'Loki': Episode 1 Event Report

Glorious Purpose

Behold, Loki, the God of Mischief, has arrived with the latest Marvel Studios’ Original Series Loki, now airing exclusively on Disney+!

Following the events of Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Endgame, in Episode 1, “Glorious Purpose,” Loki of Asgard finds himself out of time and in an unusual place when he picks up the Tesseract. He’s then forced to stand trial, despite his godly disposition, with the Time Variance Authority (TVA), a bureaucratic organization that exists outside of time and space.

In need of a refresher on Loki’s ascent throughout the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as well as the origins of the Tesseract, don’t miss out on Marvel Studios: Legends!

Stream Episode 1 “Glorious Purpose” of Loki now on Disney+, and read on to discover some notable highlights from our Event Report below!

•    Stark Tower, New York City, 2012
•    Aix-En-Provence, France, 1549
•    Salina, Oklahoma, 1858

•    Hunter B-15
•    Judge Renslayer
•    Agent Mobius
•    Miss Minutes

Burdened with Glorious Purpose

During the Avengers’ time heist in Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Endgame, our heroes arrive during the 2012 Battle of New York to retrieve the Tesseract. Unfortunately, during the time heist, as the Avengers try to avoid detection from their 2012 counterparts, the Tesseract falls right out of their hands and by the feet of the captured Loki. In custody of his brother Thor, Loki is set to return to Asgard to answer for his crimes. Never one to pass on an opportunity to escape, Loki grabs the Tesseract and activates the space portal.

Landing in the Gobi Desert, the God of Mischief is apprehended by Hunter B-15 and her Minutemen team when they appear through a Time Door decreeing Loki a ‘temporal variant’ who committed a ‘standard sequence violation,’ and on the authority of the Time Variance Authority (TVA), arrests him for his crimes against the Sacred Timeline. Leaving the scene, the Minutemen reset the timeline.

Welcome to the TVA

As Loki navigates the processing system through the mysterious agency, he begins to learn the large scale of the TVA and what falls under their scope. The TVA’s spokesperson Miss Minutes explains the Multiversal War and the countless unique timelines that battled each other for supremacy, which nearly resulted in the destruction of everything. 

Miss Minutes reveals, “The all-knowing Time Keepers emerged, bringing peace by reorganizing the Multiverse into a single timeline, the Sacred Timeline. Now, the Time Keepers protect and preserve the proper flow of time for everyone and everything.”

How does Loki factor into this and how did he land in the TVA’s lap? Well, according to Miss Minutes, “Sometimes, people like you veer off the path the Time Keepers created. We call those Variants,” and “stepping off your path created a Nexus Event, which left unchecked, could branch off into madness, leading to another Multiversal War.”

Fortunately, in prevention of such an outcome, the Time Keepers created the TVA and all its workers, where they can set time back on its predetermined path. However, without a place on the timeline, the Variant — aka Loki — must stand trial for his offenses. 

Devil Bearing Gifts

Agent Mobius is tasked with analyzing an incident at a cathedral in 1549 France. A TVA unit of a Hunter and his Minutemen had been ambushed and stabbed, and their reset charges taken, during what should have been a routine Nexus Event. This has been the sixth attack in the last week against the TVA. 

In talking to a young, innocent bystander, the child relays to Mobius that it was the devil who committed this atrocious crime. They also left behind a parting gift – a pack of “Kablooie blooberrie” candy.

As the team prepares to set a reset charge, another TVA analyst arrives to show Mobius a case file that may interest him — a Variant by the name of Loki Laufeyson who had just been apprehended by the TVA and is about to stand trial.

A God Does Not Plead

Standing before Judge Ravonna Renslayer of the TVA, Loki learns the crime he’s accused of is deviating from his set path, grabbing an object he was not supposed to, and causing a branch on the Sacred Timeline.

Loki argues it was the Avengers who should stand trial as they were the ones who time traveled through time with the Tesseract. Judge Renslayer states that the Avengers are not guilty as “what they did was supposed to happen; you escaping was not,” according to the Time Keepers.

The Time Keepers dictate the proper flow of time, and it is the job of the TVA to dictate the proper flow of time according to the Time Keepers’ dictations.

Unfortunately for Loki, his magic powers do not work within the confines of the TVA. Not only that, he is told that this is not his story; it never was. Just as the Judge makes her assessment — the court finds Loki guilty and sentences him to be reset — Agent Mobius approaches the bench and makes a case for holding off on Loki’s sentencing. 

Live Within Your Set Path
 

While accompanying Mobius to the TVA theater, Loki rebuffs the existence of these “ridiculous bureaucrats” who decide the fate of trillions of people across all existence. If they are indeed as powerful as they say they are, why had he never heard of the TVA before? In response, Mobius explains no one needs to know about the TVA until they veer off their set path, which upsets Loki as he lives within whatever path he chooses.

Mobius explains his role within the agency — he specializes in the pursuit of dangerous Variants. And to Loki’s chagrin, he is not regarded as a dangerous Variant. In fact, Mobius deems him a “little pussycat.”

Mobius just wants to understand Loki. Upon his freedom, what will Loki do? The Asgardian god exclaims he will finish what he started — claim his throne as king of Midgard, then Asgard, and eventually the Nine Realms.

Mobius proceeds to show Loki a reel that highlights the biggest moments of Loki’s life, some of which he has not lived and experienced yet. The agent wonders out loud if it’s in his nature to lose a lot, and if he enjoys hurting people. In order for Loki to take the situation seriously, Mobius shows Loki that had he not picked up the Tesseract, he would have been taken to a cell in Asgard. In trying to get the Dark Elves to attack his brother, he accidentally sends them straight towards his mother Frigga, resulting in her death. Mobius believes Loki was not born to rule, but “born to cause pain and suffering and death” — and “that’s how it is, that’s how it was, that’s how it will be,” as the Time Keepers and the TVA ensure it to be.

Part of the Illusion

While leading Mobius and Hunter B-15 on a chase throughout the TVA, Loki learns that the Tesseract and Infinity Stones are useless at the TVA. Returning to the Time Theater, Loki watches other scenes from his life that he hasn’t experienced yet, including moments with his father Odin expressing his pride and love for his sons, fighting side by side with his brother Thor, and his death at the hands of Thanos.

When Mobius catches up with Loki, in a brief moment of vulnerability, Loki reveals he does not enjoy hurting people; he’s just always had to do it to survive – “it’s the cruel, elaborate trick conjured by the weak to inspire fear; a desperate play for control.” Fortunately for Loki, Mobius does not see him as a villain.

Mobius proposes an offer to him – there has been a fugitive Variant killing the TVA’s Minutemen. And they need his help because the Variant they’re hunting is a Loki!

FOR ALL TIME. ALWAYS.
 

Marvel Studios' Loki is now streaming exclusively on Disney+!

Looking for more mischief? Find more Loki on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram! 

This is just the beginning of the Phase 4 news. Stay tuned to Marvel.com for more details and sign up for Disney+ and start streaming now! And be sure to follow Disney+ on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for more.