'Loki' Episode 5 Breakdown

Episode 5 of Loki was outstanding. Might even be my favorite episode thus far. The series keeps getting better and better, and while a majority of the miniseries has been about strong dialogue and not a whole lot of action, episode 5 changed the narrative. I’ve been saying since the pilot episode that what Marvel has done with these Disney+ MCU shows has been really interesting. They’re character and story driven with a strong emphasis on being character pieces more so than the typical action blockbuster of their movie counterparts. Of course I’d love to see some classic MCU fights every episode, but I’m more drawn to a great story with elite character growth than a film like Ant-Man and the Wasp which didn’t care to, figuratively, grow their characters and was more focused on non-stop action.

Episode 5 was titled “Journey Into Mystery” which is a nod to a classic comic book series in which Thor made his first appearance back in 1962. The 100+ issue series was sort of like an anthology series, just everything was actually connected, where we’d meet new heroes or villains monthly. This episode was also, in fact, a great journey into mystery as our Loki was thrown for a loop when he figured he had died, only to be saved by multiple versions of himself in the Void which is sort of a purgatory in a sense right before the gateway to the end of time.

One of the more interesting characters to be introduced was Alioth, who in the comics is the first being who broke free from the constraints of time. His time empire is larger than that of Kang the Conqueror himself, stretching billions of years to before the rise of man on Earth. It is because of Alioth that Kang never attempted to expand his empire vertically into more distant time eras and therefore extends only as far back as 2000 BC.

While Kang has used Alioth as his “pet,” who can vanquish its enemies with a mere touch, Kang is terrified of Alioth and only Alioth. Which is why he keeps him close, and on his side. Whomever was seemingly using Alioth as a puppet, is most likely an extremely powerful being whose been pulling the strings since well before the start of the pilot.

If you’re a regular on The Daily Goat whose had the pleasure in reading my past articles, I assume you are well aware of my obsession with the villain Kang the Conqueror. I’ll get into my latest theories around my favorite Marvel villain shortly, but now let me introduce you to our first direct tease to the villain in… Qeng Enterprises.

Qeng Enterprises is the company to which Stark Industries sold the old Avengers Tower to in the comics. Remember in 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming where Stark selling Avengers Tower was a focal part of the plot, and everyone believed it to become the Baxter Building ran by the Fantastic Four? I do.

Tony Stark sent Vision to make a final pass through the building to be sure they hadn't left anything behind, and it was during this time that Qeng Enterprises' CEO, Mr. Gryphon, secretly altered the Synthezoid's programming, implanting an enemy within the hero community as part of a plot to create a "New Qeng Dynasty" over which to rule.

Gryphon was actually Nathaniel Richards in disguise. Whose Nathaniel you ask? That would happen to be Kang’s real name. So there it is folks, our first tease to Kang and definitely not the last. It’s highly plausible that this could’ve been a reveal that Kang has in fact bought Avengers Tower, and that a new tech giant has joined the fray in the MCU. Fun fact: Kang is a genius inventor from his time, in the 31st century, and sometimes uses future tech in the past to alter the time-stream for his own gain.

After it became obvious to Renslayer that the Time-Keepers were lies all along, she enlists in Miss Minutes’ help by saying, “I need all the files on the founding of the TVA, everything from the beginning of time. Whoever created this place is in danger, I need to find them.” Miss Minutes said that it might be difficult, but that she’s, “on it.” In the comics Renslayer was Kang’s wife, and right hand “man” who did anything her deranged lover asked her to do. That line is utterly fascinating, and I’m not going to jump the bullet and say Kang is without question appearing in this Wednesday’s finale, but it’s possible.

Whoever is behind the fabricated TVA, will definitely have incoming ties to Renslayer. Whether that be in a partnership, or even in a sudden change of the guard for Renslayer and she becomes a hero… Or she plays the heroes of the show only to be doing something for her own villainous gain, remains to be seen.

As Mobius is about to go back to the TVA, after finding Loki in the Void with the help of Sylvie, who pruned herself in bad ass fashion if I may say so myself, Loki hugs Mobius, signaling that he’s changed, and says, “thank you my friend.” It seems like Loki is finally a hero and even admitted to Sylvie that he regrets everything evil that he’s done. This has been alluded to dating back to the pilot that Loki regrets his past actions, and by seeing what he does in the future, wanted to change his future but can’t now that he’s a Variant within the TVA. Which is rather heart breaking if you think about it.

He’s stuck, for eternity, in the TVA going about his life knowing that his real self is out in he real world, will continue to scheme his life along, and has a timer set to 6-years left on his life until he’s killed by Thanos. The Variant will continue to live, knowing that his time in the real world is well over. If you don’t find that compelling, I don’t know what you will.

Time will of course tell if our Loki in fact goes down a hero’s journey, but season one of Loki has in fact raised the question of: can a Loki can be a superhero? To me it seems like Loki will in time become a hero, and might try to run a proper TVA with Hunter B-15, Mobius, and Sylvie’s assistance. But we can’t forget that this is Loki who we’re dealing with. We’ve been thrown for a loop many times over the last 11-years, so it wouldn’t shock me if he goes back down the route of being a villain.

It’s believed by Sylvie and Renslayer that the person whose been pulling the strings all along, is beyond the Void and at the end of time. This is something that Kang has done before, as he’s found out that the key to immortality, where you can perch out for as long as you want and never age, is to reside at the end of time. Kang does this from time to time in the comics to either heal, or to contemplate his next villainous deed.

Jonathan Majors, who will be playing Kang in Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania, was seen at a comic book store in California last week where he bought numerous comic books featuring Kang, and signed some memorabilia under the name Kang. Majors has stated, in interview after interview since Loki aired in mid-June, that he “doesn’t know what Loki is,” whenever he’s been asked about appearing on the show.

Back in January 2020 Loki began filming which halted production in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Majors joined the MCU on September 17, 2020 as Kang, and filming for Loki resumed later than month, and didn’t conclude until December 2020. I might just be crazy, but considering that 3-episodes, half of the season, needed to be filmed… That left plenty of time for the rising actor to at least film one scene. Especially when Ant-Man 3 doesn’t come out until 2023, and announcing Majors that early for a film is out of the MCU’s norm. As I keep saying, time will tell if my theory is correct, but time is running out as there is only one episode left in the first season of this mind-bending show.

The episode ends with Sylvie enchanting Alioth, and in doing so a portal opens up to an unknown castle that could be within Kang’s city of Chronopolis. The lighting around the castle resembles that of the Quantum Realm, it also, along with the green smoke, resembles Kang. It is believed that the TVA could be within the Quantum Realm, which would explain no one aging within the TVA. It’s also entirely possible that this could be Castle Doom. It’s no secret that Marvel is working on a movie with the Fantastic Four. Announced last December, the new film will be directed by Jon Watts with a potential release date in 2023.

But despite this far-off release date, is Marvel already planting the seeds for Marvel’s “First Family” to return? One of the most infamous castle owners in Marvel history is none other than Victor von Doom, aka Doctor Doom. Like the supervillain he is, Doom resides in Castle Doom, which lies on a mountain outside the Latverian capital city of Doomstadt. Like all vaguely eastern European castles, Castle Doom is large, imposing, and quite sinister as it stretches upward and appears to pierce the sky. These two castles look very similar.

Kang has gone by many names before, and one of his lesser known names is Immortus, which has direct ties to the Time-Keepers as he was their right hand man. His own castle was Castle Limbo, though said castle never had an official name in its very few comic book appearances, it has been called “Castle Limbo” due to its location in the otherworldly realm known as Limbo.

In true Loki fashion, Loki and Sylvie may be in neither Castle Doom nor Castle Limbo, but actually Castle Loki, a slap in the face occupied by another variant so reclusive and so brooding that he lives in a Gothic castle by himself. (Don’t tell me that wouldn’t be a Loki thing to do.) Certainly this would make more sense than teasing new villains for Marvel movies that have nothing to do with Loki, nor are they within a year or two of appearing.

But if there’s one thing Loki has taught all of us, it’s to expect the expected, and not the unexpected. That is how Loki wants you to think. Unless he wants you to expect the expected. In which case, you should expect the unexpected. Which is what show runner Michael Waldron said in an interview when asked if surprise characters will appear in Loki.

You can see the finale this Wednesday, only on Disney+.