Overcome the stumbling block of an undertone third episode that had made us seriously worry, the new Marvel Studios series focused on Loki continues his high-level run towards next week's season finale. This fifth episode also struck us positively, partly because of the absurd folds that history has taken, partly because on a technical level it feels like watching a film, rather than a television series. But what Disney invested a lot on the small screen it was already understood with WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, only that Loki reconfirms the quality standards of this strange Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that will develop for years between small and large screen.
No more chatter: let's see what surprises this "journey into the mystery" has in store for us Loki 1x05 review.
Journey into the mystery
The title of the episode is a blatant reference to the series published since the 50s which in issue # 83 of 1962 hosted for the first time The mighty Thor and the Asgardians, but also describes the paradoxical situation in which Loki ended up in the end. of the last episode. Mowed by the VAT, ours is not dead, but ended up in a sort of limbo where he met four variants of his person.
Meanwhile, Sylvie forces Ravonna renslayer to confess that Loki has been trapped in the Void, a space on the edge of the universe where the TVA and the Keepers of Time carry all uncomfortable realities and nexus events. Sylvie and Ravonna then form a temporary alliance to find out who is behind the TVA, but it is an agreement that lasts very little since Ravonna immediately betrays our anti-heroine. With no way out, Sylvie mows herself to reach Loki, who, for his part, has more to spare.
There is some forcing in the narrative of this episode: Loki and Sylvie decide, independently and separately, that the answers will find them right inside. Alioth, the gigantic mist monster that devours anything coming from other timelines (and that in the comics has hindered Kang the Conquered on more than one occasion for this very reason). Let's say it is a senseless and justified decision in the case of Sylvie, from a very brief hallucination. Our impression is that, with only one episode to come, the writers have chosen the easiest, but unlikely route to get straight to the point, also throwing in an unmissable action scene with the scuffle between Loki in the hideout of the, uh, Loki.
Leaving aside some unconvincing aspects of the story, Journey into Mystery is an episode that slips away quickly, despite the slightly longer duration than the previous ones. The team-up between the various Lokis is hilarious - especially the interactions with the Loki coccodrillo, absolute myth despite appearing in very few scenes - but above all you play with the Multiverse without taking it too seriously. The tales of Loki's variants, and the way in which they have changed their stories, leads our protagonist to reflect on his nature and his "glorious purposes", closing the circle on his growth as a character, even better than what he did in the cinematic films, in a touching moment of confrontation between him and Sylvie. The romantic spark between the two was a bit taken for granted, it must be admitted, but the idea that Loki can be so narcissistic that he falls in love with himself is brilliant enough.
Thanks also to the special effects over the top, the solid direction of Kate herron, as they said at the beginning, it makes us forget that we are dealing with a television product. The panoramas, the sequence shots and the tracking shots are mixed in almost flawless fifty minutes. The credit, however, also goes to the soundtrack of Natalie Holt. We may not have emphasized this enough in our previous reviews, but the musical accompaniment of this TV series was extraordinary, and in this particular episode the composer outdid herself. Let's face it: the final scene with the intervention of Loki's Richard E. Grant - who somehow manages not to look ridiculous in the yellow and green tights, but downright charismatic - who reconstructs an illusory Asgard to distract Alioth has a huge emotional impact not only thanks to Herron's directives, but also to Holt's music.
Lots of quotes
Loki 1x05 is a riot of more or less sibylline references not only to Marvel Cinematic Universe, but obviously to comics, which now together form a true meta-Multiverse. From the many Loki that appear in the episode - even the President Loki is inspired by a comic cycle of Christopher Hastings mocking the 2016 election - to the relics strung here and there, Marvel fans will enjoy finding them all, perhaps dedicating themselves to the bet multiple visions.
Among the most interesting, in no particular order, we have noted Throg, for example, the little toad-shaped Thor, locked in a jar while trying in vain to grab a Mjolnir buried underground. The plaque on the jar in which he is imprisoned reads T365, which is obviously the number of the register in which he first appeared.
You have all recognized the USS Eldridge, the protagonist of a well-known urban legend that wanted it to disappear suddenly during the infamous Philadelphia Experiment, right? That was easy, but who recognized Yellowjacket's helmet, the villain Ant-Man defeated in his first film? What about the huge head of the Living Tribunal sticking out of the ground? Ronan the Accuser's spaceship and SHIELD's Helicarrier? The helicopter of Thanos that you have probably seen in countless memes?
At the end of last episode, in the scene after the credits, we noticed the Stark / Avengers Tower behind the three Loki who welcomed the protagonist, but in this episode we see it a little better and we read QENG on the side. The Avengers confronted Qeng Enterprises and its CEO, Mr. Gryphon, in a cycle of stories from about 2015, later discovering that the villain in question was just another counterpart of Kang the Conqueror.
This name is popping up a little too much in our articles on Loki, so let's clear it up and get it out of the way. Kang appears in the stories of the Fantastic Four and the Avengers that came out around the 60s: his real name would be Nathaniel Richards, and in fact he is a descendant of Mr. Fantastic who lived in the 31st century and then started traveling through time. His timeline manipulations produced several variations of himself, good and bad, who interacted with the Avengers on more than one occasion, exploiting them, fighting them or helping them. Taken as a cosmic entity, Kang has conquered countless parallel realities, giving our heroes a hard time on various occasions. The love of his life in comics? Ravonna Renslayer.
Marvel Studios has already announced the actor who will play Kang the Conqueror in 2023 Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania, namely Jonathan Majors. So Kang will exist in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he already has a face and obviously we will return to talk about time travel. We already have Ravonna Renslayer in Loki, and in this episode, in particular, we discovered that she is also looking for the mastermind behind the TVA. And at the end of Loki 1x05, breaking through Alioth, Loki and Sylvie venture in the direction of a mysterious ruined castle that really resembles a Kang's palace in the Marvel comics.
At this point Loki's fandom is divided: there are those who believe that we will see Kang for the first time in the sixth episode; who thinks the Mephisto debacle is repeating itself, which many believed would appear in WandaVision; those who believe that everything will be resolved with yet another variant of Loki who has deceived everyone. Next week we will find out who is right.
Comment
Resources4Gaming.com
9.0
In the Loki's hideout there is a cabinet called Polybius: it is said that it was distributed by Sinneslöschen in very few arcades in the early 80s, and that it was an extraordinary success, only to disappear into thin air after the players had started. to encounter strange ailments. It's just an urban legend on which the writers of Loki built an easter egg, but Loki 1x05 was also this: an episode full of references and quotes to pop culture, as well as to the Marvel universe. Well-kept and compelling, it is perhaps the best episode of the season.
PRO
- An impressive amount of quotes, references and easter eggs
- Loki coccodrillo!
- Richard E. Grant's performance as the classic Loki
- Direction, music and special effects
- Some forcing in the narrative
- If all the clues about Kang the Conqueror end up like those about Mephisto in WandaVision, the next Marvel series will have to come up with better misdirections
