The penultimate episode begins in the apocalyptic world where the pruned go to die, and all the innumerable Lokis are lost in the Void. They are prevented from leaving this place at the end of time by a creature called Alioth. In the TVA, Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) confronts Judge Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) to reveal what she knows about the organisation’s shady origins.
Renslayer tells Sylvie that each branched timeline isn’t reset by the TVA; it’s transferred to the Void. Nothing comes back from there, but Renslayer says it’s because the ‘real’ Time-keepers are building ‘utopia’ from that point in time. Meanwhile, our Loki (Tom Hiddleston) tries to make sense of the Void with Kid Loki (Jack Veal), Boastful Loki (DeObia Oparei), Classic Loki (Richard E. Grant) and an alligator version of the trickster. Which, as the Hiddleston version admits, isn’t that strange anymore. They try to explain the situation to him, but Classic Loki summarises it by saying they’re all in a shark tank, and Alioth is the shark. All they can do is try to survive, preferably together, which goes against the default nature of any Loki.
Surprisingly, Kid Loki rules this strange place because he killed Thor in his timeline! After Sylvie reluctantly agrees to work with Renslayer to discover who is really behind the TVA, she quickly realises the Judge isn’t reliable. As Sylvie is cornered by TVA troops, she self-prunes to send herself to the Void.
The Lokis and Sylvie all have the same idea — head towards Alioth, rather than away from it. Luckily they run into each other pretty much straight away and hash out their plans for dealing with Alioth. Loki wants to kill the cloud, which seems a ridiculous idea, but Sylvie wants to enchant it, believing it’s essentially just a guard dog protecting the Void at the end of time, and beyond that Void, she assumes, is who they’re really looking for. As for who that is, well — could be anyone at this point. Even Ravonna seems clueless. She interrogates Hunter B-15 about it and gets nothing but fangirling for Sylvie, and then requisitions from Miss Minutes all the files on the foundation of the TVA from the beginning of time, just for some light reading.
Just as we’re in danger of getting lost in all this exposition and fan service, Loki season 1, episode 5 finds a moment of quiet connection and reflection between Loki and Sylvie, neither of whom knows exactly what they’re doing but seem to be enjoying it either way. Is this a romance? A friendship? It’s difficult to say, really. The cozy blanket Loki conjures for them to share might not be snuggly, but it does help to make their closeness literal. Are they falling for each other or just realizing there’s more to life than personal ambition? Like, say, saving the entire Universe? As Sylvie says, there’s no need to be dramatic, but it’s a good point.
It ends with Sylvie and Loki successfully enchanting Alioth and seemingly getting access to the mastermind behind the TVA. It came at a cost though -- Classic Loki (Richard E. Grant) sacrificed himself to distract the scary smoke monster long enough for the enchantment to take hold.
That final confrontation with Alioth, sparked by Sylvie’s dogged determination to take down the Time-Keepers and our Loki’s change of heart, is indicative of Marvel’s constant quest to balance cartoonish absurdity with narrative genius. Despite being inherently unsettling, the relationship between Tom Hiddleston’s Loki and Sylvie is heartening at its core, based entirely on these two actors whose incredible chemistry is enchanting. Tom Hiddleston continues to push the boundaries of how his Loki is defined, making him an anti-hero for the ages. Irrespective of the impending finale, the episode's silliness is only matched by its brilliance. ‘Loki’ has set itself apart in tone, scope and range for what comic books can achieve when translated to screen.
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