Loki Season 1: Here’s Everything You Need to Remember

Marvel’s Loki is about to hit Disney+ with its highly anticipated second season, over two years after season 1 ended. Admittedly, Loki is my second favorite Marvel live-action Disney+ series (behind WandaVision), and it’s undoubtedly the entertainment juggernaut at its most creative. Marvel tried something different with Loki and knocked it out of the park.

With season 2 only days away, you might be scrambling to recall what transpired in the show’s freshman season. Thankfully, it’s only six episodes long, but I’ve also got you covered with a comprehensive recap of what Loki and his pals were up to in season 1. Proceed at your peril, variants and TVA agents.

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An Unexpected Trip to the Time Variance Authority

Loki season 1 introduces us to the Time Variance Authority (TVA), a bureaucratic organization on the outskirts of time and space. The TVA is tasked with preserving the Sacred Timeline and preventing multiple timelines from forming. These Nexus Events can lead to chaos in the Multiverse (a “Multiverse of madness,” if you will). TVA agents can prune those from timelines that shouldn’t exist.

Our titular god of mischief is plucked from 2012 during the Battle of New York right as he grabs the Tesseract. He’s to be charged for his crimes. There’s a mystery unfolding with him at the center — a variant (a version of him from a different timeline) of Loki is wreaking havoc across time. Loki learns of things he hasn’t done yet that’ll be detrimental to the Sacred Timeline. He’s also introduced to events we’ve already seen, such as the destruction of Asgard, his parents’ deaths, and his own death at the hands of Thanos.

The TVA main crew includes Mobius M. Mobius, an upper-level agent; Hunter B-15, a field agent who arrested Loki; and Ravonna Renslayer, a judge who tries to sentence Loki. There are also the Time-Keepers, three mythical figureheads for the TVA.

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Solving the Mystery with Mobius M. Mobius

Loki partners with Mobius to solve the Loki variant mystery in lieu of a harsh sentence for crimes he didn’t know he had committed. They bond over jet skis, as two bros are wont to do. They discover the Loki variant arrives when an apocalyptic event is about to occur, so our Loki and Mobius endeavor to stop said variant by traveling to these specific moments. They embark on a wild goose chase while tracking down this Loki variant, leading them to Roxxcart, a megastore owned by Roxxon Corporation (which first appeared in Iron Man but has since been referenced several times in the Marvel universe), in the year 2050.

That’s where Loki comes face to face with his variant: Sylvie Laufeydottir, an Asgardian princess hellbent on exacting revenge against the TVA for erasing her reality. She’s also been on the run from the TVA, concealing herself in various catastrophic events across multiple timelines.

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Lamentis-1

Loki and Sylvie wind up on Lamentis-1 in 2077 after the latter steals a TVA TemPad, which allows TVA agents to travel between timelines. On Lamentis-1, the pair bond by dissecting their similar upbringings and defining what love means to them. Loki learns from Sylvie that the TVA workers are variants like them, humans plucked from their lives and forced to work at the agency.

Suddenly, the train meant to whisk away Lamentis-1 inhabitants during an all-out war explodes before Loki’s and Sylvie’s eyes. The TemPad is also destroyed. At this juncture, they have no way off the planet. This might be the end.

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Uncovering Lies and Lady Sif

Thankfully, Mobius and the TVA track down Loki and Sylvie. Sylvie is arrested and carted back to the TVA. Mobius, tired of Loki’s “lies,” shoves him through a portal. He winds up stuck in a loop with Lady Sif, who incessantly beats him up for cutting off a lock of her hair. This is such a fun bit. Meanwhile, Sylvie shows Hunter B-15 the truth about her former life.

Eventually, Mobius breaks Loki out of the mind prison after finding corroborating evidence about what Loki told him — the TVA has been lying to him. Renslayer catches Mobius and Loki going behind her back, so she orders her goons to prune him.

Then, Renslayer takes Loki and Sylvie to the Time-Keepers. The Time-Keepers order Renslayer to “delete” the variants; however, B-15 swoops in to save the day. Unfortunately, Renslayer prunes Loki, leaving Sylvie alone. She demands that Renslayer tell her everything.

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The Void

Loki lands in The Void, which he mistakes for Hel. He encounters Kid Loki, Boastful Loki, Alligator Loki, and Classic Loki. He also notices a massive smoke monster called Alioth, which he and his variants must avoid. Alioth destroys everything it touches and was installed by the TVA to stand guard over The Void. The Void is a smörgåsbord of MCU Easter eggs. It’s where pruned variants and timelines wind up. The Void is located at the end of time. Pruned timelines can’t evolve there.

Each Loki has a specific Nexus Event culminating in their capture and subsequent imprisonment in The Void. Back at the TVA, despite seemingly making headway with Renslayer, Sylvie prunes herself so she can find Loki.

Loki stumbles upon another version of himself: President Loki, who’s not Loki’s friend. Sylvie lands in The Void and finds Mobius driving a car as he attempts to flee Alioth. After Loki and his variant buddies escape President Loki, they meet with Sylvie and Mobius. They formulate a plan to circumvent Alioth and find what it’s protecting. Sylvie will enchant the smoke creature, while Mobius will return to the TVA with the TemPad Sylvie stole.

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Glorious Purpose

Then, Classic Loki conjures a massive cityscape for Alioth to devour while Loki and Sylvie enchant it. Unfortunately, Classic Loki loses steam and is overpowered by Alioth (RIP). Thankfully, his sacrifice isn’t in vain. Sylvie’s and Loki’s enchanting breaks apart Alioth, revealing a mansion on the other side: The Citadel at the End of Time.

Inside the sprawling Citadel, they meet He Who Remains, a Kang the Conqueror variant. He ushers Loki and Sylvie into his office. Of course, our gal Sylvie’s gonna Sylvie. She tries to kill HWR several times.

Meanwhile, Mobius returns to the TVA and confronts Renslayer. He informs her that the Time-Keepers are fake and they’re all variants. None of this is real. However, she insists their work means something. She summons a hunter to dispose of Mobius. When that doesn’t work, they get into a deeper discussion about free will. Renslayer opens a portal for herself and enters it, claiming she wants to search for free will.

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Chaos Reigns

At the Citadel, He Who Remains explains he’s omniscient and omnipresent. He’s orchestrated everything that’s happened to Loki and Sylvie, so they end up here. We learn he used to be a 31st-century Earth scientist who discovered the existence of the Multiverse. His variants inevitably converged, resulting in a Multiversal War. He Who Remains discovered Alioth, who was created from the tears in reality, and installed him as a guard dog while he conducted experiments.

He isolated the Sacred Timeline and created the TVA to oversee things in his stead. That also means he constructed the Time-Keepers to ensure the TVA remains on task. HWR presents Loki and Sylvie with two choices: They can kill him and face the wrath of his variants or replace him.

Sylvie accuses HWR of lying. She starts fighting Loki. He’s not trying to protect HWR; he just wants Sylvie to think about what she’s doing. It’s here that Loki confesses his love for Sylvie. They finally kiss. However, Sylvie utilizes the post-kiss bliss for Loki to shove him through a portal back to the TVA. Then, she promptly kills He Who Remains. We see the Sacred Timeline start to branch out and splinter. (It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Multiverse.)

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He’ll Be Back

Before Sylvie kills him, He Who Remains vows she’ll see him again. At the TVA, Mobius and Hunter B-15 observe as the Sacred Timeline splinters into 63 branches. Loki arrives at the TVA and begins searching for Mobius. He tracks down Mobius and Hunter B-15, explaining what Sylvie did. They don’t recognize him. Loki notices the massive statues of the Time-Keepers in the TVA’s archives have been replaced with one gigantic statue of He Who Remains. Loki’s not in the right timeline.

Uh-oh.

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What do you hope to see in Loki season 2? What do you think will happen? Share your theories with other Marvel fans over at Sideshow Social Network or at side.show/geekgroup, and don’t forget to Let Your Geek Sideshow!