Loki – Lamentis Review

The greatest strength of television is that it can provide us the chance to watch characters grow and change over the course of a longform story. This is particularly true with serialized stories, where week-to-week the plot builds upon itself while also allowing the same of the show’s characters. It’s why several seasons into a show, a seemingly minor character can get a standalone episode that tells you something more about not only them, but about the main cast as well (such as with Community’s excellent “Advanced Dungeons and Dragons” episode). Taking a moment to highlight character over story isn’t a sign that a show is lost or that the writers don’t care about the tale they are telling; it’s a sign that the intricacies of the characters are what gives life to the narrative and taking this break from the churn of the plot will serve to enrich the storytelling down the line.

All of this is to say: “Lamentis” was a hell of a smart move on the part of the Loki writing staff. When you are working within the confines of the MCU, character can easily become secondary to making sure the audience is fully primed for the next slate of big budget films coming down the pike (which is part of what went wrong with The Falcon and The Winter Soldier and the ending of WandaVision). When the homework of the series overwhelms the opportunity to drill down deeper into the characters Marvel has decided to highlight with their specific series, the shows stop taking advantage of what television can provide to a story and become stopgap mini-movies. And that brings me back to my initial point: “Lamentis” understood its role within both Loki and the wider MCU and played it to perfection.

Now, Sylvie (Lady Loki’s name of choice – more on that at the end of the review) could easily have been a two-dimensional villain or adversary (think Karli from TFATWS). She could have jumped through time and space, leading Loki and the TVA on a madcap chase before spouting off about her villainous manifesto at some big end battle. If the series had opted for this route, it would have been disappointing but not a disaster. The show would have had some fun buddy moments with Mobius and Loki, given us enough Easter Eggs to placate us before the next MCU installment, and everyone would have been happy to see Tom Hiddleston again. No harm, no foul. Instead, Michael Waldron and his team opted for making Sylvie into an equal of Loki’s – and decided to spend one of the show’s precious few episodes dedicating time to watching Loki and Sylvie size each other up and reveal some key character traits that a lesser show would have ignored.

Loki and Sylvie are, as one might expect from alternative universe doubles, two sides of the same coin. Sure, they may have different backstories and abilities (with Loki mighty jealous of Sylvie’s ability to control the mind and body of others around her), but there are enough similarities in how they move and how they distrust everyone around them. Sylvie is a bit more forward thinking than Loki, a clear indicator that, unlike Loki, she’s been at this particular game of cat and mouse for quite a bit longer than her counterpart. And, as such, she’s learned far more about the ins and outs of time travel, as well as the weaknesses of the TVA. Which is where the key piece of information revealed about Sylvie comes in: She’s been trying to enact revenge on the TVA because she blames them for her lot in life. Now, what exactly that lot in life is*, we don’t yet know, but it doesn’t matter as much as what she plans to do to the Time-Keepers once she gets back into the TVA and carries out the plan she’s taken years to perfect – and that Loki upended in mere moments.

*We know she lost her mother when she was young, but has she been a Variant for that long? Was there some other even that led her to her current place as a blip on the timeline of history? Did the TVA have something to do with her mother’s death and her rejection of her Loki identity? Lots of questions to answer regarding her particular reasons for wanting revenge in these remaining three episodes of the series.

But outside of the key piece of plot we discovered about Sylvie (we also learned a key bit of information about the TVA Hunters, but I’ll discuss that at the end of the review), the real joy of the episode was watching Loki confront his own failings – and to see Sylvie confronted with the same. Remember, this Loki didn’t have the transformative experience of watching Asgard fall and sacrificing himself to try and stop Thanos. He’s operating from a different maturity level, but even after this short time with the TVA and alongside Sylvie, we can see his compassion beginning to develop a bit more. There’s a part of him that is suspicious of Sylvie but who also wants to trust her – because, on some level she is him, sure, but also because it’s hard to be alone in the universe, even when you’re Loki. He’s seen how there is literally nothing left for him in his old timeline – his mother, his world, even Prime Loki are dead and gone. Mobius may be a potential ally for him, but Sylvie? That’s literally him, just a different flavor. It’s his one remaining link to his old life and world. If he can’t align with her, then who else is there in the universe? And the same goes for Sylvie – this is the first potential ally she has found in a long time. The urge, the desire to team up and trust is eating at her. One thing is for sure: They will need each other if they want to escape Lamentis and get their revenge train back on track.

Now, we know they’ll escape the apocalypse (unless Marvel wants to do something pretty insane and kill off its title character with episodes to spare), but how will they? Will Mobius come to their rescue and arrest them? Will they learn to work together in time? After all, they’re pretty darn smart – there has to be a way to overcome a little thing like the destruction of a planet, right? I guess we’ll find out next week!

Final Thoughts:

— Ok, so Sylvie. If you’re a Marvel fan, that name likely made you think, “Hmmmm. Enchantress used that name, and she was a Thor character. Maybe this is really her, in disguise!” And sure, she could be. But after the Mephisto debacle, I’ve learned to just assume a character is who they say they are until proven otherwise. And I’m going to assume that Marvel is creating a mashup of Lady Loki and Enchantress here with Sylvie. Considering how in sync she and Loki were this episode, I don’t think she’s anyone other than a Loki variant – which is another great reason for an episode like this one that is centered on character and not plot. We got a chance to compare the two characters and notice their similarities and differences. And they are far more similar than even they would like to believe.

— TVA Hunters are actually regular people who were once Variants and are now brainwashed into no longer recalling their past. That explains a heck of a lot – was Mobius one such brainwashed Variant, and if so, who was he before? – and also sets up some interesting potential plot points for the rest of the series. One has to assume that, at some point in the remaining three episodes, this bit of information will be revealed. As for what that means for the Hunters, well, I can’t imagine they would be happy to hear that they had their memories wiped and that they were conscripted into service.