Crunch time After the relatively seismic events of episode four, this week’s episode was always going to have its work cut out. And with just the finale to go, it’s fair to say we’re not much nearer to finding out the truth about the TVA than we were. Of course, we now know it’s not just the Loki variants that end up in the Void, but all pruned people and material from reset timelines. If that is the case, given the sheer vastness of what that would entail, I do wonder how all those Lokis, Mobius and Sylvie managed to find each other so easily. But let’s not split hairs. We know Mobius is still around, though didn’t have a lot to do. Here’s hoping he gets his jetski trip next week after a revealing face off with Ravonna Renslayer back at the TVA. I feel like the dialogue between Loki and Sylvie wasn’t as effective as when they were talking on the train in episode three. It didn’t drive the plot forward, and they only clumsily addressed the fact that falling in love is classed as a nexus event. And, Loki, if you have the ability to conjure a blanket for the shivering person sitting next to you, that you happen to love, don’t wait to be asked. What do they teach you in Asgardian finishing school? Withnail & Lok-i (hat tip to MrSpigget for that one) Richard E Grant was a joy as Classic Loki, teaching Tom Hiddleston a thing or two about hamming it up. “Sounds terrifying,” he snapped, hilariously, when Loki asked if anyone had met a female variant. I enjoyed the recollection of how he escaped Thanos, while hissing “You bastard” was pure Withnail. Crucially, his character offers further proof to Loki that he can change, and stay that way. Lokis don’t always have to resort to cheating, murdering and “the game within the game”. “We’re broken. Every version of us. Forever,” he said, escaping the lair, before going on to show, with his dying actions, that that is not the case. How beautiful that he conjured a full-sized Asgard for his final stand. The end of time What next for the TVA? As the episode began, we saw the aftermath of Sylvie’s actions, turning the organisation upside down (as emphasised by the rotating camera work). But who or what is now in charge since the Time Keepers’ demise? It no long matters those puppets aren’t functioning if a higher power is actually pulling the strings, but how long can Renslayer keep that a secret? The judge did do a good job of convincing Sylvie – and me, to be honest – that she was going to help her visit the void, but even if she is not to be trusted, I still believe she has no idea what’s going on and who her paymasters might be. Whether she leans in to villainy or sees the light is still to be seen, but I wouldn’t bet on her turning her back on the TVA, whatever it might be. Further minutes There were many, many Easter eggs here. We had Mjolnir buried in the ground above the Lokis’ bunker. We saw a rusting version of Thanos’s helicopter, first seen in #39 of the 1979 comic Spidey Super Stories and, best of all, Throg, a frog version of Thor, captured in a jar. Was there also a pair of downed Chitauri Leviathans on the ground when Loki and the gang assembled on the hill before facing Alioth? Did you see anything else? The episode’s title, Journey Into Mystery, was a nod to the comic book series of the same name in which Thor and later Loki made their debut in 1962. The sword Kid Loki gave Loki before the battle was a callback to his analogy on the train about “love being a dagger”. I was pleased to see Hunter B-15 still with us, trapped in a glittery cell at the TVA. It can’t be long until she is freed, and wielding that pruning stick in the name of justice. The battleship that appeared and fired on Alioth was, I think, based on the numbering on its side, the USS Eldridge, the vessel at the centre of the Philadelphia Experiment. One I missed from last week – Cailey Fleming, the actor who played Sylvie as an eight-year-old on Asgard also played Rey as an infant in The Force Awakens and The Rise of Skywalker. You may also recognise Kid Loki actor Jack Veal from playing Little James in Channel 4’s The End of the F***ing World. Why was President Loki played by Tom Hiddleston when almost all of the other variants are played by someone else? Keep your eyes peeled in the MCU for a familiar looking Loki missing a hand. It reminded me of Thor, in Loki’s illusion, having his right hand cut off in Thor: The Dark World.