In Season 2, Episode 5 of Disney Plus’s Loki series, titled “Science/Fiction,” we delve into the journey of Loki (Tom Hiddleston) in the aftermath of the Temporal Loom explosion. The explosion caused everyone, except Loki, in the TVA to return to their native timelines with no memories of their time working at the TVA. However, it is unknown what happened to Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino). The explosion also caused Loki to start time-slipping again as the TVA gradually spaghetifies into nothingness.
In San Francisco, California, in 1962, in a Branched Timeline, Casey (Eugene Cordero) returns to his original life as Frank Morris, a convict attempting to escape Alcatraz with two other prisoners. Loki time-slips and meets Frank, with the latter not knowing who Loki is. Loki time-slips again between different periods and the TVA. In New York, New York, 2012, in a Branched Timeline, Hunter B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku) returns to her original life as Dr. Willis. After treating a kid with her broken arm, Dr. Willis witnesses Loki time-slipping to her confusion. In Cleveland, Ohio, in 2022, in a Branched Timeline, Mobius (Owen Wilson) returns to his life as Don, an employee of a Jet Ski shop called Piranha Powersports. Loki time-slips and meets Don, and the former realizes “Mobius” has no memories of who Loki is like “Casey” did before time-slipping again. In Pasadena, California, in 1994, in a Branched Timeline, Ouroborus (Ke Huy Quan) returns to his life as Dr. A.D. Doug, a science fiction writer. Dr. Doug sadly takes away his science fiction books from a library after realizing they are not selling well.
Dr. Doug returns to his warehouse and meets Loki, who time-slips into the location. Even though “Ouroborus” lost all his memories of the TVA, his knowledge of theoretical physics helps Loki gradually understand and control his time-slipping abilities. “Ouroborus” also advises Loki to bring back “Mobius,” “Hunter B-15,” “Casey,” and Sylvie so Loki can use their collective time aura to return to the moment in time before the Temporal Loom’s explosion. Loki gives “Ouroborus” the TVA manual to help the latter understand the time-slipping situation and make a new TemPad to travel the multiverse.
Loki time-slips again to Don’s house, where Don takes care of his two sons alone after his wife disappears during Thanos’ Snap. Loki talks with “Mobius” about the TVA and his TVA name, but Loki’s claims scare Don, who has a hard time believing Loki. Out of nowhere, “Ouroborus” appears, claiming it took 19 months to build a TemPad during the break he took after moving out when he lost his job and was divorced from his wife. The TemPad convinces “Mobius” to join Loki and “Ouroborus” in Loki’s mission to save the TVA. Later, Loki finds and brings “Hunter B-15” and “Casey” to Dr. Doug’s warehouse to help.
Loki then travels and reunites with Sylvie and the two debate whether to rebuild the TVA to protect the multiverse or let everyone in the TVA who returned to their original lives be free from He Who Remains’ legacy. Loki wants to rebuild the TVA to help protect the multiverse, but Sylvie corrects Loki that he just wants his friends back and that it is selfish to take them away from their original lives. Sylvie heads to a music shop to listen to music until she sees that her timeline home is gradually spaghettified into nothingness. This event convinces Sylvie to meet with Loki regarding the branched timelines dying. Suddenly, the warehouse starts to be spaghettified into nothingness until Loki masters his time-slipping abilities to return to the few minutes before the spaghettified event. With his time-slipping ability, Loki returns to the TVA minutes before the Temporal Loom explodes.
Loki and “Ouroboros” Work Together
In Season 2, Episode 5 of Loki, Directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, along with Writer Eric Martin, created an intriguing episode that reveals what the original TVA protagonists’ lives were and how Loki learns to master time-slipping. Casey was Frank Morris, a well-known Alcatraz prisoner who escaped the great prison alongside Clarence Anglin and John Anglin. Hunter B-15 was a doctor in New York named Dr. Willis, who likely and ironically also helped treat patients during Loki’s Chitauri attack on New York in 2012. Mobius was Don, a Piranha Powersports employee selling Jet Skis, who lost his wife during Thanos’ Snap and had to raise his two sons alone in the process. Finally, Ouroborus was Dr. A.D. Doug, a theoretical physicist attempting to become a science fiction writer before he worked with He Who Remains in building the TVA, engineering the TVA devices, and writing the TVA Manual.
The episode also introduced Loki mastering time-slipping, the ability to teleport into different moments of time. Traveling across time is only possible with a TemPad, but Loki using time-slipping is unique because he does not have to use technology to traverse the multiverse. Regarding Loki’s motivation in rebuilding the TVA, Loki knows that the multiverse will be in trouble if another multiversal war breaks with He Who Remains’ variants being at the heart of the conflicts. He Who Remains is a variant of Kang the Conqueror, who also has variants such as Immortus, Rama-Tut, Scarlet Centurion, and many more. Saving the multiverse with his friends is what Loki is prioritizing because he does not want all reality to fall apart.
Rating: 9/10