day where Ravonna enters the chamber of the Time Keepers.
A similar recounting of past events goes on over in Lamentis. As rocks plow through the planet and the world literally crumbles around them, Loki and Sylvie completely put their distrust and grievances behind them as they face their impending doom. Sylvie gives Loki a rundown of her abduction by the TVA and explains how she was on the run after her entire reality was erased. “The universe wants to break free, so it manifests chaos,” says Sylvie of her creation, giving credence to the nefarious goals of the TVA.
Realistically, Sylvie doubts their survival. Loki reassures her that a Loki will often lose, but a Loki will always survive. Off in the distance a massive rock slams into the ground creating a speeding wave of debris in all directions. The two brace for impact and hold each other close, causing an unusual Nexus Event that gets picked up by the TVA. The two are located and convenient Time Doors pop up, ready for escape. Captured, but not dead!
Dealing With the God of Mischief
Back at the TVA, Sylvie is taken in one direction and Loki is sent back to the original questioning room with Mobius. Without much discussion, Mobius tosses Loki through a red Time Door even after Loki yells to him that the TVA is lying. This time loop of a bad memory sees Sif, the Asgardian warrior from the first two Thor movies, enter the room with a fistful of her own cut hair before smacking Loki around. Whatever trick Loki pulled to cut her hair leads her to tell him he deserves to be alone, an insult he cares greatly for after repeated runs of the loop. By the end, Loki apologizes to Sif and claims he’s a narcissist who seeks attention. A somewhat sympathetic Sif helps Loki up but stands firm on her view of Loki.
At this point, Mobius yanks Loki back to the questioning room where he doesn’t believe Loki has anything meaningful to say about his newfound TVA realization. Loki goes into full-on deception mode stating he was pulling the strings all along having met with Sylvie long ago to devise a plan to take down the TVA. Mobius gets his own round of lies by sharing they’ve already pruned Sylvie, much to Loki’s disappointment. Seeing this reaction, Mobius realizes Loki has fallen for Sylvie and deems him the ultimate narcissist. Loki falling in love with himself, how fitting.
The persistent teasing gets Loki to fold and he screams out his secret. The TVA is made up of variants. All the workers are people plucked from throughout time to do the Time Keeper’s bidding. Seeing as this comes from Sylvie and her ability to see into people’s minds and memories, Mobius remains unconvinced and sends Loki away.
Realizations Galore
Meanwhile, Hunter B-15 is dealing with her own crisis. After having an encounter with Sylvie and her powers in Episode 2, B-15 is left confused and questioning her existence. B-15 enters the holding cell for Sylvie and takes her through a Time Door returning to an apocalyptic hurricane in 2050. There Sylvie explains she can’t create memories, she can only access what is already there. B-15’s memories are real and she is on board to help stop the TVA.
Mobius and Ravonna chat once again. As they celebrate the upcoming pruning of the Loki variants, Mobius manages to switch TemPads with Ravonna. In the library Mobius watches an interrogation tape where he sees C-20, the supposed unable to speak commander that was kidnapped by Loki in Episode 2, speak clearly about her realization that they’re all variants. Mobius has now jumped ship too.
A fully realized Mobius enters Loki’s time loop and both team up once again, this time to take on the TVA. Ravonna waits on the other end of the Time Door. The two confront each other and Mobius plays dumb, but only for a moment. Without much hesitation, Ravonna orders the pruning of Mobius. And just like that, he’s disintegrated.
A Meeting With the Time Keepers
Both Loki and Sylvie are pushed through the gold elevator doors with Ravonna at their side. The trio walk in the Time Keeper’s chamber and the three gods begin to speak. They offer the two a few final words before getting pruned, but this gives Sylvie a chance to deduce that the high beings floating in front of them are actually scared. Before things could proceed, B-15 appears at the elevator doors and disables the time controlling neck braces of the two prisoners, then throws a sharp sword Sylvie’s way.
A fight erupts. B-15 is knocked out, the two variants fight off a bunch of guards, and Sylvie disables a capable Ravonna. As a final act of defiance, Sylvie throws the knife at the head of the center Time Keeper only to realize they’re a group of mindless androids. As Loki reassures Sylvie they will figure it out and as he begins to profess his love, Ravonna prunes poor Loki. An angered Sylvie pins down Ravonna and demands to know everything.
Yes, there’s a post-credits scene! Loki awakens in a strange world and looks up to see three more Loki variants. One is a child, one holds a Thor-like hammer, and the other wears a classic Loki suit. Exciting stuff!
Loki’s story is almost over and the Disney+ exclusive show will continue to release each of its six episodes on a weekly basis. Catch each episode of Loki, along with our detailed recap, every Wednesday.
