NOTHING BUT SPOILERS (Because That’s How You Learn) #10
by Stacey Jones
EDITOR’S ALERT: This is the latest installment of Stacey Jones’ discussion of Loki and its place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Or is it the Marvel Televerse? The real universe, maybe? My mind, it be a’wondering.
Anyway, like it says in the title of this post, a world of SPOILERS awaits below the thin red line. Oh, and also an assumption that you’re familiar with the MCU!
THE NEXUS EVENT
It’s coming down to the nitty gritty, now, kids!
The six-episode formula Marvel has used for Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Loki makes each of these series a film trilogy. The Nexus Event is the equivalent to the last hour of The Empire Strikes Back in terms of its overall impact on the entire series. This ain’t small potatoes time!
Opening on Sylvie as a child, playing in Asgard, we are introduced to the hunter that was Ravonna Renslayer. Up until now, I had been giving some room for her in the way of the benefit of the doubt … but seeing her coldly identify young Sylvie as a variant destined to be destroyed by the TVA shines a harsh light on the truth of her nature, as well as that of the TVA.
Seeing Hunter Renslayer roughly handle young Sylvie, I got the feeling that this is also personal to her, as she takes efforts to be impersonal. As we watch, we wonder: what could this child have possibly done to break the timeline? I would guess the answer is nothing. Not yet, at least.
So, they decided to go after the child, and found her to be no less of a Loki than any other of the variants they have encountered, as she manages to steal Renslayer’s TemPad and escape the courtroom.
Clearly, the biggest embarrassment of Judge Renslayer’s career, and I speculate one she is made to relive over and again when she fails the TVA and is sent for some punishment in the Time Theatre.
There is care and time given here, to show us young Sylvie is a child of compassion. When confronted with a man struggling with another Hunter, she calls out “Help him!” in that desperate way only a child can summon.
She goes through the humiliating, dehumanizing processing that we saw ‘our’ Loki go through humorously in the opening minutes of episode one.
But everything that was funny then, is horrific now.
This is not a treatment for a child who has done nothing to no-one, future crimes be damned. When young Sylvie makes her escape … the knowing, wilting gaze she shoots Renslayer is a warning and a promise. This itself is likely the Nexus Event this episode is named for.
The TVA actually caused Sylvie to become a destructive time hopping variant through their desperate act of trying to apprehend her as a child. It’s a lot to take in and we are only at 3:24 of screen time!
Oh, and if that wasn’t enough … holy shit, everybody, it’s the Time-Keepers, FINALLY!!
A stray thought came to me here, that there’s a good chance that Renslayer’s other analysts are all Mobius variants.
Something about what they showed in the “previously on” footage at the front of the show resonated in their scene together, after her closed-door meeting with the Time-Keepers.
In the “previously on” catch up clip, Renslayer says, “You’re not the only analyst working for me.”
Mobius replies, “But, would you say, maybe, I’m your favorite one?”
And suddenly I’m wondering, is there a C-19, and does she look just like C-20? Will C-21?
Hunter B-15 asks Mobius about C-20. Mobius already suspects Renslayer lied to him about what happened to her, so he says nothing. Letting Wilson act this, as opposed to any kind of dialog exposition, is a perfect choice.
A writer can write it, but it takes the right actor and the right director to make it all work. B-15 is uncomfortable right from her first moments in the episode. It’s clear her encounter with Sylvie has stirred something up, and again, without dialog, actress Wunmi Mosaku gives us what we need to know.
Back in my analysis of episode one, I brazenly proclaimed that “It’s clear this show is to be a commentary on the psychology of entitlement and the loss of same, and how to rehabilitate people who recently found out they are not gods, nor masters of their own destiny.” This episode brings us some of that rehabilitation.
We all have to go through life carrying the burdens of our past. What we did, how we thought, and how we think about all that, now.
Part of healing and becoming whole is integrating and loving the parts of yourself that you think are the most unlovable. Forgiving yourself for the things you hold yourself in judgement for, with a promise to do better next time.
As Loki and Sylvie sit in that purple lighted Armageddon, he realizes his love and admiration for Sylvie and her journey, struggle and life.
It is this moment that creates something that the TVA has never seen before, and as they question its meaning and purpose, the hopeful, soaring score tells us we do not have to fear this branch. This is something wonderful and important.
The Time-Keepers could have ended their Loki Variant problem by letting them crumble with Lamentis – 1, but have elected to bring them back to the TVA to gather information on this new kind of Nexus branch. This is a big red flag for the so-called all powerful Time-Keepers, if you are paying any attention.
It’s great to have Loki and Mobius back together, their testy back and forth showing the friendship underneath the necessary trust issues. As the scene progresses, Loki’s attempts to steer attention away from Sylvie and towards himself in a sacrifice play, his love for her becomes obvious, even to Mobius.
“What an incredible, seismic narcissist! You fell for yourself.”
It’s a hilarious line because it’s true. It’s an effective line because it’s so much more than that, and I suspect Mobius knows this will bring forth emotional, honest responses.
It’s here that Loki bombshells Mobius with the truth about the nature of all TVA agents, and the tension and timing are absolutely crucial. Owen Wilson is perfect in the moment, once again reminding me he’s so much more than the clown.
Eric Martin’s writing is taut and layered here, and director Kate Herron continues to skillfully handle the material with gravitas, letting Hiddleston and Wilson live in their characters.
A beautiful choice was made when B-15 and Sylvie go back to the Roxxcart storm. The Hunter needs to understand the nature of the memories Sylvie had used against her, and asks to be shown. We only see her reactions to what she sees in her mind.
Tearfully, B-15 gasps, “I looked happy,” and in that moment, we understand.
“What now?” she asks, in a simple, effective demonstration of her change of allegiance.
What now, is right! I feel like this is the threat that the TVA fears. Sylvie, with an army of awakened TVA agents working together to bring the Time-Keepers down.
Mobius finds a quiet place in the library stacks to have a look at the TemPad he swapped with Ravonna’s in the prior scene. After seeing confirmation of her death, he finds a video clip that tells him why. C-20 insists that her memories, stirred by Sylvie’s enchantment, are real.
Further, Renslayer was the honcho in charge of the interrogation. This confirmation ramps up the tension instantly, as Mobius and Loki join forces in a moment of trust and friendship. Finally! The team unites for real!
And that’s what makes the next bit so hard to take as a fan, and so damned admirable as a writer.
Mobius realizes he can’t lie to Renslayer so he answers a question she’d asked in a previous scene to a most poignant effect, as the Judge gives the order to prune him like he was a stranger, and not her favorite analyst.
Hiddleston’s reaction is pitch perfect here, shocked into gasping tears by the death of his first real friend.
The fact that it mirrors Loki’s murder of Agent Phil Coulson in The Avengers is an excellent device to show us Loki learning the cost of his actions, as well as suggesting that Mobius’ death will have the same kind of team-forming chemistry as Coulson’s had.
As he makes the walk towards the Time-Keeper’s chamber, visually, we see him go through at least three of the seven stages of grief.
As Loki, Sylvie, and Judge Renslayer ascend to the chamber (in a gold elevator with green marbled highlights, ahem. These colors were written into the scene for a reason.), Sylvie asks the Judge if she remembers the nexus event of which she was supposedly guilty.
Here, then, is the final piece of the Renslayer puzzle. When she smiles and says she doesn’t remember, we can see she lacks the essential humanity needed to be a “good guy” in the MCU.
Before the Time-Keepers, it becomes apparent and quickly, that this has turned into The Wizard of Oz. B-15 has brought Sylvie’s favorite weapon to the show, and releases the prisoners’ time collars along with a full can whoop ass. The two Variants make quick work of the hunters present, and appropriately, Sylvie handles Renslayer.
As the Time-Keepers try sweet talking Sylvie, everything feels off, and for good reason.
IT’S ROBOTS!
Loki and Sylvie puzzle over the origin of the TVA but there seems to be no answer. Loki chooses this quiet moment to tell her about his feelings for her, and right at the “lean down and kiss her” moment, he’s pruned by Renslayer!
WHAAAAAAAAT?
I embrace this amazingly effective tool for conjuring WTF emotions in loyal viewers, as the apparent namesake of the series is killed!
Even better, the mid-credits scene only creates more questions than answers, and gives me plenty of thirst for the final two episodes of this series.
We are living in good times, when every new Marvel series becomes the new benchmark standard to beat.
Stacey Jones is an award winning writer, composer, musician, and rebel philosopher who was, in fact, the overall winner of the 2nd running of TVWriter™’s now gone but not forgotten contest, The People’s Pilot. TVWriter™ is happy to welcome him back to the fold