In Season 2, Episode 2 of Disney Plus’s Loki series, titled “Breaking Bad,” we delve into the journey of Loki (Tom Hiddleston), Mobius M. Mobius (Owen Wilson), and Hunter B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku) as they pursue Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) and work to prevent the TVA from obliterating the branched timelines. The episode commences with Loki, Mobius, and B-15 traveling to London, UK, in 1977 within the Sacred Timeline to locate Sylvie. They begin by following a lead on Hunter X-5 (Rafael Casal), who has gone rogue and assumed the identity of a famous actor named Brad Wolfe, attending the premiere of his horror film Zaniac. After capturing Wolfe, they bring him back to the TVA for questioning, detaining him as a prisoner.
Subsequently, Loki and Mobius take Wolfe’s TemPad and entrust it to Ouroborus (Ke Huy Quan) for examination. However, Ouroborus prioritizes addressing the temporal meltdown of the Sacred Timeline over analyzing the TemPad. Despite this, Ouroborus provides Loki and Mobius with a manual to assist in examining the TemPad and its data. In another development, B-15 confers with Casey (Eugene Cordero) about his investigation into Ravonna Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), the former TVA judge who was dispatched on an undisclosed mission by He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors). They learn that Miss Minutes (Tara Strong) is aiding Renslayer, accounting for her radio silence and her absence within the TVA. Furthermore, Loki reveals that in the TVA’s past, He Who Remains and Renslayer were partners, elucidating the special treatment she received from He Who Remains and Miss Minutes.
The conversation shifts to Wolfe’s TemPad, and Casey volunteers to analyze it while Loki, Mobius, and B-15 prepare to interrogate Wolfe about his activities in 1977 London. However, their initial interrogation of Brad Wolfe proves unproductive, as he merely provokes Loki, Mobius, and B-15 for their loyalty to the TVA, despite having rebelled against it in the past for altering their lives within the Sacred Timeline or other branched timelines. Despite the initial failure, they make a second attempt. Loki resorts to threatening Wolfe with death, which coerces Wolfe to confess that he defected from General Dox (Kate Dickie) and that Sylvie is in 1982 Oklahoma within the Sacred Timeline. Meanwhile, Ouroborus endeavors to repair the Temporal Loom, which can manage the branched timelines, but the only way to access the Loom is through Miss Minutes or He Who Remains. Unfortunately, Miss Minutes has gone rogue with Renslayer, and He Who Remains is deceased.
Upon arriving in 1982 Oklahoma within the Sacred Timeline, Loki encounters Sylvie working at a McDonald’s restaurant. Initially reluctant to assist Loki, Sylvie changes her stance after reading Wolfe’s memories and discovering that General Dox and her hunters plan to obliterate every timeline branch. Loki, Mobius, and Sylvie successfully subdue Dox and some of her loyalists who couldn’t escape. Nevertheless, Dox and her loyalists manage to prune most of the timeline branches, resulting in the deaths of billions. Despite this setback, Casey successfully tracks Renslayer in one of the timeline branches. Distraught by the situation, Sylvie retreats to McDonald’s and disengages from the mission. After returning to 1982 Oklahoma, Sylvie fiddles with He Who Remains’ TemPad, a device that could aid Ouroborus in fixing the Temporal Loom.
Loki Reunites with Sylvie
In Loki Season 2, Episode 2, Director Dan DeLeeuw and Writer Eric Martin amplify the significance of the branched timelines on the multiverse. The episode unveils that the proliferation of branched timelines with countless variations places an overwhelming strain on the Temporal Loom. This Loom is a crucial component of the TVA responsible for refining raw time into the concrete elements of the Sacred Timeline.
Ouroborus faces the daunting task of adapting the Temporal Loom to accommodate the ever-increasing number of timeline branches alongside the Sacred Timeline. However, this endeavor necessitates the cooperation of Miss Minutes and He Who Remains. As it stands, Miss Minutes is aiding Renslayer in her secretive mission, while He Who Remains has met his demise.
Nevertheless, Sylvie possesses He Who Remains’ TemPad, which holds the potential to enable Ouroborus to access and modify the Temporal Loom. Even if the Temporal Loom is changed and fixed, the looming conflict with the infinite Kangs (later revealed as the Council of Kangs in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania) continues to pose a grave threat. This conflict may become the central focus of Renslayer’s and later Loki’s mission.
Rating: 9/10