‘Loki’ Episode Six Recap: “For All Time. Always.”

*Warning: This piece contains spoilers for episode six of Loki*

As Loki and Sylvie enter the Citadel at the End of Time, they are greeted by none other than Miss Minutes. (I knew she knew more than she let on, even if I was just joking.) She tells them that the man behind all this, He Who Remains, can reinsert them into the timeline and give them what they’ve always dreamed. They refuse and press on in the Citadel as Miss Minutes disappears. Meanwhile, back at the TVA, Miss Minutes downloads files–files unknown to the viewer–into Renslayer’s TemPad.

Loki and Sylvie press on to another door. Behind this door emerges He Who Remains (played by the ever charismatic Jonathan Majors) from an elevator. He takes our Lokis up to his study to divulge some vital information.

Back at the TVA, Mobius returns to Renslayers office, as she’s packing, to confront her. She expresses her sorrow for what she had to do to him but refuses to believe that the TVA has all been for nothing. Mobius reveals to Renslayer that he knows her secret as we’re taken to a school on Earth in 2018. Hunter B-15 reveals to the other hunters that Renslayer was formerly a school principal on Earth in order to earn the trust of the hunters.

At the Citadel, after avoiding numerous attempts on his life by Sylvie, He Who Remains reveals he knows everything that’s going to happen. He also asks Sylvie whether or not she can actually trust Loki, beginning to plant a seed of doubt that will grow to play later on. 

In Renslayer’s office, she tells Mobius that she felt betrayed by him after he took the Lokis’ side. She opens a portal with her TemPad, and, in an attempt to stop her, Mobius moves to prune Renslayer. She, however, quite easily blocks it and knocks him down. She then leaves through the portal on a mission to find “free will.”

Back at the Citadel, He Who Remains reveals the origins of the TVA. He reveals a variant of himself was once a scientist on Earth in the 31st century. There he discovered that there were multiple universes layered upon our own. Simultaneously, other variants of himself learned the same. Eventually they crossed paths, and lived in peace. After a while, some variants of himself wanted to conquer the other universes, causing a multiversal war. The first variant discovered a being created by the tears in the multiverse, Alioth, weaponized him, and ended the multiversal war. To ensure only one timeline to maintain, he created the TVA.

After sharing his story, He Who Remains gives our Lokis two options: kill him and allow the creation of another multiverse, or take over control of the universe from him. He warns them, though, that if they kill him, something far worse might come along. Naturally, as Sylvie doesn’t believe a word, she readies to kill He Who Remains, but Loki stops her, telling her that he believes that He Who Remains was telling the truth, and wonders if something worse might happen if they kill him. Sylvie takes his apprehension for want of the throne, and the two fight. As Sylvie is about to kill He Who Remains, Loki stands in the way and reveals he simply wants Sylvie to be okay and that he’s after no throne. They share an emotional kiss, before Sylvie sends him back to the TVA through a portal. She then kills He Who Remains. (And now it’s she who remains. Get it?)

With HWR’s death, many large, branching timelines are created, growing so large they’re unable to be pruned.

Loki makes his way through the TVA to find Mobius to warn him. Loki finds him, but as he shares the news, Mobius doesn’t recognize him. As he looks out into the atrium era, Loki sees a statue of He Who Remains as Kang the Conqueror, with the multiversal war already taking effect.

During the credits we are greeted with an outstanding message:

LOKI WILL RETURN IN SEASON 2.

The season finale of Loki gives a lot to look forward to in the future of Marvel as well as in the next season. The Multiverse is in full effect. The stories of Loki and Sylvie have yet to be finished. We’re introduced to Kang the Conqueror, who I believe is going to be having a larger villain role in the upcoming marvel phase(s). We’re given a lot to hope for with such a cliffhanger ending.

Overall, the series was very gripping. In this format,characters are given a lot more time to grow and their stories are given the time to become so much more layered and complex. We’d learned already that Loki wasn’t entirely a bad guy, but with this series we’ve seen so far that not only can he be trusted, but he also has much more compassion than many seemed to realize. Was Loki ever a villain, or just always a rather misunderstood hero at heart? Where did Renslayer go? How will Loki get out of this pickle? What’s Sylvie up to next? What’s in store for Miss Minutes now? Perhaps we’ll find out in Season 2, or maybe even sooner?

You can stream Loki now on Disney+