#the heart of the tva

[charcubed]

"What did we do wrong?" "I don't know."

🙋🏻 I think I might.

It's the hot cocoa.

Or rather… it's Loki semi-unintentionally siding with Sylvie over Mobius.

In this episode, that's the tipping point. And so is lack of trust.

What we just watched is the version where things go very wrong and they fail.

But here's the delightful part to remember: things had to go wrong exactly like this, so eventually things can go very right. Because as "wrong" as this was, it had at least one purpose: Loki pruning himself.

That being said... "What's wrong?"

We've got a list.

-Timely's gone.

-Miss Minutes is back (and so is Renslayer).

-Dox and her team are dead.

Now work it backwards.

Miss Minutes / Renslayer get in, Brad is freed, and Dox and her team are killed. D-90 isn't there.

Why isn't he there?

He was sent to be with Victor.

D-90 is killed and Victor is taken at the hot cocoa machine, which delays everything.

Why are they at that machine?

Because Mobius got cocoa.

Why did Mobius get hot cocoa?

Because he wanted pie, but Sylvie yelled at him.

And when Loki didn't defend him in that crucial moment and actually walked away from him instead, Mobius simply got hot cocoa by himself as a pick-me-up.

Therefore: Lokius is the tipping point.

What did they do wrong?

What happened?

Loki and Mobius were separated and weren't on the same page. THAT'S what happened. And so, everything fell apart.

Words – or the lack of them, in Loki's case above when he didn't defend Mobius – can change everything.

For good or for bad.

(These shots are back to back:)

Lack of trust is also why things fall apart.

Sylvie attacks Mobius because he walks away, trusting the work to O.B. and Casey and Victor.

She can't fathom that. She sees it as a weakness. But it's one of his greatest strengths, and it's their only way forward.

It's also part of the "trust for others" theme that's been present from the very first episode of the show, and it's a primary lesson that Loki's first had to learn through his relationship with and love for Mobius.

And the necessity of trust is showcased throughout this episode in other places. Sylvie accuses Loki of putting a lot of faith in the others, and simultaneously she keeps talking about the TVA as a corrupted place / institution instead of seeing the individual people capable of change.

But Loki explains to her that it's about the people. He lists the names of his new family – the people he trusts – as being the heart of things. What's worth saving and worth fighting for.

Brad and Dox are mirroring the trust theme here too, of course.

Brad doesn't trust B-15, and he doesn't pick trusting or aligning with anyone. He dooms Dox and the others to die.

But she sees the big picture and is willing to die with integrity rather than betray the PEOPLE of the TVA.

And Victor?

He says he doesn't trust anyone… but then he chooses to change. With O.B., he chooses to have a partner.

(Not dissimilar to the ways we've seen Loki change over the show, too.)

And were it not for the ~hot cocoa,~ in THIS regard, things were going "according to plan."

So as Victor says in the season 2 trailer in a clip we haven't heard yet (!!!): they have to "make the hard choice," of course.

Trust each other, work to fix what's broken, have hope, and STAY.

And Loki and Mobius, the personification of chaos and order in balance, HAVE to stay together or it turns to shit.

Loki can't turn into a better leader if he ends up being Who Remains all by himself. He's gonna need his partner and the rest of his people for the TVA to truly change.

But how are they gonna do that if they all just blew up? Lmao.

Well… that part of the theory's a work in progress.

But this involves both butterfly effects and time loops. Somehow we'll likely be going backwards to earlier versions of them that will be trying again.

And depending on just how far back they go… Loki and Mobius' influence on each other may be a snake eating its own tail, just like Ouroboros and Victor.

Regardless, pretty sure Mobius is correct here. As he tends to be, lol.

It's gonna be Loki's turn. God of Mischief becoming the Loki Who Remains that Mobius needs, etc.

And it always comes down to the two of them at the heart of things, somehow.

Last thing:

I'm not convinced those versions of them all survived the blast that happened because of these wrong turns, to be honest with you.

But if anyone did… the gods did.

And they're (hopefully) not gonna make the same mistakes twice.

---

Originally posted as a thread on Twitter here.

My other Loki posts on Tumblr are under the tag "chars loki posts."

[cleabellanov]

Happy 1 year of “Heart of the TVA”

that episode which had me INSANE one year ago. The cliffhanger ending, the song from the final scene being called “Requiem for all time” (making me believe that everything was ending in the MCU, like, THAT WAS IT) and giving me chills in every cell of my being, the black screen at the end, sitting in absolute silence staring at a screen just to scream afterwards and scare off my neighbours. That one Friday in 2023 might as well be a fixed point in time for Loki fans.

AND it coincided with the release of 1989 (Taylor’s version). Now I know not everyone who sees this post is a fan of both, but for those who are, October 27th 2023 was a FATAL combination. Waking up early just so I can listen to the album (time zone differences) then trying not to get spoilers of the episode from social media. Edits of lokius on “Say don’t go” all over my For you page, and the way it just fit perfectly! (“Cause you kiss me and it stops time, and I’m yours but you’re not mine” like please). Having theories circling in my little fangirl brain along with the bridges of the vault songs. Waiting for episode 5, making theories for it and being absolutely wrong, but it didn’t matter because I was happy to watch every second of it anyway.

And that’s why the 27th of October is a day of celebration 🫶🏻

[therafanatics]

BRAD WOLFE - LOKI SERIES / SEASON 2 | THE HEART OF THE TVA | FOURTH EPISODE (2023)

After Miss Minutes is taken offline, Brad Wolfe goes after Loki with the entire team to eliminate them. However, he has the misfortune of running into the two variants of the God of Mischief, who with a stratagem mentally control him to save Victor Timely in the custody of Ravonna Renslayer. She is mowed down a few moments later at the hands of the latter still under the magical influence resulting from Sylvie.

[queen-of-meows]

Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead made a wonderful job. Episode 4 feels like an actual horror movie.

The thing I love about their direction is that they don't make it Disney+ friendly horror like a cheap Halloween special. Instead they use a certain form of psychological horror that doesn't rely on bloody visuals and jumpscares.

I am suprised by how gruesome a certain scene was. Who knew Ravonna could be a rival to the Jigsaw killer ? Don't worry, we don't see blood and guts on screen, only B-15's horrified expression. And you really don't want too see what she's seeing.

The scene with Loki appearing in the dark is also amazing. It's sober, not a jumpscare. The way he's shrouded in shadows makes him look like he's a figure on the mural, until he moves and you realise X-5 won't go anywhere.

And by the way poeple had described the ending to me, I was expecting some big explosion of vfx. Instead we get a white screen and silence, followed by the normal end credits, but with a very creepy music.

There are also a lot of really cute light hearted scenes, but they only serve to get us attached the characters so we really fear for them when they're in danger.

[ashleywritesstuff]

I had a wonderful time discussing Loki 2x04 with Robert Clark and Donna Tha Dead on Podcast-616. We had many thoughts on "The Heart of the TVA." Hope you'll listen.

[owlphibiaisthebest15]

Human girls putting their alien little brother to bed.

[mischievous-thunder]

One of the most important revelations from S2 E4 has to be the fact that Mobius loves to download and play unauthorised games that have the potential to corrupt system files. The way he denied repeating his mistake is extremely suspicious. It's impossible not to love this man.

[dummyminded]

THEY MADE LOKI A STATUE IM GOING TO THROW UP WHY WOULD YOU MAKE MY HEART HURT LIKE THIS??? MOBIUS HAS TO SEE THIS TO HIS DAILY COMMUTE TO WORK (CAUSE YES THEY DO HAVE ROOMS WITH SIGNS IT'S CONFIRMED NOW AND I LOWKEY WANNA SEE MOBIUS' ROOM BUT ANYWAYS THATS NOT THE POINT.) AND BE REMINDED THAT THEY INDEED HAVE NOT SEEN HIM SINCE HIS SACRIFICE LIKE I BET HE SMILES AT IT BUT ONE OF THOSE SAD ONES FULL OF LOVE AND LOSS 😭

[ineffablelara]

Loki and his severe self esteem issues

Something I don't think we as a fandom discuss enough is the moment where Loki casually says "my life was a waste of time" to Mobius in s2ep6, I kinda understand that bc the finale was so traumatazing to some people that they only watched it once and tried their best to not think about it for too long

But this moment stuck with me because he says it with such calmness, there's no bite in his words, no sarcasm, no irony, he truly believes that, he thinks his whole life was a waste of time and this is so incredibly heartbreaking, at that point he already spent centuries trying to fix the loom only to learn it was a failsafe, centuries of his life wasted on a mission that lead to nothing, he probably think his life on the sacred timeline was a waste of time too, I'm so sure he'd do everything different if he could go back there, I'm sure he looks at all the things he did with so much shame and regret, a life wasted with jealousy and bitterness and acting out to get attention of others while being desperate for his father's approval and wanting to be Thor's equal

Even though he only acted that way because of his own trauma too, abandoned as a baby, adopted by a man who had a political agenda in mind when he took him and who made Loki feel unfit and inferior his whole life, raised in a society that looked down at all the things that made him him (magic, tricks, preference for diplomacy instead of fist fighting etc), Loki grew up in a hostile enviroment that only made him insecure and alone, he has severe self esteem issues and all he wanted his whole life was to be accepted and loved by his people and most of all by his father, he chased that approval in the wrong ways and now that he's mature and wiser he understands that but it's still so sad to see him talking about himself like that

He dedicated centuries of his life to doing the right thing, to saving the multiverse and making sure everyone would be safe, he made friends, he became kind and selfless and somehow he still thinks his existence was a mistake, his insecurities are so deep and internalized that I'm afraid he'll never truly be free of them, I wish someone hugged him very tight and told him how amazing and important he is, that his mistakes in the past don't define who he is now and that they're proud of how far he came in his journey

Loki's existence was the greatest gift the multiverse could've asked for, without him everyone would still be part of hwr's schemes and the tva would still be taking away people's free will, I hope his mind changed after the making of Yggdrasil and that he starts looking at himself with more compassion and love bc he deserves it more than anyone at this point

[dewey-ing-it]

Like father uncle like son nephew

[wolviestars]

yessss kiss him mobius

[dilfmobius]

All I ever wanted was the world.

[cleabellanov]

" "We didn't get it right, but love, we did our best"

And we will again

Moving on in time and taking more from

Everything that ends

And all things end

And all that we intend is scrawled in sand

It slips right through our hand

And just knowing that everything will end

We should not change our plans

When we begin again"

[therafanatics]

BRAD WOLFE - LOKI SERIES / SEASON 2 | THE HEART OF THE TVA | FOURTH EPISODE (2023)

Brad Wolfe delivers Victor Timely to Ravonna Renslayer and Miss Minutes. He tries to stall, eventually being threatened by the three.

[kendyroy]

i’ve always wondered what worst logan thinks of main logan. is he jealous at all of how revered he was? i mean what do you even think of the guy that’s considered the “best version” of you when you’re seen as the worst.

[darealsaltysam]

so that tva comic huh