Loki Season 2 Episode 3 Review

Last week, “Breaking Bad” showed us the consequences of a TVA divided. Loki and Sylvie reunited, and myriad timelines were pruned as a result of General Dox’s ruthless ambition.

Season 2 of Marvel’s Loki is ready for even more Sacred Timeline shenanigans. From costumed forays to Chicago to love confessions from a cartoon clock, “1893,” the series’ third episode, adds even more magic, mystery, and mischief to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

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Mail Call

“1893” opens with Ravonna Renslayer arriving via Time Door in Chicago 1868. Renslayer is anxious and confused as she searches for Miss Minutes. Once the two meet up, however, things start to make sense. Miss Minutes had Renslayer bring a package, which she’s directed to slide into a house window.

A pre-teen, tinkering with a clock, opens the package.  It contains O.B.’s TVA manual. Because He Who Remains put this plan into place in the event of his death, it’s safe to assume this young man is one of the foretold Variants.

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Buy Me Some Peanuts and Cracker Jack

Back in the present/the nebulous, timey-wimey space in which the TVA is located, things are bad. Very bad. The Loom status is elevated. Our heroes are still locked out while the pruned branches grow back. Everything is unstable, the blast doors are sealed. Our only hope is Miss Minutes, who can hack into the system. Except, she’s missing and doesn’t want to be found.

Fortunately, we have a lead. Two hits on the TemPad show Renslayer and Miss Minutes in the same place twice but in different years. Detectives Loki and Mobius are on the case. They jaunt into 1868 only to hop right over to the 1893 Chicago World Fair.

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Family Reunion

Mobius has always been food motivated. After some legwork around the snack stands, he and Loki follow the bread crumbs from a curious newspaper headline: “Ghost Clock continues to haunt the Midway.” Well, that can only be the elusive Miss Minutes.

Of course, the stakes aren’t so high that we can’t take a moment to be reminded of Loki’s heritage. Stopping in front of the Norse display, Loki criticizes the Americans for trying to “reduce an entire culture down to a simple diorama.” Mobius wonders if he’s only salty because they included Balder, but not Loki, in the design. Fans get to see a little bit of Loki’s childlike side from the first Thor movies when he quips, “Thor’s not that tall.” It’s a fun bit of fanservice placed well in an otherwise very dramatic and action-heavy episode.

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Break a Leg

Now, it’s showtime! Loki and Mobius attend a showcase for a new invention. Renslayer is part of the crowd who are presented with the Loom by a man named Victor Timely. Victor is one of He Who Remains’ Variants. He posits that time is energy — an infinite resource of past, present, and future. And he wants to harness that power to become electricity.

“I do not want to light a city. I aim to light, to power, the entire planet,” Timely explains. These are lofty goals, but they have good intentions. We hope. While Timely is a far cry from He Who Remains from season 1, it’s difficult to trust him. Especially when it’s revealed he’s been scamming people with inventions that work on paper, but not practically.

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Haven’t We Done This Before?

Naturally, things go sideways. Loki and Mobius chase Timely through the carnival. Renslayer and Miss Minutes are hot on their heels. To complicate things, Sylvie arrives to attack Timely. Then, she and Loki duel — a situation remarkably similar to the season 1 finale.

To distract everyone, Miss Minutes enlarges herself. As the Ghost Clock terrorizes the carnival, Mobius and Loki escape via bicycle. Renslayer and Timely return to his workshop/temporary residence.

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No Time For Romance

By now, Timely is pretty shaken. He requests an explanation. Renslayer and Miss Minutes reveal his destiny to return to the TVA and essentially rule the timeline. Renslayer promises to keep Timely safe, and sparks fly between the two.

However, when Timely and Co. get on a boat to leave Chicago, we sense some animosity between Miss Minutes and Renslayer because of their different relationships with Timely. Perhaps something for our heroes to exploit later in the game? As soon as we think it, though, we realize our heroes don’t have to do the heavy lifting. When Renslayer calls them partners, Victor pushes her off the boat — much to Miss Minutes’ delight.

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Wait a Minute

As the episode progresses, it’s clear that Miss Minutes is turning out to be the real villain. She’s manipulating Timely into becoming the worst version of himself, AKA the version of him that she knows. Why, though? Why is she so obsessed with He Who Remains?

Turns out it’s because she’s in love with him! Miss Minutes gets a little intense and asks to have a real body. Overwhelmed, Timely shuts her off. Cue Renslayer returning with a vengeance and a prototype pruning stick.

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Case Closed

Before she can destroy Timely, Loki and Mobius burst in and beg her not to because they can use his Temporal Aura to reset the Loom.  That’s when Sylvie breaks up the party. She wants Timely dead. Timely, however, pleads that he can make his own choices and not become He Who Remains if they’ll give him a chance.

That strikes a chord with Sylvie. After all, she’s living on her own second chance — one that she had to steal. Succumbing to her sympathy, she allows Loki and Mobius to take Timely back to the TVA.

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Spilling Secrets

Instead of killing Renslayer, Sylvie takes her to the End of Time. She drops her there all alone with He Who Remains’ corpse. It’s creepy, yet also well deserved for the antagonist who tried to off our heroes on multiple occasions.

Once she gets her bearings, Renslayer revives Miss Minutes. The episode ends with Miss Minutes revealing that she knows a big secret about Renslayer that will make Renslayer really angry. Um, cliffhanger much? We’ll have to wait until next episode to find out if Renslayer takes the bait.

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The third episode of Loki helped our heroes solve one major problem while also opening up a chasm of chaos. What are your predictions for the rest of Loki season 2?

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