Up until episode 4 of Loki, we were only given bits and glimpses of what the show was building up to. If you thought Loki Episode 4 got you a good kick, wait till you watch Loki Episode 5. This one episode drove a very powerful point all across the Marvel Multiverse. Loki Episode 5 proved the best damn MCU shows out there was, is, and always will be Loki. WandaVision and Falcon & The Winter Soldier do not even come close to its magnitude and grandeur.
SPOILER ALERT: Major Spoilers For Loki Episode 5 Up Ahead. Enter At Your Own Risk…..
Loki Episode 5 showed us a world we never thought we would ever be able to see. Loki got pruned in the closing moments of the last episode. He would later wake up in a strange and bizarre, world that looked like post apocalyptic New York. And in front of him stood not one or two but four different Loki variants. Loki was confused. Where the hell in the multiverse was he?!?!
Slowly and steadily, the story unraveled. While Loki was trying to regain his footing, Sylvie and Ravonna were on a mission of their own to figure things out. Sylvie had taken her hostage, wanting answers to the secrets of the TVA.
It was not long before Ravonna, the venomous snake that she is, betrayed her. Sylvie pruned herself. Her objective was to get to the same ‘End of Time’ timeline the rest of the ‘Pruned’ go to.
This timeline is home to a huge cloud like creature called the Alioth. This creature devours everything the TVA prunes. Turns out, the TVA’s reset charges and the prune-sticks do not erase anything, they just transfer it. Loki, Sylvie, and even Mobius are alive and kicking in this twisted timeline. After a bunch of heartfelt moments between Old Loki and mainstream Loki and weird twists and turns (don’t ask), the time comes for Loki to face the elephant in the room. or should we say the cloud villain in the timeline?
Mobius uses the TemPad to enter the TVA HQ, intending to “burn it to the ground”. Sylvie’s plan to enchant Alioth so that they could gain passage to whatever it is protecting goes awry. Richard E Grant’s Old Loki uses his immense and unnaturally gargantuan magical reserves to create a life size model of Asgard, distracting Alioth long enough for Sylvie and Loki to enchant the creature.
Old Loki dies in the process but not before fulfilling his glorious purpose.
The episode ends with Alioth’s body clearing up, opening a passage into an massive but decrepit building. Whoever is pulling the strings is definitely in there.
Loki Has Many Strongpoints That Make It A Class Apart
WandaVision and Falcon & The Winter Soldier had many advantages to their story arc. But the scale and magnitude of their plot was but a mere whisper compared to Loki. WandaVision had the opportunity to be more than what it eventually ended up becoming. With the ability to alter reality and magic given added impetus in the show, WandaVision could have given us a story just as grand as Loki.
But instead, the story confined itself to a small spectrum. Unlike Loki which focused on events that had wide ranging implications for the entire multi-verse, WandaVision (which had elements of House of M in its arc, mind you) could never take it as big.
The case of Falcon & The Winter Soldier is even sadder. Granted it tackles real world issues of racism and government cover-ups, but it had the potential to be much more. In its hurry to make Sam Wilson fill the void left by Steve Rogers, the show faltered numerous times throughout all of its episodes. It did not even pay much attention to the Winter Soldier, the other half of the story. The Loki series gave utmost care and attention to shed light on all core and supporting characters, as much as it was humanly possible.
We fell in love with Sylvie, Mobius, and Old Loki. We grew to hate Ravonna and could relate with Hunter B-15. No other MCU Disney+ Show has managed to engage with and involve the audience into the story to such extent. The music, the CGI, the acting, the plot, and the characters – Loki nailed each and every one of them.
Loki Episode 5 feels like a proper MCU show. Just like any other MCU movie, what happens to the show will have far and wide reaching consequences throughout the multiverse. In the end, Loki raised the stakes sky high while WandaVision and Falcon & The Winter Soldier played it safe.
And THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is Loki’s “Glorious Purpose”.
(P.S: Shoutout to Richard E Grant for giving such a magnificent performance in the episode. You, Sir, are a legend!!)
