'Loki' episode four review: Sides are taken, revelations are made
In Paradise Lost, Lucifer argues that the reason why God keeps things from his creations is to keep them under control. In Loki, the Time-Keepers are equivalent to God, having apparently created the entire timeline. Its fourth episode reveals they too have been keeping things from their workers at the TVA. Will Loki successfully dismantle the system or get banished? Here's our review.
The episode begins with a young Loki playing in Asgard, when a time-door opens and enters Judge Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), a hunter then. Renslayer arrests Loki, Sylvie's younger self, and erases her existence. However, the Goddess of Mischief escapes trial by stealing a TemPad from Renslayer. The judge certainly hasn't forgotten about this failure, and we finally see a lot of her this episode.
While Renslayer and Sylvie's old connection could make TVA's pursuit of the Variant more personal, there are a lot of things fishy about the judge. She is the only one who directly contacts the Time-Keepers and has a name, despite being a hunter before.
Back to the Tricksters. With imminent death upon them in Lamentis, Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) tells Loki (Tom Hiddleston) that being born the Goddess of Mischief had created a detour in Sacred Timeline, leading to her arrest. She has been running her whole life, and grew up in "the ends of a thousand worlds." They share a rare emotional moment when TVA tracks them.
Apocalypses don't have nexus events. This was the reason Sylvie was able to escape the TVA all this time. But the Lokis cause one on Lamentis, one like never before, which helps Mobius (Owen Wilson) and Hunter B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku) find them. And Loki's "incredible seismic narcissist" love for Sylvie might be the cause. Given the ending, we'll definitely find more about this later.
Now, many at TVA know they weren't created here but were variants in the past. We again get the barb-trade between Loki and Mobius. The climax with the Time-Keepers leaves one gaping. And, who else loved Lady Sif's cameo? Episode four at 48 minutes is my favorite so far, and I can't wait for the next! The Nexus Event gets 4.5/5.
This episode also suggests that Lady Loki is Sylvie Laufeydottir, Loki Laufeyson's variant. In episode-3, we found out both the Lokis were bisexuals, which is a first in MCU. Director Kate Herron mentioned she always wanted to highlight this aspect, which is a welcome move.
