When your main character is a god of mischief and you’ve already introduced time travel and unlimited teleportation, you never know what’s coming next. Add in other chaos factors like a different version of your main character and some kind of allegedly all powerful group behind the scenes, and the sky’s the limit. Or even that isn’t really a limit. “Lamentis” is a very different episode of Loki, and that’s saying something. We learn a bit more about Lok himself, and his variant, as they get placed in a situation where they have to grudgingly work together.

The opening scene is a bit confusing at first, as we see the female Loki out at a bar with what appears to be a friend. Things get odder as the discussion moves from brain freeze to the Time Keepers, and we gradually realize this is the Variant Loki using her mental tricks on Hunter C-20. Then we see the arrival of Mobius and “our” Loki at the Roxxcart facility, and we get caught up with where last episode ended, with both Lokis fleeing through a TVA portal, leaving behind a frustrated Mobius and his team. Lady Loki, as some have been calling the character, arrives at the TVA and begins wading through the guards, showing some truly impressive combat skills, although she’s surprised that some of her powers don’t work here. Loki arrives shortly behind her, and detours to get his knives.

The two Lokis have a very tense confrontation before Judge Ravonna shows up with reinforcements and more firepower. Never one to miss a chance to make things more chaotic, Loki decides enough is enough and summons a portal that gets both gods of mischief out of the line of fire. They appear somewhere else, fight a bit more, and our Loki pulls some familiar tricks. The other Loki goes from irritated to actually worried when she discovers where they are: another of the apocalypses she’s been hiding in, this one a doomed planet called Lamentis. Our Loki doesn’t know what that means, and she fills him in on the ugly details. The two seek shelter and keep sparring on many fronts. Just what you want to do with imminent doom approaching.

Finally arriving at a very uneasy truce, the pair start working towards a way off the short-lived planet. The woman prefers to be called Sylvie, which is a big hint as to who she might be. In the comics, Sylvie is the second character called Enchantress and, depending on which version you believe, was either a normal teenager given magic powers by Loki to cause more chaos, or was created entirely by Loki for a similar purpose. Loki and Sylvie argue about what qualifies as a Loki as they walk through a ghost town and we hear a few more details concerning what’s about to happen. It’s not good. They find a bunker guarded by a very persistent woman, who is equally unimpressed by Sylvie’s brute force and Loki’s guile, but she does end up giving them some useful information.

With a new goal in mind, our far from heroic pair journey to a new location and work more mischief to get where they need to be, bickering all the way. While Loki doesn’t mind shedding blood to get things done, Sylvie seems to positively revel in it. In their exchange, we do learn something interesting about the TVA. After meeting a pair of minor characters who are name drops to a popular movie franchise, the Lokis get where they want to be and bicker about seating arrangements. With things in motion, they take the time to compare their life stories, and find assorted divergent points. Loki, at least, seems fascinated, while Sylvie is less so. They also touch on something that’s true the myths and is well-timed for Pride month. Moving on, they debate about love, drinks, and sleeping preferences. Sylvie loses focus for a bit, and when she comes back, she’s not thrilled to discover Loki is indulging his hedonist side. They argue over assorted points, and then things get more complicated when the guards finally realize neither of our main characters are who they say they are or where they should be.

Their circumstances change for the considerably worse. In the chaos that ensues, it appears that either the MCU doesn’t follow the rule about Asgardians being stronger than humans by a good bit, or these guards are pretty far from human themselves. Something important gets damaged during the fracas, and Loki comes up with a new plan that Sylvie goes with because she can’t see a better one. This involves them getting to a new place to try and change history, operating in the cover apocalyptic events give them from the TVA. There’s a lot of chaos and destruction, for once that neither of them are responsible for, until the episode comes to an unexpected and dramatic end. Our gods in green are left in a nasty cliffhanger to keep fans debating for the next week.

What I liked: For all his claims to be a god of mischief, the MCU Loki has more often been either a villain or an anti-hero. In this episode, the mischief is front and center. Loki and Mobius have had good chemistry in the series, but Loki and Sylvie play off each other wonderfully well. Loki’s reminiscences about Friga were well done, showing some of the depth behind the chaotic exterior, and I’m intrigued by the hints about Sylvie’s life. The ending was huge and surprising; a good place for the halfway point of the series.

What I didn’t: I missed Mobius’ laid-back presence. This was an enjoyable episode, but I’m not sure how much it furthered the story, which is important when you only have six episodes.

However it serves the larger story, this was a fun episode. I’ll give it a 3.5 out of 5. Next week’s story has some digging to do to get them out of this mess.