Check out my last recap here!

EPISODE FIVE: “JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY”

We start where we left off with Loki waking up in “The Void”, a realm at the end of time riddled with all the “pruned” variants and remnants of forgotten timelines. Loki is approached by “the Council of Lokis” – made up of 4 Loki variants: Classic Loki (an older variant from the future played by Richard E. Grant), Kid Loki, “Boastful Loki” (an African American variant with what looks like an alternate version of Mjolnir?), and last by not least, Gator Loki… who is just an alligator with Loki horns?!

Meanwhile, back in the TVA, Sylvie is attempting to get information out of Ravonna (and Miss Minutes) about what’s really going on and who’s really behind the so-called Time Keepers. We come to find out that Ravonna doesn’t really know who the man behind the curtain is. When Sylvie is cornered by Minutemen, she decides to ‘prune’ herself, sending her into the void with the other forgotten variants.

Back in the Void, in what appears to be the underground ruins of a bowling alley, OG (Tom Hiddleston) Loki asks the other Lokis about their backstories. We find out that “Classic Loki” survived his encounter with Thanos by creating an elaborate illusion that managed to trick the Mad Titan before going into hiding, “Boastful Loki” *claims* he vanquished both Iron Man and Captain America before gaining all six infinity stones, and Kid Loki says that in his universe he killed Thor!

When Sylvie appears in the Void, she comes face to face with the monstrous “Alioth” a powerful creature made of smoke, devouring everything in its path. That’s when Mobius comes to the rescue, in an old pizza delivery car! When she got close to the nightmarish entity, she got a glimpse of sentience, and she realizes that she might be able to enchant the tempest.

The other Lokis are starting to scheme about taking down Alioth with their powers combined, right when another Loki – President Loki (also played by Tom Hiddleston) – shows up flanked by a group of Mad Maxian barbarians who may or may not be other Loki variants!

Shenanigans ensue and the Lokis start backstabbing one another (as they do). In the chaos, Gator Loki eats President Loki’s hand, Boastful Loki doublecrosses Kid Loki, only to be double crossed by President Loki, while Loki, Classic Loki, Kid Loki, and Gator Loki make their escape.

Loki, Sylvie, and Mobius are reunited in a touching moment. Mobius then heads off to burn down the TVA (before presumably stealing a jet ski), and Sylvie decides to try enchanting Alioth while Loki distracts the monster. Things don’t exactly go according to plan (because of course they don’t), but Classic Loki saves the day by gettng its attention with a massive recreation of Asgard!

Ultimately, Classic Loki sacrifices himself, buying them enough time to figure out that Loki and Sylvie can combine their powers to enchant Alioth together. It works – the clouds part to reveal a large mansion in a clearing. Sylvie and Loki walk forward.

Credits.

There are a lot of amazing throwbacks to the comics throughout this episode:

• The title of the episode, “Journey Into Mystery” was the name of the comic series that first introduced both Thor and Loki into the Marvel universe
• The remnants of Stark Tower can be seen in the wrecked landscape of the void
• President Loki is of course inspired by the (awesome) 2016 “Vote Loki” mini-series
• The episode has a quick glimpse of what appears to be “Frog Thor” in a jar
• We also see a Mjolnir burried in rubble
• At one point, Kid Loki can be seen drinking a limited edition ‘Ecto Cooler’ Hi-C!
• A “Polybius” arcade cabinet!? (A famous video game urban legend)
• At one point there’s a sphinx in the background which could be a reference to Kang’s first appearance in Fantastic Four #19 (1963)
• In the comics, Alioth is a sworn enemy of Kang the Conqueror (Also worth pointing out that Ravonna Renslayer is another connection to Kang… hmmmm)
• We even get an appearance of one of the most random deepcuts references in Marvel history: the Thanos copter

“Loki” is now streaming on Disney+!

Up next: Episode 6!