Loki, episode 6 review: this damp squib of an ending needed to be more than just a big cliffhanger

Marvel fans have had a devil of a time trying to pin down Loki on Disney+. Was this standalone vehicle for Tom Hiddleston’s trickster god an appetite-whetter for future MCU films? An attempt at course correction after the underwhelming WandaVision and the pointless The Falcon and the Winter Soldier? The Marvel Doctor Who tribute we hadn’t known we needed?

After five weeks of build-up, the finale at last provided a concrete answer. The entire purpose of Loki was to… set up future seasons of Loki. That was confirmed with a post-credit snippet in which it was announced Loki would be back for a second run.

But then we had already worked that out given that the episode had finished on the All-Father of all cliffhangers. Loki had journeyed full circle back to the Time Variance Authority only to discover that multiple timelines had been unleashed. And that the villain which the entire internet suspects to be Kang the Conqueror was now in charge (oh and everyone in the present time-frame had forgotten Loki even existed).

So it was clever and complicated. Was it any good, though? The answer can only be a thunderous “meh”. After a spectacular penultimate instalment featuring an alligator wearing a tiny crown and Richard E Grant romping around in banana-hued pyjamas (both different versions of Loki, though Grant was really playing a Withnail and I variant), Loki part six had a lot to live up to.

Alas, it was ultimately more jaw-jaw than pow-pow. And the extreme chattiness will surely have underwhelmed many viewers. In that respect it was of a piece with previous Marvel Disney+ shows, where a spectacular opening gave way to ever diminishing returns and a damp-squib denouement.

In Loki’s defence, the sign-off felt more like a mid-season break than a huge crunching full-stop. And it did meaningfully widen the scope of the Loki-verse. This occurred as the eponymous anti-hero and Sophia De Martino’s Sylvie – aka the female-variant Loki with whom Hiddleston’s character had struck up a romantic spark– journeyed beyond all known dimensions to a castle that seemed to have arrived straight from the latest Dark Souls or Bloodborne video game.

They were at the fortress past the void at the end of time. After a terrifying jump cut courtesy of cutesy orange sociopath Miss Minutes, they were introduced to He Who Remains – a slick baddie portrayed by Lovecraft Country’s Jonathan Majors.

He was a chipper villain, with a purple colour scheme that suggested he was a) an ardent Prince fan and b) the MCU’s manifestation of lilac-bedecked megaboss Kang the Conquerer. Actually that was more than speculation as it has been confirmed that Majors will play Kang in the next Ant-Man sequel.

So far so thrilling. However, Loki proceeded to go off the rails slightly. Or, more accurately, back on the rails, chugging its way towards a predictable face-off between He Who Remains/Kang and the two Lokis.

Majors’s character explained that he was a manifestation of a scientist who’d unlocked the gates to the multiverse and discovered infinite versions of himself. At first these variants got along splendidly. But conflict had eventually broken out. Hence the requirement to establish the TVA: a a great stonking lie – there never were any Time Keepers pulling the strings– necessary to bring order to the universe (all the universes).

Loki could see the logic. Sylvie, pursued as an outlawed variant since childhood, wasn’t having it, though. She and Loki fought and finally kissed. Next, Sylvie shoved Loki through a time-gate leading to the TVA and struck down Kang. “See you soon,” he chuckled – not what you expect from a foe you’ve just vanquished. Had Sylvie been hit by a temporal sidewinder?

Back at the TVA, Mobius (Owen Wilson) had returned to confront Gugu Mbatha-Raw’s Ravonna Renslayer, whom we learned was a school teacher in a past life. She opened a time-gate of her own and departed in search of “free will”. This was followed by the arrival of Loki, who walked in as Mobius and Hunter B-15 gawped at the splintering timelines set free by Sylvie when she stabbed Kang.

They didn’t recognise him. And then Loki clocked a statue of Kang. Either he was in a different timeline – or his dimension was careening into wild new shapes. Cue end credits (how perfect would it have been if Loki had yelled “Kaaaaaang!” before the cut to black?).

Loki has been lighter on its toes than previous Marvel excursions on Disney+. And expectations were certainly subverted in a finale which essentially turned out to be one giant cliffhanger.

Other highlights have included crackling chemistry between Hiddleston and Di Martino as his 'n' hers Lokis. And, in his extended Kang cameo, Majors demonstrated the potential to be an all-time great MCU villain. And yet, in terms of big, meaty pay-offs, it turned out that Loki was hoodwinking us all along.

The greatest trick the series has pulled was convincing us it would tie up all its loose ends within the allotted six or so hours. Can it justify all that cleverness and misdirection and deliver a second season with a satisfying, emotionally-compelling conclusion? We should be so Loki.