The fourth Loki episode is now streaming on Disney+. Now that we’ve watched it, we’re back to anxiously awaiting the next episode. That’s because episode 4 just flies by, despite being filled with plenty of jaw-dropping revelations. In a recent chat with fans, Loki actor Tom Hiddleston said that episodes 4 and 5 are the most exciting ones. He teased that we should expect a few surprising cameos, and we’ve now seen the first. Loki episode 4 also delivers the show’s first post-credits scene and drops the show’s biggest and most shocking revelation yet.
We’ll explain everything below. But this post is packed with plenty of spoilers, so make sure you watch all four episodes before reading any further.
Sylvie is a real Loki
Episode 2 sparked a massive controversy about who Lady Loki (Sophia Di Martino) is. Some said she is Marvel’s Enchantress, while others found the first pieces of evidence that said she’s actually a Loki. Episode 3 told us Lady Loki likes to be called Sylvie. Some people might have still been on the fence about the Enchantress theory. The actress then told fans that her character is a female version of Loki, and she has a different origin story.
Loki episode 4 gave us the ultimate evidence. We see Ravonna (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) grabbing a very young version of Sylvie from Asgard for causing an unspecified Nexus event. And we then learn that’s when Sylvie escaped the Time Variance Authority (TVA).
Her entire reality was wiped, and she has been fighting the TVA for years.
’Loki’ episode 4’s big cameos
When Asgard appeared on the screen, I wondered which Thor character we would be treated to. I explained before that Heimdall (Idris Elba) is the show’s biggest “plot hole” so far. His formidable powers might have allowed him to spot the TVA in action years ago. But it turns out that the Asgard scene focused on Lady Loki.
We did get a fantastic Thor reference later in the episode when Lady Sif (Jamie Alexander) showed up. And she showed up over and over and over to beat Loki. The scene is hilarious and reminds us of the time loop trick we saw in Doctor Strange. But this time around, it was Mobius (Owen Wilson) using a time loop in one of the TVA’s Time Prisons to mess with Loki.
The post-credits scene of Loki episode 4 delivers another surprise character. Richard E. Grant finally showed up in a hilarious costume. We’ll probably learn his story in the coming episodes.
Mobius teases massive MCU connections
Mobius also teased other connections between the TVA and the MCU when he name-dropped many variant types. The TVA had arrested Kree, Titans, and vampires, Mobius said. But it’s always the Lokis who gave him the most trouble.
These are explicit references to a bunch of past and future MCU adventures. The Kree are from the Captain Marvel stories, and the Titans can refer to Eternals and Thanos. Marvel is also rebooting Blade — so, vampires!
The TVA is a sham
Loki episode 4 finally confirms what we’ve suspected ever since the premiere. The massive TVA organization isn’t at all what it appears to be. It’s still incredibly powerful, and it has a significant role in ensuring the time and reality flow in a predetermined direction.
We learned in episode 3 that all TVA employees are variants who no longer remember their real lives. Episode 4 drops the curtain, and we get to see the Time-Keepers for the first time. They’re not god-like beings, they’re robots, and we have no idea who is pulling strings or why. We have yet to meet Oz.
Also, Mobius and Hunter B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku) know the truth about their lives, and they’re not happy. This indicates most TVA operatives will feel the same way about the organization, and this could lead to more problems.
The big reveal in ‘Loki’ episode 4
We’ve already discussed several massive revelations, but the biggest thing we learned in Loki episode 4 is how to create chaos in the Sacred Timeline.
We wondered a few days ago how Loki and Sylvie would escape that cataclysmic world, although we knew from the trailers the TVA’s time door would magically appear. It turns out the TVA has tweaked its time variance algorithms to catch variants hiding in cataclysms. But even still, the TVA wasn’t able to detect their location on Lamentis until something amazing happened.
Loki fell in love with Sylvie, which prompted a Nexus event much bigger than anything we’ve seen so far. The branch created by the Loki-Sylvie moment on Lamentis was bigger than the TVA had ever seen. It looked like the kind of branch that might not be reset with ease, and the kind that would spark a different reality.
Later in the episode, it’s Mobius who figures out Loki’s big secret. Loki has fallen for Sylvie and that’s what caused the Nexus event. Mobius tells Loki that two variants interacting this closely would create pure chaos that could break reality:
It’s the apocalypse. Two variants of the same being, especially you, forming this kind of sick, twisted romantic relationship. That’s pure chaos. That could break reality. It’s breaking my reality right now. What a incredible seismic narcissist.
That’s an incredible detail right there for the MCU, one that should surely serve us down the road. Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness are movies about the multiverse. And the multiverse plays a central role in Marvel’s Phase 4.
Deaths and the first post-credits scene
Finally, the show shocked us with a few unexpected deaths. We thought that pruning means killing someone, but it turns out it doesn’t. Pruning someone would send them to a dystopian, end-of-the-world sort of place. Mobius and Loki were pruned during the episode. And it’s only when Loki disintegrates before your eyes that it becomes clear: he obviously can’t be dead. After all, this is his show.
It’s the show’s post-credits scene that confirms pruned characters are alive. We see Loki wake up inside what appears to be a reality that’s in very bad shape. Various Loki variants greet him, including Grant’s version.
Loki episode 4 was an incredible ride, but we’ll have to wait another week to see what happens next.
