Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Loki Season 2 Episode 5.
The Big Picture
Loki’s fifth episode “Science/Fiction” was yet another banger preparing us for the upcoming season finale. After the fourth episode, “Heart of the TVA,” ended in a hell of a cliffhanger with the violent death of Victor Timely (Jonathan Majors) before being able to fix the Temporal Loom, “Science/Fiction” seemed to give a bit of hope to our favorite variants. The episode spent most of the time with Loki (Tom Hiddleston) coming and going between the TVA agents’ branched timelines, recruiting them as the multiverse’s last hope. When it seems like they can hope again, Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) arrives with a warning: everything is falling apart (again). A catastrophic disentanglement of matter – known as spaghettification – ensues and, for a moment, all hope is lost. This particular moment resonates with another one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s greatest outings – Avengers: Infinity War. The disintegration of many of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in the film’s final moments spreads the same downhearted feeling as Loki, making it clear the stakes are high and no one is invincible.
Loki, 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.”
Release Date June 9, 2021
Cast Tom Hiddleston, Owen Wilson, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Richard E. Grant
Seasons 2
Studio Disney+
What Happens During ‘Loki’s Fifth Episode Final Moments?
All of Loki’s allies are dispersed back to their original branched timelines, before they were taken by the TVA. After Loki finds O.B. a.k.a. failed author Dr. A.D. Doug (Ke Huy Quan) and gives him a crash course on the TVA by giving him his own handbook, they are able to use a jury-rigged TemPad that lets them travel to the other agents’ timelines. He finds Mobius a.k.a. jet ski sales representative Don (Owen Wilson) being a dedicated single parent, Hunter B-15 a.k.a. Dr. Verity Willis (Wunmi Mosaku) as a pediatrician in 2012 New York, and – the most impressive of all – Casey (Eugene Cordero) as infamous Alcatraz escapee Frank Morris just as he’s breaking out of prison.
Assembled at O.B.’s warehouse, Loki tries to make them catch up to save the timeline, but still has to try to get Sylvie to join them. His visit to her proves unfruitful, as she’s living a life of her own without complications, or so she thinks. When her timeline starts to spaghettify all around her, she’s left alone in the void, and decides to go after Loki. She gets there in time to warn them, but everything and everyone starts spaghettifying there as well. Casey goes first, then O.B., followed by Mobius and Hunter B-15, ending with Sylvie while the whole universe collapses on itself. As Loki stares defeated, his desperation makes him realize he can control his time-slipping and travel back within himself.
‘Loki’s Spaghettification Is a Parallel to ‘Avengers: Infinity War’s Snap Scene
Contrasting Loki’s spaghettification moment with the snap scene in Avengers: Infinity War, we can notice similarities in their representation, the reactions, and the sentiments they evoke. Starting with the representation, both of them are shown as a physical decomposition of matter that challenges the laws of physics, followed by a whispery sound. In the reactions and sentiments, we can see cluelessness when Casey disappears, not unlike how Drax (Dave Bautista) and Mantis (Pom Klementieff) realize they’re disintegrating, without much time to react. O.B. then has a moment of realization, concluding their conundrum was in fact a fiction problem, which is sort of how Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) also realizes there’s no way back from this just when he starts beeping for cosmic help. The gloom that permeates when Steve (Chris Evans) loses Bucky (Sebastian Stan), or when Rocket (Bradley Cooper) loses Groot (Vin Diesel), is very much like Hunter B-15’s palpable sadness, which is not just for her, but for all the lives she won’t be able to help as a doctor anymore.
Mobius desperately expressing how he wants to see his kids one last time is the equivalent of Peter Parker’s (Tom Holland) “I don’t wanna go Mr. Stark,” where the last words of both characters are heartbreaking punches before turning into a bunch of strings for the first and a cloud of dust for the latter. Sylvie’s resignation is very much like Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) telling Tony “there was no other way.” But perhaps it’s Loki’s sum of all these feelings which hits the hardest, after seeing his team and his soulmate disappear in strings of matter, resonating with Wanda’s (Elizabeth Olsen) last moments with Vision (Paul Bettany). Whereas Wanda has faced insurmountable losses throughout her life, Loki is very much alike, and their feelings while seeing everything they love disappear puts them in an equally painful spot.
Using Hopelessness Works For ‘Loki’ And ‘Avengers: Infinity War’
It’s not a common trope to end a narrative with the protagonists’ defeat but, when used wisely, it can be very effective. Both Loki and Avengers: Infinity War’s characters are superpowered beings, some even considered gods. Putting them in a spot in which they can lose everything, humanizes them. They’re shown weakened, to the point they’re even miserable and feel defeated. But it’s that moment – when pushed to the limit – that they realize what needs to be done to save the day. For The Avengers it took some years, but given Loki’s serialized nature, he realizes on the spot what he needs to do to save his love, his friends, and the TVA.
While The Blip is an event that has had repercussions in the whole MCU, with it rippling through several of Marvel Studios’ productions including Ant-Man and the Wasp, Spider-Man: Far From Home, Hawkeye, and WandaVision, the spaghettification is currently limited to Loki. Still, there are lessons to be learned from both of them. The infinity stones ended half the life of the universe, but they were also needed to bring everyone back; the same way that the TVA has been seen as an enemy of free will, but it was needed to keep the Temporal Loom and the Sacred Timeline safe. What remains true is that, while sharing tone, the spaghettification is not a repetition of the dusting idea. If anything, it stands as an homage to one of Marvel Studio’s best productions, and as proof of what Marvel can achieve when appealing to the audience’s feelings.
Loki’s second season finale will be released on November 9.
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