Loki episode 4 recap: post-credits scene and Marvel cameo explained

Loki’s solo adventure reached episode 4 on Disney plus Wednesday, following malice god getting acquainted with his female Variant Sylvie after the couple escaped the clutches of Time gap authority. It is also the first episode of the Marvel Cinematic Universe series to include a post-credits scene, which we’ll delve into spoiler details gloriously after the disclaimer below.

We left Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Sylvie (Sophie Di Martino) apparently trapped on the doomed moon of Lamentis in 2077, with a planet about to crash and the escape ship they planned to hijack destroyed. Sylvie had also bombarded the Sacred Timeline, creating countless branches and forcing the TVA to deal with the chronological chaos it had unleashed.

It’s time to jump into doomsday SPOILERS, with an episode titled The Nexus Event.

Beyond the waist

After discovering that the Time-Keepers are robots, Loki prepares to reveal his soul to a distraught Sylvie. However, the moment is cut short by judge TVA Ravonna Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), who sneaks up and prunes Loki, seemingly erasing her from existence and leaving the series without its protagonist. I guess it will have to be renamed Sylvie.

Or will he do it? A post-credits scene sees Loki waking up in a ruined city and wondering aloud if he’s dead.

“Not yet,” says a mysterious person in the unmistakable tones of Richard E. Grant. “But you will be, unless you come with us.”

He looks up to see a trio of new Loki variations – credited as Classic Loki (Grant), Kid Loki (Jack Veal) and Boastful Loki (Deobia Oparei). There’s also a crocodile with a cute lil Loki crown (awwwww) and a building that certainly looks like Avengers Tower in the back right of the photo (so we’re probably looking at some crumbling New York City).

These three boys are inspired by some of Loki’s looks from the comics. Classic Loki is based on the character’s early appearances (as the first issue of Avengers), and Kid Loki is a riff on a version that was reborn child after his apparent death.

The boastful Loki isn’t quite as clear, but he wields a hammer, so he’s probably inspired by a version of the character who deserves to lift Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir. The one he has looks quite different from Mjolnir, so he either heavily customized it or forged a new one. Given his name, he’ll likely tell us all about his incredible exploits.

Crocodile Loki appears to be an original character, but one that is sure to be a popular plush toy. I want one, snap-snap.

False time

Before Loki’s size, he and Sylvie are dragged past the Keepers of Time for their apparent execution. They manage to subdue the guards and Ravonna, then Sylvie cuts off a timekeeper’s head and reveals their true nature – it’s a Wizard of Oz style illusion.

After Loki’s pruning, Sylvie prepares to make Ravonna say “everything”. Between the new Lokis and that, we’re hoping to have a bunch of exhibits in next week’s episode.

Given her body language, Ravonna is unlikely to be the mastermind here. The most obvious suspect is Kang the Conqueror, a 31st century time-traveling villain and regular Avengers villain in the comics. We already know Kang will appear in the February 2023 film Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, where it will be played by Jonathan majors, so we could first see a version (or variant) of the character in Loki.

Or maybe Miss Minutes is the real villain.

Sylvie d’Asgard

The episode opens with a flashback to a young Sylvie, who was living in Asgard when a TVA Minutemen team led by Ravonna came to arrest her and destroy her reality. However, the crafty youngster managed to slip Ravonna’s TemPad and escape.

Adult Sylvie tells Loki that she suspects that being born female has gradually created a divergence in the timeline. She later asks Ravonna why she was arrested, but the judge says she doesn’t remember. However, Ravonna’s cruel smile suggests that she is lying and that she is just mean by refusing to tell Sylvie why her life has been destroyed.

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Another Asgardian

After Loki and Sylvie are dismantled, Mobius (Owen Wilson) has Loki thrown into a time cell. This is designed to soften the prisoners for interrogation by making them relive bad memories over and over again.

In this case, the result is a classic Asgardian cameo – Lady Sif (Jaimie Alexander), whose last film appearance was in 2013 in Thor: The Dark World (she also appeared in a 2015 episode of Agents of SHIELD).

“You cowardly and pathetic accomplice worm. You did that, ”she said, holding a lock of hair that Loki had cut off. “I hope you know you deserve to be alone and you always will be.”

Sif then brings him to his knees in the groin and hits him in the face. Rinse and repeat.

This moment hints at a prank played by Loki in the comics and the Norse mythology that inspired them. Loki cuts off Sif’s golden locks like a prank, and an enraged Thor asks his brother to mend them. Loki convinces the dwarf craftsmen to create new hair for Sif, and they create several other magical items for the gods, including Mjolnir.

VAT problem

Previously, we had been led to believe that the Time-Keepers had created all the TVA agents, but Sylvie revealed that they were in fact variants that had been empty-headed and had been put into service. When she Enchanted Hunters C-20 and B-15 (Sasha Lane and Wunmi Mosaku), she unlocked memories of their old lives.

C-20 was apparently killed by Ravonna to keep it a secret, but B-15 wisely kept her alarm clock silent until she could confirm it with Sylvie. Then the hunter stays low until she can save Sylvie and Loki from the Time-Keepers. She passed out in that scene, so she’ll likely team up with Sylvie in the next episode.

Loki also reveals the truth to Mobius during his interrogation, and the TVA agent ultimately agrees to help him take down the Time-Keepers. Sadly, that super-best friend hopeful moment is crushed by Ravonna, who pruned Mobius as he lashes out on his jet ski. Completely monstrous.

Hopefully Mobius ended up where Loki is. If we don’t see him on a jet ski (preferably in his suit) before the show ends, I’ll be deeply upset.

Observations, WTF Questions and Easter Eggs

• Years visited: 2077, 2050 and several unknown periods.
• Why couldn’t the TVA let Sylvie and Loki die on Lamentis? If the apocalypse was imminent, it looks like the Nexus event would have been stopped.
• Kid Sylvie plays with sculpted figures of Valkyrie and a wolf. The latter is probably a reference to Hela’s giant dog Fenris, as seen in Thor: Ragnarok.
• She is played by Cailey Fleming, previously considered a young Rey in Star Wars: The Force Awakens).
• Sylvie and Loki sit calmly by the water’s edge as a wave of destruction rolls towards them, it’s a bit like the last moments of Jyn Erso and Cassian Andor in the Star Wars spin-off Thief one.
• Sylvie and Loki fighting back to back to fight the Time-Keepers henchmen felt like Rey and Kylo Ren were fighting Snoke’s guards in The Last Jedi – Snoke was also revealed to be a puppet for a dark villain. Maybe I just see Star Wars in everything.
• Tom Hiddleston plays Loki lying down beautifully. I was almost convinced when he made up the story of his manipulation of Sylvie. Unless it really is ?!
• Mobius mentions bringing in Kree, Titans and vampires – possibly a tease for Morbius (although it is a Sony movie) or Blade.
• The scene featuring the Time-Keepers is beautifully framed, but they looked super goofy to the point that it was clear that they weren’t going to be the ultimate villains.
• Ravonna “stabbing” Loki in the back mirrored Loki doing it to Agent Phil Coulson in The Avengers. Both looked dead, but each returned.

Join us for more Easter Eggs and Sightings next wednesday 7 july, when Loki Episode 5 hits Disney Plus.