Warning: This article contains spoilers.
“Loki” S2:E2 keeps it personal with some character exploration and finally lets the God of Mischief show off his power in “Breaking Brad.”
Loki S2:E2 – “Breaking Brad”
“Loki” season 2 reviews: Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 3 | Episode 4 | Episode 5 | Episode 6
Loki and Mobius travel to London on the sacred timeline in 1977, on the hunt for Sylvie. They arrive at the premiere for “Zaniac!” starring Brad Wolfe, who, incidentally, is Hunter X-5. Our team decides to retrieve Brad for questioning, which he attempts to evade. In pursuit, we see B-15 has also joined them undercover, wrenching a modified TemPad from Brad as he flees.
Here we get to see the God of Mischief let loose a little. The MCU likes to talk big talk about Loki, and they finally let him shine as he uses a variety of his flashy abilities to capture Brad. We return to the TVA, Brad now sporting the variant prisoner garb, as he’s taken into holding.
Fan-favorite O.B. is working on a device to stabilize the Temporal Loom. It’s not going well.
With O.B. preoccupied with the end of all time as we know it, Mobius and Loki have a go at Brad’s TemPad themselves, struggling like a couple building IKEA furniture, before Casey steps in, explaining that he has read the TVA manual and could likely help understand the TemPad. We’re happy to see Casey with a larger role, as he is a scene stealer.
B-15, Mobius, and Loki step into the holding room to question Brad, who sticks to his new convictions and fires back some thoughtful questions to get under the skin of his interrogators. He also suggests that Loki needs therapy (he’s not wrong).
Eventually, Mobius breaks after being probed as to why he continues to serve the TVA. Brad taunts him about not knowing he about his past life, before being pulled out of his timeline as a variant and made a TVA agent after a memory wipe (the big reveal of the last season).
Loki then attempts to help Mobius calm down over some Key Lime Pie (our mystery solved?). After some chat about both of their pasts, including a quip from Loki about throwing Tony Stark off a building, they return with a new plan of attack re: Brad. Tricking Brad with some good cop, self-admitted villainous bad cop, he finally answers some questions, including the location of Sylvie.
While our duo is busy, B-15 takes Casey to see O.B. Casey turns into a fanboy, even asking O.B. to sign his copy of the TVA manual. B-15 snaps them back to reality, reminding them that O.B. was just yelling they were all going to die as they walked in.
He reveals that he is unable to work on the Temporal Loom as the blast doors will no longer open without the authorization of the one who built it. Seeing as Sylvie killed He Who Remains, their only hope now is the missing Miss Minutes.
Brad leads our main duo to 1982 Broxton, Oklahoma, sometime after we saw Sylvie in the last episode’s post-credits scene. They step into the McDonald’s, where she and Loki share a tense greeting. They step outside while Mobius sits down with a meal and an increasingly shaky Brad.
Loki recounts his slip into the future where he saw her, which she cuts back with the reminder that the future is no longer written, thanks to her. Sylvie states that she is done with everything TVA-related and is sticking with the new life she has found. They are then interrupted by Mobius and extremely flighty Brad, urging them to leave now, or they will die, but with no details as to why. Sylvie steps in and enchants him to look into his mind, finding out what the danger is and what General Dox has been up to.
Sylvie takes Mobius and Loki to Dox’s location, where we see her and her hunters destroying time branches one after the other. Loki, Mobius, and Sylvie then set to end this operation as quickly as possible, tearing through the hunters, and ending with a final victory using the combined power of Loki and Sylvie.
After returning to the TVA, they see just how bad the damage is. Nearly all of the branches are destroyed. The loss of billions of lives sits heavy. Sylvie angrily leaves as we end the episode with the possible location of Renslayer.
Episode 2 hits just as hard as the last episode. While episode 1 set out to return us to this universe and lay out the many things to overcome this season, this episode seemed to focus on reminding us exactly who these characters are. We start off getting to see Loki unleash his godly powers, including an impressive use of shadows to restrain his quarry.
Brad gets a spotlight in this episode. Previously introduced as Hunter X-5, we see him last episode as a loyal servant of General Dox, yet in this episode, he has taken on the identity of Brad Wolfe, hiding and living a life on the sacred timeline. He reveals exactly why, and serves as a foil to Mobius and B-15.
Mobius, while initially hiding it, is having some internal struggle, trying to continue what he believes is his life now and choosing not to look into who he was before the TVA. It was a surprise to see him crack, having been set up to believe it would be Loki who would break to the ridicule from Brad. Loki ends up being a grounding voice for Mobius, as they get to sit down and have a more personal conversation this episode.
When we finally find Sylvie, she seems to be enjoying her new life and is ready to kill to continue living it. She shows us exactly how important it is to her, immediately stepping in to deal with Brad’s unwillingness to reveal the truth behind his urgency to leave. She then seamlessly steps back into the Sylvie we saw last season, donning her iconic outfit and green blade before teleporting the crew to General Dox.
Then, in the best and worst part of the episode, we get a strong focus on everyone’s face individually.
B-15, devastated, reminding everyone that those are real people who are being killed.
Mobius and Loki, staring at the sacred timeline monitor, seeing the result of their failure.
Even a look at Sylvie, angered with vindication for her opinion of the TVA
The last hit is a gut-wrenching statement from Loki that truly represents how much he has changed. “It’s harder… to stay,” he pleaded as she disappeared.
This series continues to shine with its emphasis on character development, complemented by action, which is something we aren’t used to seeing from Marvel. Though certain scenes feel rushed, it feels natural with so much to cover in only four more episodes. Four episodes, which this viewer is increasingly looking forward to.
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