Loki Season 1 Episode 2 Review: The Variant
Sarah Little
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If you believed that Loki turned over a new leaf after Loki Season 1 Episode 1, you clearly have not watched any Thor films.
The God of Mischief always has a second agenda, which was made obvious on Loki Season 1 Episode 2. Though, it can be difficult at times to interpret his true motives.
As Loki said, no one good is truly good, and no one evil is truly evil. The world is not black and white, and that's the reason why Loki is such an interesting character to discuss and dissect.
During Loki's first crime scene, he tried to fool Mobius into giving him a meeting with the Time Keepers. His plan would have worked, but he underestimated Mobius's ability to see right through him.
This is the same Loki we have seen on the Thor films and the first Avengers film. He thinks so highly of himself and so low of others that he believes that his plans will always work.
Loki's success relies on the stupidity of people, but not everyone is as dumb as Loki believes.
Mobius: I need you to go over each and every one of the Variant's case files, and then give me your...How do I put it? Your unique Loki perspective. And who knows? Maybe there's something that we missed.
Loki: Well, you're idiots. I suspect you probably missed a lot.
Despite all of this, though, Loki still has a heart. We saw him tear up when reading the file on Asgard's destruction and Ragnarok. He cares about his people even though he claims to be above all of them.
There is a duality to Loki that is so interesting, and it's why the Powers That Be at Marvel and the fans keep coming back for more.
We have seen Loki develop and regress more times than the Avengers have destroyed cities, but it's always exciting to watch.
This might be because of the very conflicting layers to this character, or it could be because of the complicated relationships he develops that are so easy to get invested in.
In the movies, it's his relationship with Thor. But since Thor is unavailable for this Disney+ show, Loki has to divert all of his time and energy into Mobius.
Loki: What could possibly go wrong? We gotta properly test this theory.
Mobius: Well, here's a fun theory. You lure me out into the field, and then you stab me in the back. And that's a theory I don't wanna test.
Loki: I'd never stab anyone in the back. That's such a boring form of betrayal.
Mobius: Loki, I've studied almost every moment of your entire life. You've literally stabbed people in the back, like, fifty times.
Loki: Well, I'd never do it again because it got old.
The dynamic between Loki and Mobius is, without a doubt, a highlight of the series. It's similar to Thor and Loki because they have such a hard time trusting one another, but they need each other to accomplish their individual goals.
Loki and Mobius share natural chemistry, which is why we're partly okay that most scenes on the series so far are them sitting at a table and talking.
While the mystery of the series revolves around the Loki Variant, the TVA itself is still a bit of an enigma thanks to its elusive Time Keepers and its suspicious employees.
Yes, Loki is the obvious character to be concerned about given his past betrayals, but it's hard not to be apprehensive of the TVA.
How could one organization hold so much power? Does free will even exist while the TVA exists? And why does everyone so blindly follow the Time Keepers, even though most of them haven't even met them?
You know, some things...Actually, most things in history are kinda dumb, and everything gets ruined eventually. But in the early 1990s, for a brief, shining moment, there was a beautiful union of form and function, which we call the jet ski, and a reasonable man cannot differ.
Mobius
Mobius, for some reason, is more eager than the rest to catch the Variant, which could be why he is putting so much of his faith in Loki. And Ravonna is the most suspicious of them all, thanks to her apprehension towards Loki and her "analyst" on the side.
There are many secrets to be divulged on Loki, kind of like on WandaVision, and that's what keeps us coming back for more. There are more questions than there are answers, but we are only two episodes into Loki Season 1.
On "The Variant," the writers relied on Loki's charm and his chemistry with Mobius to carry the episode. And while this semi-worked, it also left us impatient for the action to begin.
Most of the time spent during the hour was uncovering the location of the Loki Variant, and while it led to an epic scene in Pompeii, it dragged out longer than necessary.
Thankfully, near the end of the hour, Loki, Mobius, and the rest of the TVA kicked it into high gear when they traveled to Alabama in 2050.
Here was where we finally got our first real look at Loki Variant, who appears to be a female version of Loki or Lady Loki.
Many fans speculated that Lady Loki was the culprit behind all of the nexus events that had plagued the TVA. And while Marvel can always pull a bait-and-switch on us, it appears that they were right.
She seems to be more powerful than our Loki, much to his dismay. He wants to be the superior Loki because he's an egotistical maniac who seeks power, but Lady Loki gives him a run for his money.
Hunter B-15: We've grabbed enough temporal aura to know it's our Loki Variant. But which kind of Loki, remains unknown.
Loki: They're the lesser kind, to be clear.
So far, she is smarter and more successful than him because she was actually able to complete her mission without revealing just what that was ahead of time.
Lady Loki blew up the Sacred Timeline, causing multiple branches to be formed. And some thought that the Avengers' time travel antics on Avengers: Endgame was troubling.
Loki is obviously using Mobius and the TVA to overthrow the Time Keepers and gain the greatest power in the universe for himself. But, with Lady Loki, it's difficult to determine her motives for disrupting the timeline.
Loki has always been about causing chaos in the name of gaining power, but, perhaps, Lady Loki likes to create chaos just for the sake of it.
Existence is chaos. Nothing makes any sense, so we try to make some sense of it. And I'm just lucky that the chaos I emerged into gave me all of this...My own glorious purpose.
Mobius
Whatever the case may be, the TVA has their work cut out for them thanks to the God and Goddess of Mischief.
Not only do they have to reset multiple timelines, but they also have to track down both Lady Loki and Loki.
Loki would never pass up a chance to escape, but, given his luck, we have a feeling that the TVA will have an easier time finding him than they do his female counterpart.
What did you think, Loki Fanatics?
Will Loki ever permanently change his devious ways? Are you as suspicious of the TVA as I am? What are your theories regarding Lady Loki? Who is the analyst that Mobius was talking about?
And how badly do you want to see a scene where Mobius rides a jet ski?
Let me know in the comments!
Loki airs Wednesdays on Disney+.
Sarah Little was a staff writer for TV Fanatic.She retired in September 2021.
