Season 2 of Marvel’s Loki continued tonight after last week’s action-packed season premiere. In this second episode, titled “Breaking Brad,” Loki and the crew try to get information out of a rogue hunter so they can track down Sylvie and save the TVA and perhaps every timeline.
The episode opens up with Loki and Mobius arriving in 1977 London on the sacred timeline. It’s very helpful that every time they leave the TVA, we get a titled card that not only tells us where and when they are, but also which timeline. They explain that they’re looking for Sylvie and that they got a hit on a TemPad belonging to Hunter X-5 that led them here.
They arrive at the front of a theater for the apparent premiere of a film called “Zaniac.” This is a bit we saw in a trailer a while back, which gave a nod to the little-known Thor villain by the same name. While it never really seemed likely we would see a comic-accurate version of the character, it is nice that they give him a nod here.
X-5 arrives on the red carpet as he has taken on the persona of Brad Wolfe, the star of this new film. Brad Wolfe was also the name of the comic version of Zaniac. Wolfe briefly talks with reporters before being cornered by Mobius and Loki. He comes up with an excuse to get them a drink before he runs off.
After a chase sequence that sees Hunter B-15 join the party and take X-5’s TemPad, Loki finally gets the drop on him using his magic. Guards lead X-5 to a cell back at the TVA and he refuses to give up any answers regarding what he did to his modified TemPad.
With X-5 now in a cell, Loki and Mobius take the TemPad to O.B. to try and get some answers. He explains that he should probably be working on the imminent temporal meltdown and instead gives theme the TVA guidebook which will have all the information they need.
B-15 sees Casey for an update on Renslayer and he informs her that he knows who sent the last message to Renslayer’s TemPad. We cut to see Loki and Mobius struggling with the TemPad before B-15 and Casey interrupt. Casey explains that Miss Minutes is helping Renslayer, which prompts Loki to inform them of the recorded conversation he heard (in last week’s episode) between He Who Remains and Renslayer.
Casey notices the TemPad Loki is working on and tells them he can help with it. Meanwhile, Loki, Mobius and B-15 head off to interrogate X-5. As you might expect, he isn’t exactly cooperative and he goats Mobius into hitting him by talking about the life he might really have on the sacred timeline. Remember, everyone working at the TVA was, at some point, plucked from their timeline and had their memories wiped. Regaining their real lives will likely be a theme of this season going forward.
Loki sees that Mobius was upset by what X-5 was saying and he tries to settle him down with some pie. He asks him about possibly wanting to see his real life on the sacred timeline but Mobius deflects. After some prodding, Mobius finally opens up and explains that the worst case scenario would be seeing something good and having that thought in his head of what could have been all this time. Eventually, they pivot their conversation back to X-5 and decide a little mischief is the way to go.
O.B. heads back into the Temporal Loom with a device that should stop the meltdown. However, when he goes to implement it, the computer tells him he is not authorized because he does not have the correct temporal aura. It looks like He Who Remains is the only one who can stop the meltdown.
Loki and Mobius stage a plan for X-5 in which it looks as though Loki is going rogue with Mobius locked outside the cell. Loki uses a device to threaten X-5 and eventually gets him to talk. He explains that he doesn’t know where Dox and her loyalists are because he bailed on their mission to find his real life. He also explained that he did find Sylvie before he quit and that she has made a new life for herself on a branch. Mobius enters the cell, revealing that this was all their plan, and that X-5 is going to come with them to Sylvie’s branch.
B-15 and Casey enter the Temporal Loom to find a panicked O.B. who explains what’s happening. After a brief fanboy moment for Casey, who is seemingly the only person in the TVA who has read O.B.’s guidebook, O.B. explains they need He Who Remains or Miss Minutes to unlock the blast doors so he can implement his device and stop the meltdown.
Loki, Mobius and X-5 arrive in 1982 Broxton, Oklahoma on Sylvie’s branch timeline. For some interesting information on Broxton in regard to Marvel Comics, check out last week’s recap. They head inside a McDonald’s to find Sylvie working behind the counter. She agrees to speak with Loki on her break.
Loki explains to Sylvie that he saw her in the TVA in the future while things seemed to be crumbling around them. Sylvie informs him that she simply does not care what happens to the TVA because she is happy with her new life here. Loki explains that without the TVA, this entire timeline is in danger.
Meanwhile, inside the McDonald’s, a panicked X-5 tries to convince Mobius they should leave. Mobius eventually realizes something is wrong and brings him outside. X-5 starts saying everyone there is going to die and becomes more and more frantic before Sylvie enchants him and sees what has him so worried. She sees Dox’s plan to bomb all of the branch timelines, including the one they’re in right now.
Back at the TVA, they see that timelines are getting bombed and B-15 tells Mobius to do something. After sending X-5 back to the TVA, Loki, Mobius and Sylvie arrive where Dox is operating. They immediately get to work on taking out her minutemen. Some of her loyalists escape but they manage to shut down her operation. They return to the TVA, Sylvie included, to see that only a few branch timelines remain. Everyone is visibly distraught as B-15 points out how many people were just killed.
Casey announces that he got a hit on Renslayer’s TemPad. It appears they have a location for their former leader. Loki approaches Sylvie and before he can say anything she points out that the TVA is the problem and that she is returning home to her new timeline, which seems to have survived the attack. The destruction of all of these timelines is very reminiscent of the “death of the Marvel Universe” in the 2015 “Secret Wars” story arc.
The episode comes to a close with Sylvie having a pretty awkward interaction with one of her young coworkers at McDonald’s. She seems content with her new life here but also appears to look at some piece of TVA technology as the episode wraps up.
This has set up a very interesting dynamic for next week’s episode as the TVA appears primed to hunt down Renslayer and Miss Minutes. However, with the destruction of all of those branches, it seems the temporal meltdown isn’t as much of a threat going forward so the race against the clock element seems to have cooled off just a bit. And then, of course, there’s Sylvie’s story and we’re left wondering when she returns to help Loki. We all know it’s just a matter of… time.
The second season of Marvel’s Loki is now streaming on Disney+, with new episodes coming every Thursday night.