Loki Episode 5 review: staring into The Void
*** WARNING: this review contains spoilers for all current episodes of Loki on Disney+ ***
Last week, everything changed in the TVA. The Time Keepers were fake, Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Mobius (Owen Wilson) were pruned, while Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) had Judge Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) at knifepoint. In an extra scene, Loki wakes in another realm and is greeted by three alternative Lokis – Classic Loki (Richard E Grant), Kid Loki (Jack Veal), Boastful Loki (Deobia Oparei), and an alligator Loki.
This episode explains where Loki is: The Void. Back in the TVA court room, Renslayer elaborates to Sylvie. People who are pruned do not die, they are sent to The Void, a point at the end of time. With nowhere to run to, they are picked off by Alioth, a giant cloud based being that consumes time and energy. It’s a scrapyard for variants, a garbage disposal at the end of all things. Many time-based stories can get themselves tied up in knots, but here the visuals are quite clear. Loki’s not dead, but he’s been sent to die.
In The Void, Loki learns that The Lokis’ plan is to evade Alioth for as long as possible. A Nexus Event here is of no interest to The TVA, and TemPads are in scant supply. They are Lokis, their purpose is to survive. Back at the TVA court, Miss Minutes is helping Renslayer look for files for the end of time, with Renslayer assuring Sylvie she is just as anxious to find out who is behind all this. Sylvie theorises that, as the end of time is being written, The Time Keepers use The Void and Alioth as a shield for their true location. With nothing for the TemPad to lock on to, Sylvie concludes the only way is to go through Alioth. Renslayer says that’s suicide, but Miss Minutes nervously suggests that they use the prototype Void Spacecraft to travel through.
Mbatha-Raw is excellent in this scene, hiding her villainy behind a veil of respectability. Of course, the Void Spacecraft is a ruse to buy time so Renslayer can flood the courtroom with Hunters. While expected, it’s unnerving to see a smiley cartoon mascot work on the side of evil. Sylvie hides behind the Judge’s dais, trades some barbs with Renslayer before realising there’s only one way out – pruning herself.
The Lokis head to their underground bunker. We get the various stories of Nexus events, before Loki resolves to escape. He says he has met the version of them that is different (Sylvie). It’s touching the little references Hiddleston makes to how he feels about her – when Boastful Loki asks if he’s going back to the TVA for his “glorious purpose”, Loki mutters “something like that”. Aw.
Then comes the fun part. As he leaves, he finds a number of variant Lokis waiting at the hatch to take over the base, led by President Loki (a storyline from the comics). After several betrayals among them, a huge fight breaks out as our Loki sneaks through the chaos and escapes. It’s a riot, one of those scenes that deserves to be rewatched many times.
Still in The Void, Sylvie wakes up in a school bus, facing Alioth. She’s rescued by Mobius, driving a pizza delivery car. Meanwhile, Alligator, Classic and Kid Lokis catch up with our Loki. There’s a lot of philosophising – was Mobius ever good, were the Lokis ever meant to be anything but bad – but both separately land on a plan to confront Alioth. Sylvie plans to enchant it, Loki plans to kill it. The pair meet in sight of the beast and have an adorable reunion, where Sylvie dismisses Loki’s plan and Mobius chuckles at the pair.
Back at The TVA, Renslayer visits an imprisoned Hunter B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku), demanding to know Sylvie’s motivation. B-15 says the motivation is revenge, and that Renslayer will never find the identities of the Time Keepers before Sylvie because while Renslayer wants it, she needs it. This well-acted moment keeps Renslayer in the game as the true baddie of the story, a bureaucrat blindly protecting the system.
Back in The Void, Sylvie and Loki huddle together. There’s some adorable tip-toeing around their feelings for each other. Both don’t know what they’ll do once they achieve their goal, Loki sheepishly says “maybe we can figure it out together?”. Considering they’ve spent most of their time running, the believable affection that has grown between the two is palpable. Loki adores Sylvie, and she struggles to accept that she feels the same.
After some soul searching and Mobius going back to The TVA, it’s time for action. Alioth approaches, and Sylvie realises she needs a distraction to enchant it. Loki tries, but is bested by Classic Loki, who creates an illusion of Asgard that distracts the beast. Loki declares “I think we’re stronger than we realise”, prompting Sylvie to tell Loki to enchant Alioth with her. Holding hands, the pair face off Alioth after it consumes Classic Loki, and their powers combined disperse the creature and reveal a city beyond, which they walk toward.
It’s an action-packed ending that is very Marvel with spooky clouds and magic rays. However, the difference is the emotion. Grant is wonderful as Classic Loki finally finds a way to do good in the world, and Hiddleston fulfils his promise to be trustworthy to Sylvie. The pair are magic together, and after such an intrigue filled episode, we just hope that next week’s finale can be trusted as well.
New episodes of Loki are available every Wednesday on Disney+