Loki season 2 episode 5 review: Science/Fiction

Loki season 2 has unveiled its penultimate episode, and we find ourselves both freaking out and absolutely perplexed.

Holy. sh*t.

Before we dive into the absolute masterpiece that is the fifth episode of Loki season 2, let’s just do a little quick recap.

The Temporal Loom was due to disintegrate and turn the entire Sacred Timeline and its branches into, well, nonexistence. Victor Timely, one of Kang The Conqueror’s multiple variants who happened to be a scientist in the 1860s, took it upon himself to try and prevent the Time Variance Authority from turning into my grandmother’s lunch table on a regular Sunday afternoon – spaghetti. Well… he turned into the spaghetti plate instead as the Temporal Loom did indeed go out and seemed to take everyone with it.

Throughout its two seasons, Loki has been able to keep audiences engaged with quirky humor, amazing visuals, Tom Hiddleston’s existence, and a little bit of Marvel magic. This episode of the Disney Plus series is entirely different than anything we’ve ever seen Loki’s gorgeous blue eyes in – and that’s where the magic happens.

Let’s talk about it in more detail, shall we?

Obligatory SPOILER WARNING FOR THE LOKI SERIES INCLUDING THIS EPISODE. PLEASE DON’T READ ON IF YOU WOULD PREFER THE EPISODE WASN’T SPOILED. 

Loki season 2 episode 5 recap: The God of Mischief wants his friends back

The episode opens up with Loki realizing he’s the only one left standing in the TVA, which is absolutely terrifying. It doesn’t make it any better once he starts to timeslip around the TVA, accidentally encountering himself a couple of times until thigs start to get stringy and he time slips into a very interesting branch of the Sacred Timeline.

The absolute beauty of this episode is the fact that it’s all about Loki. He’s on his own, doomed to remember a timeline that nobody else does, and it’s up to him to save the day this time. A former villain with a true glorious purpose. We get to see a part of Loki we’re truly never seen before. He cares about others. At least he cares enough to want them to go back to who they were in the TVA – which is both very selfish and still normal. It’s a very relatable reason. Sure, he wants to save the TVA, which isn’t a lie. But the reason why is simple.

"“I want my friends back.”"

For those who have previously read my reviews, it’s not a secret that I am a pretty emotionally charged bean. It shouldn’t be a surprise to you when I say that one line in the entire episode hit me so hard so unexpectedly, hurt so deeply, that I had to briefly pause the episode and shed a few tears. Me too, Loki. Me too. It’s touching, it’s relatable. It’s a brand new side of Loki – he wants to give his friends the choice to go back to the TVA and save things, or to continue living their lives in this branch: Mobius as a single dad and jet ski salesman, Casey as a criminal, B-15 as a pediatrician, and O.B. as a writer (that desire to want to just write for a living is relatable, my friend) and scientist on the side.

He wants to give them a choice, and that’s very unlike the Loki we’re used to in Dark World, any Avengers movie he’s in, or even Ragnarok. It’s beautiful to see that someone who’s constantly wanting things to go his way and always causing troubles, double-crossing his friends and brother, can actually change and become decent.

Watch me eat my words in the finale.

Meanwhile, Sylvie has returned to Broxton Oklahoma and it turns out that she actually does remember everything about the destruction of the Loom and the TVA. However, she couldn’t do anything about it – and didn’t want to, as her friends were now free to make their own choices. She, however, made a choice of her own to change her mind when her entire timeline began to disintegrate too.

As the episode wraps up, we realize that Loki can indeed control his timeslips – he apparently has to focus on who he wants to find. Convenient! Especially considering the fact he happened to master this skill at the very last possible minute as his own branch was turning into Italy’s most famous dish.

As we are freaking out over this amazing installment, I can’t stop freaking out about about the fact he should have gone back to see He Who Remains and tried to fix things from there instead of just where the Temporal Loom was about to explode. But I hope it wasn’t a mistake.

Now we look ahead and wait for the season finale, as everyone has a chance to fix the Loom all over again. This time, hopefully it will work.

Here’s to no sleep tonight. Thanks, Marvel.

What did you think of Loki season 2’s penultimate outing? Are you ready for the season 2 finale next week? What other questions did you have?