Journey Into Mystery
Given just how many presumed-pruned resurrections we’re reunited with, it’s curiously fitting that Journey Into Mystery is absolutely packed with Easter eggs and, seeing as Loki’s debut season is entering its own endgame that Loki himself references his ultimate destiny as played out in Avengers: Endgame. But then, as the multiplicity of Lokis suggests, destiny ain’t what it used to be.
Trapped in the void at the end of time, Loki (Tom Hiddleston) finds himself in good company – himself. Or at least alt-versions of himself including Kid Loki (Jack Veal), “Classic” Loki (Richard E Grant), Boastful Loki (DeObia Oparei) and Alligator Loki. At their suggestion, he quickly joins their flight from the monstrous Alioth, a dragon of smoke and fire who prowls the Void and ensures nothing ever returns from that forgotten place. Meanwhile, back at the TVA, a fledgling alliance between Ravonna Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) and Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) is brought to a sudden halt by Renslayer’s inevitable betrayal, forcing Sylvie to take desperate, decisive action.
There are so many details crammed into every single frame of Journey Into Mystery (the title itself a nod to the comic book which first introduced readers to The Mighty Thor) that you’d be forgiven for thinking it was directed by Zucker, Abrams & Zucker. References abound from nods to the events of the movies of the MCU (a S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier and Ronan The Accuser’s Dark Aster) up to and including the most absurd comic book elements (Throg – in a jar no less – and final undeniable canonisation of The Thanos Copter) suggesting that Marvel are very much of the mind that nothing is off-limits when it comes to their burgeoning on-screen multiverse.
There’s a welcome reprise of nodding to real-world mysteries too, something the series promised to do but never really followed through on after revealing that Loki had been the enigmatic D B Cooper all along as the USS Eldridge makes an appearance
One of the series’ most action-packed episodes yet, there’s still ample time for contemplation of what it really means to be a Loki and who – or what – can claim to be the true Loki. Richard E Grant is a delight as a Loki who defied his destiny to die at Thanos’ gauntleted hand and found a way to trick even the mad Titan and survive only to be brought down and caught by the TVA by Loki’s primary weakness – his genuine affection for his adopted brother Thor. It’s a poignant emotional beat in an episode that, packed as it is, finds time for quite a few of them. There’s an especially wonderfully played moment between Loki, Sylvie and Mobius as the three of them part ways for their respective Hail Mary missions that underlines just how crucial Owen Wilson’s laconic charm has been to the success of this series.
Journey Into Mystery is easily the series’ most visually spectacular episode to date and one which mercilessly whets the appetite for a final showdown that sees all the major players converging on a meeting with the figure behind the TVA curtain at the very end of time itself. With Loki and Sylvie forging their path through Alioth and the Void while Mobius (Owen Wilson) returns to the TVA to confront Renslayer, who is also attempting to find the real timekeepers, next week’s season (and series?) finale promises to redraw the scale and stakes for the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a way we’ve not seen since Guardians Of The Galaxy opened our eyes to the cosmic comic book potential.
It’s an episode that rewards and, indeed, pretty much demands multiple, repeated viewings just to catch every little variation that’s in the background or just to revel in the sheer audacity and exuberance of it all. I’ve spent the past five weeks cursing the weekly episode approach but now as I find myself heading towards that final epic episode, I suddenly find myself hesitant to watch it. I don’t want this story to end, I don’t want this series to be over. Somebody pass me a TemPad – I need to find a variant timeline where Loki goes on forever.
