Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for Loki Season 2, Episode 4.
The Big Picture
- Loki Season 2, Episode 4, "Heart of the TVA," introduces a major twist by positioning Renslayer, rather than He Who Remains, as the primary antagonist.
- Renslayer's coup is short-lived as she is swiftly pruned from the timeline, but there may be more to her story in the remaining episodes.
- The destruction of the TVA doesn't necessarily mean the end, as the show has proven that death is often not permanent in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The latest episode of Loki, "Heart of the TVA," was a literal game-changer in so many ways. After all their attempts to stop the Time Variance Authority from being destroyed, Loki (Tom Hiddleston), Mobius (Owen Wilson) and Hunter B-5 (Wumni Mosaku) finally found salvation in the form of Victor Timely (Jonathan Majors). Timely — who happened to be one of He Who Remains' variants — attempted to fix the loom that held the Sacred Timeline together but was dissolved in the process, and the TVA seemingly went alongside him. It was the cherry on top of an episode full of twists: in addition to the apocalyptic consequences of the TVA being annihilated, there was also a coup led by Ravonna Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) to take back control of the TVA. Not to mention the resolution of the time loop Loki found himself stuck in, which is the sort of payoff that directors Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead utilized throughout their filmography.
But one of the biggest twists comes halfway through "Heart of the TVA." When OB (Ke Huy Quan) shuts down the TVA's safeguards in order to stop Miss Minutes (Tara Strong) from impeding his plan to fix the Temporal Loom, he also allows Loki and Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) to access their magic. The God of Mischief instantly possesses Hunter X-5 — aka Brad Wolfe, or Zaniac (Rafael Casal) — and pits him against Renslayer. The fight is rather short-lived...but ends with X-5 pruning Renslayer from the timeline and seemingly ending her existence. In an episode full of twists, this may have been the biggest one — especially considering everything that surrounded it.
Loki
TV-14Loki, the God of Mischief, steps out of his brother's shadow to embark on an adventure that takes place after the events of "Avengers: Endgame."
- Cast
- Tom Hiddleston , Owen Wilson , Gugu Mbatha-Raw , Richard E. Grant
- Main Genre
- Superhero
- Seasons
- 2
- Studio
- Disney+
‘Loki’ Positioned Renslayer As the Next Villain
"Heart of the TVA" opens with what may be its biggest twist yet: Ravonna actually helped He Who Remains form the TVA and served as one of his generals in the multiverse-spanning war against his variants. But afterward, he commanded Miss Minutes to wipe her memories alongside the rest of the TVA's workers. A furious Renslayer chose to take control of the TVA and run it her own way, prior to being pruned by the Loki-possessed X-5. It seemed as though Loki was subverting expectations by having Renslayer and Miss Minutes as the primary antagonists instead of He Who Remains. The source material even played a role in this development, as Kang the Conqueror and Ravonna became husband and wife in Marvel Comics canon; Kang even tore time itself apart to find a cure for her when she suffered a seemingly fatal blow.
Instead of a major victory, Renslayer is pruned from the timeline just as quickly as her coup began. On one hand, this feels somewhat unsatisfying; after the revelation concerning her background and having her lead a coup, she's just taken out? It wouldn't be the first time a villain with promise had that promise squandered within the Marvel Cinematic Universe — the Thor franchise suffered the worst blow with Thor: The Dark World and its underwritten antagonist. Yet, Loki has proven time and time again that nothing is what it seems — though "Heart of the TVA" seemingly ends with the destruction of the TVA, there are two episodes left in this season. Executive producer Kevin Wright has also teased that Renslayer and Miss Minutes may play a role in events yet to come. "“Look with what happens at the end of four, we don’t know where anybody is, or where they’re going, or if they’re alive...I think the thing that I would say is, if we were able to get back to that TVA, do Renslayer and Miss Minutes know what needs to be done to get time and reality back on track?" he told TheWrap. After all, given the genre in which Loki takes place, death is rarely the end.
Loki is available for streaming exclusively on Disney+.
