In Review: Loki (S1 -EP6) For All Time. Always

Synopsis: In the season one finale ‘For All Time. Always’. Loki and Sylvie prepare for their date with Destiny and prepare to sort the TVA out once and for all.

The Story

Having managed to escape from the Void in last week’s episode. Loki and Sylvie make it to The Citadel at the end of time. They get greeted initially by Miss Minutes who has an offer for them from He Who Remains. The offer pretty much gives them both everything they could possibly want for. But neither Loki nor Sylvie is buying it. So, they push past Miss Minutes and prepare to meet He Who Remains. To start off with Loki and Sylvie try to kill the man who has presented himself as He Who Remains, but find that he is somehow able to predict each move that they make. Obviously, he has some sort of power.

He Who Remains tells Loki and Sylvie how he has been overseeing time via the use of the TVA and the myth that he’d created about 3 Space Lizards. He reveals that he himself is a variant and that he did what he did to stop a war between branching timelines, which He Who Remains in his various incarnations had created. Upon learning all of this Loki thinks that the guy is telling the truth, but Sylvie is not convinced. They are offered a choice. Kill He Who Remains and deal with the consequences of all the branching timelines. Or spare his life and take over running the sacred timeline and the TVA from him.

Meanwhile, back at the TVA Mobius has just confronted Ravonna Renslayer who has left the TVA to go off in search of Free Will. Meaning that Mobius is left in charge.

The Acting

Jonathan Majors puts in a fantastic performance as the mysterious He Who Remains who has orchestrated everything up until this point. Majors manages to convey a god-like arrogance while simultaneously keeping it grounded enough to appear somewhat sympathetic. Both Tom Hiddleston and Sophia Di Martino do brilliant work as Loki and Sylvie hear He Who Remains out. The verbal exchanges between all three actors as the plot threads unfold are excellent.

The brief scene between Owen Wilson and Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Mobius and Ravonna Renslayer argue over who betrayed who was also well developed. It will be interesting to see what happens if the two meet again in season 2, which was officially confirmed in the show’s closing credits.

Overall

‘For All Time. Always’. Does a good job of explaining how the TVA came into being and the circumstances behind the need for it. He Who Remains proved to be a really interesting character and I have no doubt that we will meet a few of his variants next season, which is very strongly hinted at in the closing scenes. The final fight between Loki and Sylvie was thrilling but ultimately ended up being somewhat of a stalemate. It’s interesting that Loki wanted to run the Sacred Timeline whereas Sylvie wanted her revenge and He Who Remains no longer remains as a consequence.

Overall. The series has done a great job of exploring some pretty deep themes. I was particularly taken by some of the esoteric themes that Loki and Mobius discussed. Particularly, when they discussed the belief in gods and entities. Loki using Mobius’s belief in the Time Keepers as an example. It is my hope that this series will continue to have such discussions while keeping all the action and magic that you’d expect to see.

Plotwise, this episode basically saw the writers throw the toys out of the pram. It will be interesting to see how all the pieces fall into place in the second season. But the few threads leftover have some intriguing possibilities. The TVA has its world cut out for it.