When I saw the title of this episode, I gasped out loud. “Glorious Purpose,” aside from being one of Loki’s most memorable lines, was also the title of the very first episode of this show. With the season 2 finale bearing the same name, I knew we were in store for an intense episode – and, possibly, the true actualization of Loki’s character.
We dived fully into the Groundhog Day potential of Loki this time around. Watching Loki repeatedly returning to the same point, doing everything he can to change fate and failing again and again – oof, you feel for him. And then the reveal that nothing he could’ve done would’ve made the Loom operable with this many timelines – how much longer do we have to resolve things??
However, it was very cute that Mobius was the only one who could just tell that something was off with Loki. They have such an important relationship, and all these small details that show this are wonderfully done. (The writers this season really said Lokius rights.)
Remember that Doctor Who episode in season 9, Heaven Sent? It had the Twelfth Doctor trapped in a special realm, a confession dial, and being forced to face his demons while grieving the death of a friend. Every day, a veiled figure would pursue him, restarting the day if it wasn’t given information. (I’m severely oversimplifying the plot; Heaven Sent is one hell of an episode.) However, he found a way to escape – a massive wall made of a substance four hundred times stronger than diamond. Every day, the Doctor punched the wall. Finally, billions of years later, he was able to break through.
So I suppose Loki learning engineering and physics in a couple of centuries is the equivalent of Twelve punching an Azbantium wall for four and a half billion years. To the outside world, it seems like no time has passed at all, but the heroes have spent unimaginable amounts of time fighting on their own.
With the Loom doomed to always fail, Loki time slipped even further into the past, returning to the point where Sylvie killed HWR. (Can I call him Kang by this point? Please?) And look at that, they never even brought up that horrible kiss! So yeah, the Sylki ship is well and truly dead by this point, let us rejoice. I didn’t realize how much I could enjoy such a round rejection of what clearly wasn’t working in season 1. It’s surprisingly satisfying.
But hey, getting Sylvie out of the picture, Loki and HWR’s convo this episode was interesting, too. They weren’t quite on equal footing, but they were closer than they were during the last finale.
And that line!! “Most purpose is more burden than glory.” Just – wow. It’s stunning foreshadowing that Loki’s destiny won’t be the carefree happy ending we’ve all been rooting for.
Mobius and Loki’s last true interaction – if it can be called that, because his Mobius doesn’t get any real closure – got me in ways I wasn’t expecting. There’s so much in that last handshake. When Mobius first held out his hand to Loki in the first episode of season 1, Loki rebuffed him. But when Mobius did the same thing in the season 1 finale, Loki hugged him instead. Now, with Loki shaking Mobius’s hand (and being the one to initiate it!), it’s clear what he truly wants is to hug Mobius again. But he can’t this time, so he’s saying goodbye as best he can.
(Geez, why is it Loki never gets to hug the people he loves? Ever?)
And now we come to the conclusion. Loki’s transformation into the God of Stories was one of the most breathtaking scenes in the MCU. He finally has his reindeer helmet back! The green energy surrounding him, his ascendance to the throne he’s been avoiding all this time, the tree he brought to life – even if you’re not a fan of Loki (and who isn’t?), you can’t look away from this.
Before we get to Loki’s character, though, let’s do a quick overview of everyone else.
That snippet of resolution for Ravonna was fine (if it can be called that). I’m just glad we got something from her. Remember when I used to hope that she’d be an ally to the main team? Oh well, looks like she’ll be teaming up with Kid Loki and Croki now, right? Is that the spin-off this show is hinting at?
Mobius and Sylvie’s conclusions are both rather frustrating. On Mobius’s end, I can’t even tell where he’s going from here – what, is he just going to observe his other life from the sidelines? He seemed to be the only one actually torn up by Loki’s sacrifice, which makes this ending hit hard for both him and Loki.
I’m less annoyed with Sylvie more than I am confused. I mean, geez, I thought she cared a little bit about Loki, but she seemed more than happy to just move along with her life. And just – why isn’t she just going back to her own timeline? I honestly could’ve missed something, but why doesn’t she return to her McDonald’s? Wasn’t the point that she had friends and a life there? Why is she being so vague with Mobius about where she’s going next?
Ah, whatever. I’m just relieved that the romantic subplot between her and Loki is dead and buried. I still don’t care too much about her, but I’m thankful for that much.
So Mobius and Sylvie are off doing who knows what, B-15 and Casey and OB are working at the TVA, and Loki is… on his throne. Alone.
Most fans, myself included, were left with a genuine, honest-to-Odin question – what’s the point of watching this show? If you love Loki, what are you getting out of this? Is this what we’ve been building up to? Has all of Loki’s struggle and desperation to be loved led to this? Why would you not just stop watching after Ragnarok?
It’s as if nothing’s been gained that wasn’t horribly lost. In season 1, when Loki lost Thor, he found a new friend in Mobius. Finally, here was someone who wanted to understand Loki, who cared about him and was willing to see him through to the end. And even though the romance plot died out, Loki thought he found a kindred spirit in Sylvie – but she ultimately didn’t share any of his feelings. Across season 2, Loki actually developed a friend group, becoming so attached to them that he confessed to Sylvie that he didn’t want to end this story alone. Despite Thor still being gone, Loki had a chance to make a life at the TVA, to find his version of a happy ending.
But the storyline wouldn’t let him have it. Despite all his efforts, all his struggles to find a different solution, none of Loki’s new friends are able to help him at his last stand. Loki must know that he is loved, but what does that mean now? He’s found a throne, and he’s become the god of stories.
Well, at least my Ahsoka parallels from early on make more sense now. Like Loki, Ahsoka was a show that was supposed to show us a new side of a fan-favorite character. In both cases, the prompt was never quite fulfilled.
Given the expanse of the SW universe, I don’t think anyone expected this show to feature Ahsoka’s happy ending. Filoni loves this character, and she’ll likely be around for a good long while. But a show starring Ahsoka – with Hayden Christensen returning as Anakin, no less! – should’ve delved deeper into her character at this pivotal moment in her life. Instead, we received a safe, slow-moving show that never explored Ahsoka’s path as poignantly as it could’ve.
Loki, funnily, both follows and veers from this formula. This final episode can hardly be called “safe,” but it still avoids any meaningful resolution for such a beloved character. Yes, Loki might be choosing to be a hero, but must he achieve this at the cost of his own happiness?
If that’s the angle we’re looking at this finale from, then it technically works – but what a blow to all of the fans rooting for Loki to defy his fate. Sylvie’s line about all Lokis being “destined to lose” was more accurate than we gave it credit. Sure, Loki might’ve saved the day, but he still lost everything he wanted, everything he was fighting for.
It’s a shame that we likely won’t get another season of this show. The bookend titles of the very first episode and this one seem to confirm this. Hopefully, despite ominous comments from Tom Hiddleston, we haven’t seen the last of Loki – but we’ll probably never get a character-driven story about him again. Maybe we’ll receive some solid emotional moments in the next Thor movie, but I lost hope for this dynamic a long time ago. However, this season’s mentions of Thor and Loki’s past left me cautiously optimistic.
Loki executive producer Kevin Wright said that an eventual Loki and Thor reunion is a “priority” and a “goal” of the show, but that Loki needs “to get to a certain place emotionally” before that can happen. And this could be it – Loki becoming the god of stories has put him on equal footing with Thor. They now both wield tremendous power, and Loki has shown that he can make personal sacrifices for the sake of others.
In a way, I can almost understand the goal of this show. Despite Loki being so widely beloved, he wasn’t a true hero until Ragnarok. Even then, Loki’s actions were half for the sake of glory and attention. And, importantly, Loki had Thor with him then. Now, with Loki alone and struggling, he’s finally made the right choice for the good of humanity. In Thor, he attempted to commit genocide on the Frost Giants. In Loki, he’s giving up everything to save the multiverse. Now if only Thor could see him now.
Hopefully, if the creators behind this show can be believed, we will one day get to see the brothers reuniting. But this information still makes Loki something of a disappointment. The show doesn’t stand on its own. It only leads to an unsatisfying, unfulfilling conclusion to a major character’s story arc. Maybe I’ll look back on this season more fondly once we receive that coveted Thor and Loki reconciliation – but only time will tell.
