Loki has been an interesting character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since he first appeared. He has definitely been a villain, but he’s shown some redeeming characteristics as well, thanks to both the MCU writers and the phenomenal acting of Tom Hiddleston. He has changed and grown a great deal through the course of the two seasons of his Disney+ series, and now that it has reached an end in “Glorious Purpose,” a phrase that’s been part of Loki’s mythos throughout his MCU journey. Since this is both season and series finale, and it came out quite some time ago, there will be spoilers, unlike most of my reviews.

Unlike a lot of Marvel events where the world is in danger, the stakes are higher here as the entire multiverse might be unraveling. Loki and a few others from the TVA are the only hope they have for keeping reality going, and it’s not looking great. They recruited Victor Timely, who in most timelines goes on to become Kang/He Who Remains, but we quickly see that not even his genius is enough. Several attempts to end the threat go badly, and Loki realizes something different is called for. Fortunately, the former God of Mischief has the unique combination of access to time travel and immortality, so he can devote some time to figuring out what’s going wrong.

After a considerable amount of time passes, Loki returns and starts trying to catch Casey and OB up on what he’s been doing. For people so used to time travel and alternate timelines, you’d think they’d catch on quicker. Finally, after a lot of attempts and Loki managing to reset things in a “Dormammu, I’ve come to bargain” kind of moment, they manage to get things working right. They thought. While they manage to accomplish the task at hand, it turns out it’s not enough, and they have more planning to do.

After a lot of techno-babble, Victor and Casey manage to sum up the new problem, and it doesn’t look good. Pruning the timelines was bad, but not doing it seems to be creating some potentially worse ones. Trying something different, Loki revisits something from the recent past (as much as that means anything at this point), and has a confrontation with someone he’s come to know well before that relationship has really gotten as deep as it is “now.” Have I mentioned time travel is linguistically confusing?

Loki has a lot of different tries at trying to change things, and none of them go as he expected. He also has a long conversation with someone who is dead in Loki’s present, and it sounds like a no-win situation no matter what Loki does. At the very least, whatever’s left of Loki’s ego takes a major hit as he realizes nothing he’s been trying really has a chance of working. It seems like he has no way forward, which naturally means he’s going to try harder. Trying to regroup, Loki goes for a conversation with Mobius, which gets rather philosophical, as well as revealing some pieces of Mobius’ past we didn’t know yet. This scene also ends badly, and Loki time jumps away again. You have to wonder how many times you can see your friends die all around you before you start going completely insane.

Not sure what else to do, Loki revisits a different event and uses some of his new-found power to have a conversation with Sylvie, or one of her at any rate. It’s an in-depth conversation that gets very wide-ranging as the two versions of the same person go from philosophical to tactical. Finally Loki gets another idea and lets time take its course as he leaves to go try a new idea.

Out of options, Loki finally realizes what he needs to do. He returns, again, to the control room where they’ve been trying to change things so many times to so little avail. The very definitely reformed villain takes a last look around at his friends, and then surprises all of them. He shares a little bit of what he means to do while everyone else scrambles for another idea. He finally finds a way to fix everything, and goes from a “puny god” as he was called once to a being of vast power that saves an entire multiverse, if not more. He also manages to reshape his immediate piece of reality into something out of his own myth. It’s an awe-inspiring scene that shows a truly remarkable character arc.

Some time later, although that too is a very relative term, we get to see the aftermath of Loki’s sacrifice. A new version of the TVA starts to emerge, building on what they learned from all the chaos of the last two seasons. Mobius and B-15 talk possible remodeling ideas, and Casey gives a not very reassuring update about a new version of an old character. After a bit more talking, Mobius comes to a decision and the new TVA is definitely not going to be the same as the old.

Time ripples in strange ways as thing settle in to their new shape. OB gets a new book, and someone else doesn’t get one, which negates some of the recent past (relatively) from ever happening. Rennslayer comes in for some just desserts, and we hopefully won’t be seeing any more of her. Sylvie and Mobius get a nice parting scene, with the future very much wide open for either or both of them. Mobius gets a chance to do something he’s missed out on, and contemplates what that might mean to him. And finally, the series closes on Loki, who is definitely not where he thought he might be, but exactly where he needs to be, and he seems to accept this as things finally come to an end. And, while I’d prefer it otherwise, I don’t really think we’ll be seeing Loki again. At least not this version.

What I Liked: Damn near everything. Tom Hiddleston did an amazing job with Loki, as did Ke Huy Quan with OB, and Owen Wilson as Mobius. Actually, everyone did well with the roles, most definitely including Sophia Di Martino as Sylvie. Loki has grown so much since the envious, power-hungry god we first met back in the first Thor movie, and it’s a tribute to a lot of different writers, as well as the actor. It was a fitting end for a character that is, at least sometimes, known as the God of Stories.

What I Didn’t: I’m saddened we might not see Loki again. I do have some questions about the new history/timeline. I wonder if Thor will ever know what happened to his brother? I think he’d be proud, as would Odin.

It was a great end to a series I really enjoyed, as well as probably the end of a fan-favorite character. I’ll give this finale a rare 5 out of 5.