Loki S2 Episode 2 "Breaking Brad" Review: Once A Villain, Always A Loki

It’s another Thursday (or Thor’s Day), and a brand new episode of Loki has dropped on the streaming platform Disney+. Following the success of the season premiere on 6th October 2023, the God of Mischief is back on the trail looking for his variant, Sylvie, who is hiding somewhere in the Sacred Timeline.

Inching closer to finding Ravonna Renslayer, the team of Loki, Mobius, Hunter B-15, Casey, and O.B. learn the truth behind Miss Minutes and uncover the sinister plot by General Dox. As this review does reveal critical plot points for Loki Season 2 Episode 2, we’ve issued a spoiler alert for those who have yet to catch the episode.

Loki's Redemption Arc From Villain To Multiversal Hero

Episode 2 picks up the search for Sylvie as Loki and Mobius travel to find her location while the timelines continue to wreak havoc and the TVA is in shambles. The glorious duo finds themselves in London in 1977, where they locate a defected Hunter, now posing as a Hollywood actor, resulting in the first of many instances of how much the God of Mischief has grown.

With a bit of trickery and devilish charm, we're reminded that Loki is still a "bad person" even when he's on the side of saving the world. Audiences were treated to some interesting contrasts between Loki and Mobius, especially when interrogating Hunter X-5/Brad Wolfe back at the TVA, as Mobius lost his temper and struck Brad, and Loki remained rational yet calm.

We were also treated to some lore regarding Ravonna Renslayer, teasing her connections with Her Who Remains, which comic fans should be excited to hear. Renslayer and Kang the Conqueror have had a tumultuous history throughout comics, so it shouldn't be a surprise that it will finally be played out.

Nevertheless, after Loki is reminded that keeping up appearances isn't fooling anyone, especially Brad and that he's a "loser" having lost many people, including his mother, Loki admits that he's never been a good person. He's always been and will remain a villain and is good at it, but he has been waiting for a moment to do "terrible, awful things."

Also, take a moment to wonder exactly what kind of life Mobius could have had if the TVA hadn't taken him something Brad asked Mobius if he knew what his real name might be and if anyone was waiting for him. While Brad's incessant pressing leads to an altercation, Loki kindly requests Mobius to calm down with some pie, which is when we get treated to an MCU callback to 2012's The Avengers film.

Do you remember that time I was so angry with my father and my brother I went down to Earth and held the whole of New York City hostage with an alien army?" Loki reminded Mobius. "Tried to use the Mind Stone on Tony Stark. It didn't work, so I threw him off the building! I mean, let me tell you something; it wasn't tactical. I lost it. Sometimes, our emotions get the better of us.

This clever nod not only serves as a reminder of Loki's glorious emotional journey until he stole the Time Stone in Avengers: Endgame and fled to another timeline but also how accepting he is of his newfound outlook. The contrasts between Loki from the first Thor film until now highlight the many strides he has taken and the progress not just to find his true identity but also his glorious purpose in protecting the multiverse from implosion.

Loki returns to interrogate Brad in a rather mischievous fashion, unearthing what Brad knows about Sylvie and her possible locations, which he channels his more villainous side to get the information he needs. Granted, Brad didn't make things easier for himself by egging Loki and Mobius in a previous scene, but eventually, Loki learned of Sylvie's whereabouts.

We get to see more of O.B. and a fun interaction between him and Casey, a fan of O.B.'s work. However, it's not long before O.B. informs them that the TVA's containment doors are locked, and he cannot open it without a scan of a temporal aura of He Who Remains, who was killed by Sylvie.

Meanwhile, Loki, Mobius, and Brad travel to 1982 Oklahoma, where they find Sylvie working as a customer assistant at the local McDonald's before tensions slowly arise between them. Seeking answers regarding Sylvie's presence in a future timeline, he also needs her help at the TVA before Mobius reveals that Brad withholds more information from them, which Sylvie discovers.

Unfortunately, it was slightly too late, as General Dox and her Hunters had begun pruning multiple timelines using explosive charges to destroy them. They achieved this by quickly traveling to the new timelines using the Time Doors, connected to a control panel using modified TemPads.

They apprehend General Dox and her defectors but at the cost of billions of lives, which they eliminated. With Renslayer's TemPad being tracked and Miss Minutes working closely with her, Sylvie expresses her disappointment with the situation before returning to Oklahoma and concluding the episode.

The second episode continues to slowly build on the high stakes that many characters will be impacted in the lead-up to Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. The direction of the episode focused on Loki and Mobius' budding friendship and setting up O.B. to become influential in the episodes to come, especially in convincing a rogue Miss Minutes to aid them.

But one cannot simply ignore how the show is building Renslayer to becoming a much more significant threat than initially believed back in Season 1; her strong ties to He Who Remains/Kang will be a centerpiece for much of the season and after that.

New episodes of Loki Season 2 are released every Thursday at 6 pm P.T. and 1 am UTC / 2 am BST on Friday on Disney+. Loki Season 1 is available to stream.