Into the Void – Loki Episode 5 Review

In order to provide a contextual review within the season, this review will contain spoilers from Loki Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, and Episode 4 but not the end of Episode 5.

Loki Episode 5, “Journey into Mystery”, is the six episode season’s penultimate episode. In some ways, this was the build up in a series full of build up, but now that we have a more clear goal, taking down the TVA, the episode builds on the characters, relationships, and plans that have been established. When Loki meets other Lokis after being pruned, things heat up as they try to survive the end of time and a giant, angry, all consuming cloud.

The episode opens where last week’s episode’s post credit scene left off, our Loki waking up to a ragtag group of Lokis. This group explains that a giant cloud, Alioth, is constantly searching for living variants that have been pruned by the TVA. They go to their hiding place to continue to survive, but they do little more, being poor Lokis with no plans.

Meanwhile, in the TVA, Sylvie (the Loki variant) and Judge Ravonna Renslayer face each other and discuss what happens when someone is pruned. With this, Sylvie hypothesizes that the end of time acts as an apocalypse, which hides nexus events, similar to how she hid from the TVA so long. This would give Loki a place to hide, and survive, after being pruned. She prunes herself to find him. 

Sylvie immediately finds herself face to face with Alioth, the cloud, and is rescued by Mobius, who was pruned in last week’s episode, driving a pizza delivery car. After Loki’s band of Lokis are attacked by another group of Lokis that formed a culty sort of political party in which another Loki is president, Loki and Sylvie are reunited. Together, the two main Lokis, some side Lokis, and Mobius try to come up with a plan to defeat Alioth and find what exists beyond the end of time.

While “Journey into Mystery” is mostly building toward the season finale, it is now building on quite a bit that has been pieced together throughout the last couple weeks. While the early episodes felt like a bit of a slow build, this episode is fun to watch, offers a few really good laughs, and creates even more excitement for the final episode, where we might learn who, or what, is behind the TVA.

7/10