Loki
Season 2, Episode 3
Episode title: 1893
Original release date : October 19, 2023
Episode summary: Loki and Mobius go on the hunt for everyone’s favorite cartoon clock as they try to save the TVA.
* * *
(DOG BARKING)
BOY: Tim, come on!
(BARKING CONTINUES)
BOY: Come on!
(MAN SHOUTS INDISTINCTLY)
RENSLAYER: Ugh.
This can’t be the right place. Where is she?
What took you so long?
What am I doing here?
Oh, don’t get your britches in a stir.
You told me I was going somewhere important. That I was gonna meet someone important.
Did you bring what I asked?
Answer me!
First things first. Do you have it?
Oh, bless your heart. Now, do you see that window there?
Uh-huh.
The important person you’re gonna meet? The one at the End of Time? He told me that we need to put this package in that window.
That’s it?
What do you mean, “That’s it?” It was his plan, meant to protect all of time.
Then why didn’t he do it?
He’s dead.
What?
This was the plan he made when he knew the end was near for him.
Get back! Someone will see you. You don’t exactly blend in.
Okay. Better?
This package. That window.
At this exact moment in time, yes.
And what do I get in return?
When he’s back where he belongs, atop the TVA, you and I will be right by his side.
(PACKAGE CLATTERING)
(THEME MUSIC PLAYING)
AUTOMATED VOICE: Loom status elevated.
(CASEY SIGHS)
So, how do we get in?
Loom status elevated.
Without He Who Remains’ temporal aura, I don’t know.
HUNTER B-15: Well, how much time do we have?
It’s stable right now, but the branches Dox pruned are growing back. So if we can’t get in there and increase the diameter of the Loom’s intake ring enough to boost throughput and clear that knot of unrefined time…
LOKI: Wait a second, wait a second. Simpler.
We need to scale the Loom’s capacity to manage all those new branches, otherwise it will fail. And the TVA will be destroyed. And we’re all gonna die.
There has to be another way.
We can hack into the system.
Really? Oh, that is such a relief.
No, no, no. I’m wondering.
O.B.: What?
I think he meant it as an idea.
(RUMBLING)
Can we?
No. We’re all gonna die still.
HUNTER B-15: No one’s gonna die. There has to be a viable option.
CASEY: What about Miss Minutes? Can she open up access to the Loom?
Miss Minutes. What about her?
Conceivably. She has administrator access to the entire TVA.
She can have access to the whole universe. Doesn’t really matter if she’s gone, and she’s AWOL. And how are we gonna find a little rogue cartoon clock that doesn’t wanna be found?
(METAL CREAKING)
I’d say the sooner we find her, the better.
CASEY: We know Miss Minutes sent information to Renslayer and then we never saw her again.
The two hits we had on the TemPad trace.
We find Renslayer, we find Miss Minutes.
That’s gonna be an awkward reunion. Face-to-face with the woman who tried to kill us both.
Well, maybe she got it out of her system. Let’s focus on that cartoon clock.
Okay, we got a hit on the TemPad going from right here, Chicago 1868 to the same spot, 1893.
Why would you go to the same place twice?
I don’t know, I’m trying to connect the dots. This isn’t a pivot point in history.
Any major figure arises from here?
No. I mean, you had the Chicago fire, but that’s 1871.
Let’s go to 1893.
Ravonna, what are you up to?
(CARNIVAL MUSIC PLAYING)
LOKI: This can’t be the same place.
MOBIUS: Yes. Yes. How could I have forgotten? Chicago World’s Fair, 1893. The White City, Edison, H.H. Holmes. Yes! Hot air balloons.
This makes more sense as a destination.
Yes.
You’re saying they went to 1868 by mistake, then went 25 years ahead because this is where they wanted to be?
No, no. I wouldn’t describe Renslayer as accident-prone. Plus, if she has Miss Minutes to help her, there’s a purpose to them going here earlier.
We just gotta figure it out.
I mean, if they’re here, we’ll find ’em.
If they’re here.
Only one way to find out.
How do you propose we do that?
Well, you start by looking. A little good old-fashioned legwork. Clues, bread crumbs, that sort of thing.
Liberty Bell Day to debut on the fourth of July. Ghost Clock continues to haunt the Midway.
Hey. Let me see that. Here.
What do you call that?
Bread crumb.
Exactly.
We’ve been to Chinese Pavilions, Bulgarian Curiosities.
A not-so-brief detour for refreshments, yes.
Yeah. The Cracker Jack concession stand is a high-traffic area. It was necessary and logical to go there.
Sure.
The fact that it’s tasty is a bonus. You wouldn’t know. You haven’t tried it.
Okay. It tastes like ash.
No, it doesn’t.
Can we get a move on? We aren’t sightseeing.
I’m not sightseeing. We have different styles. You’re a man of action, which is fine. I take a more slow, deliberate, cerebral approach because I see everything. I notice everything.
You haven’t seen you got some Cracker Jack on your chin.
So damn sticky.
This has to be a joke.
Does it make you homesick?
LOKI: No. It’s completely inaccurate, first of all.
What, you don’t think that looks like Odin?
It’s embarrassing. It’s a crass generalization. I mean, you can’t reduce an entire culture down to a simple diorama. Such poverty of imagination.
MOBIUS: Is somebody feeling a little left out that they’re not up there?
LOKI: No. And why’d they include Balder? No one’s even heard of him.
Sure they have. Balder the Brave. You know, sometimes I forget that you’re one of them. You are one of them. Blows my mind.
Thor’s not that tall.
(PIG SQUEALING)
So we haven’t been to the Ottoman Hippodrome, where the Ghost Clock was spotted. And the balloon park. That sounds like it could be fun. Maybe we…
Mobius, look.
MOBIUS: “Temporal.” That can’t be a coincidence.
That’s where we’ll find Renslayer.
(POLKA MUSIC PLAYING)
MISS MINUTES: Would you kindly open the bag?
Unless you want everyone freaking out, you stay in that bag until I tell you otherwise.
MAN 1: You two, enjoy the beer.
MAN 2: That’s right, bring it!
This is it.
I think she’s here.
You think?
Well, I don’t know. She does like a good drink.
And so do I.
There she is.
Don’t let her see you.
(CROWD APPLAUDING)
Is that the Loom?
I think so.
TIMELY: Time is everything. It moves… through each and every one of us. It shapes our… lives. Our… futures. But perhaps we can shape… it.
It’s him.
Who?
He Who Remains.
Ladies and gentlemen.
What? You made him sound like this terrifying figure. He…
TIMELY: Don’t be shocked…
He is.
…when I tell you that time is the future of… energy.
And just what would you know about the future, boy?
TIMELY: Great question. Great question. And the answer is… more than you… might think.
(CROWD MURMURING)
LOKI: We can’t just stand here. It’s one of the Variants that He Who Remains warned me about. It’s coming. It’s beginning.
Look where we are. Does he look like he’s about to conquer all of time?
TIMELY: Why should we toil in the dirt for coal and petroleum… when the energy of the past, present, and future flows… all around us? My Temporal Loom… inverts the Temporal Decay of the electricity flowing through it, lowering its entropy, and gathering it into fine threads of… power! Which it then weaves into elegant ropes of… voltage. A chaos. A chaos of particles is transformed into… (SNAPS FINGERS) order. With my device, the wattage Edison uses to light… a single bulb… can light… the whole of… Chicago.
So you can light a few bulbs. Big deal. You’ll need a lot more than that to light a whole city.
Don’t misunderstand me, sir. I do not want to light a… city. I aim… to light, to power… the entire planet. So, call it a dream. Fine. Sneer.
(CROWD GASPS)
Laugh it off as pure science fiction. But if it can be dreamed, it can be achieved. Because all science is fiction until it’s fact!
Welcome! Welcome to the future, my friends.
(CROWD MURMURING AND APPLAUDING)
I’ve got to have that machine.
We need to bring him back to the TVA.
Are you out of your mind? You can’t trust a Variant of He Who Remains in the TVA.
That’s a later problem. We have a very serious now problem.
(SIGHS) The Loom.
Yes, and his aura is the only thing that can get us access to the Loom. And who knows what else he can do.
Thank you. Thank you. Sir, thank you. Thank you, sir.
Were we ever gonna get Renslayer or Miss Minutes to help us?
I mean… Where is she?
Mr. Timely. A moment, please.
(STAMMERS) Of course.
We need to talk about your future.
There she is. She’s talking to our guy.
This way. This way.
MOBIUS: Go.
Well, certainly. Take as many moments as you like.
MAN: Step aside.
As I was saying…
Sir?
Where can we talk?
ROBBER BARON: That’s quite a device you’ve got there, Timely. But I still have some doubts.
(STUTTERING) Oh, it’s still a prototype. Albeit, one that many wealthy investors are competing to acquire.
No. No. I was thinking more along the lines of a partnership. You give me the patent rights, and I’ll facilitate production.
No. I don’t do partners.
Excuse me. Thank you for coming.
(CROWD MURMURING)
MAN: Good man. Good, good.
WOMAN: There he is.
Loved the presentation.
Thank you.
Pardon me. Mr. Timely, a word perhaps?
Forgive my bluntness, sir, but I must have your Temporal Loom.
Look, it appears my presentation has piqued much interest. Ladies and gentlemen, I will be taking all formal bids.
Perhaps $500 would conclude the bidding?
I’ll give you six.
Seven.
Eight.
Eight-fifty.
Step aside, hornswaggler. I was here first. One thousand dollars.
(CROWD GASPS)
That’s my final offer. I suggest you take it.
I believe we have a deal.
(ROBBER BARON CHUCKLES)
Pleasure doing business with you.
Hey, clown. You stepped on my foot.
I do apologize. I assure you, any physical contact was purely incidental.
That is the man who’s destined to become He Who Remains? You sure your plan is gonna work?
MISS MINUTES: I told you, it’s not my plan. It’s his plan. And quit your worrying. With our help, he’ll be all he’s meant to become.
Come on, he’s getting away. Will you handle this, please?
How about we settle this outside?
Gently.
Outside? Excellent suggestion. I agree.
Come on.
(CROWD GASPS)
The amazing Loki, everyone! He’ll be here all week!
Mr. Timely, I need to talk with you about something.
Um, yes, my future!
(DISTANT EXPLOSION)
Do you mind if we walk and talk?
MOBIUS: Mr. Timely!
ROBBER BARON: Find him!
Excuse me.
(GROWLING)
Mr. Timely. My associate and I…
Excuse me! Gentlemen.
…want to discuss a business venture.
It’s thrilling.
Fellas, we are discussing business.
Renslayer, this is only gonna take a minute.
Do you all know each other?
Well…
Unfortunately. Yeah, old friend.
Colleagues.
A long time ago.
A reunion.
I can hardly remember.
I want my money back, Timely. These trousers don’t work.
Councilman, what are you talking about? You look taller to me. I told you these were a prototype. Perhaps I could come by next week, maybe adjust the settings.
Next week?
TIMELY: Next week. Fine.
COUNCILMAN: Fine.
TIMELY: Fine.
RENSLAYER: Mr. Timely…
Mechanical trousers? You’re a confidence trickster.
Luminary is the word you’re looking for.
Of course. Forgive me.
My ideas are just ahead of their time.
Why wouldn’t they be?
The concepts are bona fide. I just need the crude technology of this era to catch up with my visionary mind.
Do you know? I never doubted it for a second.
Enlightened fellows never do.
Of course.
Your inventions are fake, Timely.
Speaking of your visionary mind…
Excuse me.
ROBBER BARON: I’ll wipe that smile off your face.
Hey! Thief!
Stop that man! He’s a thief! I’m gonna get you, Timely! No one swindles me!
There he is! Get him!
Hugo!
WOMAN: Watch out!
(CROWD EXCLAIMING)
I need to skip the line.
Go!
ROBBER BARON: We just wanna talk!
Excuse me. Beg your pardon.
Thank you. Sorry.
Get out of the way! We got you now, Timely! There’s no escape from this carriage. Folks, folks, there’s a thief in here! There’s a thief. Where is he? What…
(BUZZER DINGS)
He’s over there! He’s over there! Open the door! Do you know who I am, boy?
(DEVICE BEEPS)
Not a great time.
HUNTER B-15: Sorry, we’ve got a development.
We have a development here, too. Turns out we have something even better than Miss Minutes. We have a He Who Remains Variant. We can use his temporal aura.
Okay.
Okay. Uh… Heads up, Casey has had a really weird TemPad reading.
MOBIUS: What, weird like dangerous? Where?
About ten feet from where you’re standing.
Victor. All right. You’re clearly really good at getting away.
We have that in common.
(GASPS)
What the…
Sylvie! Sylvie, no!
You stay out of this.
TIMELY: No!
Just wait. Just wait for a second.
You’ve done enough. Get out of my face and let me finish the job.
(BOTH GRUNTING)
RENSLAYER: Great. You let Sylvie track you here?
Did it occur to you maybe she tracked you here? Why don’t you tell me what’s going on? Come on. Just between us. What are you up to?
(CHUCKLES)
We don’t work together anymore, Mobius. I don’t have to tell you anything.
Yeah, and look where not working together has got ya. You’re a fugitive.
When you showed up out of nowhere to ruin my life, you asked me what I would do if one of his Variants turned up. And I told you then, I’d kill him.
What is going on?
We need him. Without his help, the TVA will be destroyed.
Good. Let it burn. Do you care about anything but the TVA?
The TVA. (STUTTERING) The Time Variance Authority.
I know you just want to be left alone to live a life on your branch. I understand that. But if the Loom fails and the TVA is destroyed, there won’t be a life to go back to. Not for you, not for anyone. And we can’t fix it without him.
Mobius, you’re the one who sided with Loki over me. Don’t play the teamwork card on me now.
Can I play the “you-tried-to-kill-me” card? Does that get me anywhere? Because the TVA is melting down, and he is the key to fixing the Loom. We’re running out of time. We need your help.
No, Mobius. There is no “we.” Not anymore.
Oh, no!
Stopping that place from being destroyed and fixing it are two very, very different things. And working with one of his Variants is not gonna get you either.
Your machete hasn’t solved any problems thus far.
Do you think I want to be here? Do you think I’m gonna get any joy out of killing that man?
Then don’t.
Where do you think he got that book? If you and the TVA hadn’t messed with him, he’d have remained harmless. But instead, you weaponized him.
What are you talking about?
Renslayer set him on a path that he wasn’t meant for. And now you are waltzing him straight back into the TVA. The thief of all free will. The most dangerous man who ever lived.
Sylvie, I have never met this man in my life. I didn’t give him this book. I never heard the name Victor Timely until today. I was shocked when I saw his face too. Maybe you’re right. Maybe we should throw him off this Ferris wheel. But we need him. The TVA needs him. The lives they protect need him.
(GRUNTS)
You haven’t got a clue, have you?
(BOTH SHOUTING)
Those lives, your home, are in danger. And right now, he may be our best hope of saving them.
This is all very familiar, isn’t it? I can’t let him live.
No.
(CROWD SCREAMING)
RENSLAYER: Mr. Timely. Mr. Timely, are you okay?
MOBIUS: You all right?
I’m all right.
ROBBER BARON: Get out of my way!
Wait, hold on, hold on!
Where is he?
ROBBER BARON: You got nowhere to run.
Miss Minutes?
MISS MINUTES: Yeah?
This is your moment.
ROBBER BARON: Get him!
MAN: Ghost Clock!
Boo!
(CROWD SCREAMING)
(LAUGHS)
You better run!
RENSLAYER: This way.
TIMELY: So many questions.
(MISS MINUTES HOWLING AND LAUGHING)
This is on you.
Loki! Come on!
Absolutely not.
MISS MINUTES: Whoo! (CACKLES)
TIMELY: You’ll love this. Make yourself comfortable.
RENSLAYER: One of your inventions?
Um…
(BOTH CHUCKLING)
This button here controls the temperature through the cushion. It can go down to 40 degrees. Oh! And…
A refrigerator chair.
Touch it.
Very… practical.
So did you like my performance back there? Ooh!
Bravo. (CHUCKLES) It was marvelous. A bit creepy.
Thank you.
TIMELY: But, our hero. Is this apparition your helper?
Uh, no. I am a fully conscious and sentient artificial intelligence entity. And I have a name. Miss Minutes.
Excusez-moi, Mademoiselle Minutes. You are absolutely singular.
Why, thank you. You’re pretty singular yourself. At least, you will be.
What do you mean?
It’s complicated.
Ladies, it’s high time someone tells me exactly… what is going on.
A long time ago… far from now… a different time, a version of you created an entity called the Time Variance Authority. But two Variants of the same Norse god murdered him, which resulted in the creation of new timelines, which would each see the rebirth of countless different versions of you.
Are you saying… I created the TVA?
Something like that.
MISS MINUTES: I know this must be overwhelming. If it’s too much for you…
TIMELY: No. It’s like the story of myself that I… always imagined… is true.
Did you hear the murder part? That is why you need me by your side. I’ll keep you safe.
(SCOFFS)
And the two of you work for the TVA?
Well, even before the TVA or her, you created me. And we worked together at the End of Time. I’m here because I know what a great man you can become.
And… and you, Mrs… Ms. Ravonna.
Ms. Ravonna.
I’m just looking to restore stability to the TVA. Our Loom, a device not unlike your prototype you had on stage, it’s in trouble. And it needs you.
That is not dissimilar to what the wizard gentleman said to me on the Ferris wheel. Why aren’t the two of you in cahoots with him and his butler?
They can’t be trusted.
Why not?
Loki helped murder your Variant.
It’s true.
But he was protecting me.
Mmm… He switches sides. It’s a well-documented behavioral trait.
(BANGING ON DOOR)
Time to go.
Don’t you want to see who it is?
ROBBER BARON: Timely, open this door!
RENSLAYER: We could just take a time door.
Are you crazy? They’ll track us.
RENSLAYER: It won’t matter if we go straight to the TVA.
TIMELY: I’m not going anywhere until I have my latest prototype.
ROBBER BARON: Timely, come out here!
Okay. Pack it up. Let’s go.
It’s at my lab across the lake.
The lake?
You’ll love it. It’s like the Caribbean of the Midwest.
RENSLAYER: You don’t live here?
No, this is just a pied-à-terre. I do all my sales in Chicago, but my lab is in Wisconsin.
Go, go, go.
Lower taxes.
ROBBER BARON: Break it! Go!
Outside!
They’ve tracked us! Run!
MAN: There!
Where are they? He’s mine, rat bags.
Go ahead.
I beg your pardon?
ROBBER BARON: Take him! He’s all yours.
Anything?
Nothing.
Okay, I’ll have B-15 run a trace.
This way.
TIMELY: Excuse me! Sir… Excuse me. Yeah, thank you. Thank you. Clear the way.
Excuse me. Excuse me. Excuse me.
Just… Yes. Just one moment, thank you.
Sir, use your legs. Yeah.
Excuse me! Excuse me. Thank you. Pardon me. Thank you. We need the usual accommodations.
RENSLAYER: So, what’s this latest work of yours that’s so important?
The key to… understanding and manipulating… time. This is where I keep everything I’ve ever imagined. All my designs.
That looks impressive.
It’s a TVA guidebook. Perhaps you recognize it? It was delivered to me… when I was a child. Dropped into my life by some… divine hand. I’ve never found out who. … You?
Yes.
(MISS MINUTES SCOFFS)
I brought it to you.
You brought it to him the way the postman brings the post. We both know whose plan it was.
Well, whoever it was, I thank you. This book has… defined the course of my life. I like to think of it as a correspondence between myself and the visionary author, Ouroboros. Here. This is the most important discovery I’ve made yet. It’s a Throughput Multiplier. It could help you with your… Loom. I always knew my ideas were good, I just didn’t have the technology to make them… really work. … Oh, happy day.
RENSLAYER: It’s beautiful.
Thank you. You know, Victor, I’m… I’m starting to see the man you’ll become.
Appreciate that… Ravonna.
I have high hopes for this partnership.
(GASPS)
You heard her, Victor. “Partnership.” You had to do it. (CHUCKLES) Bye.
(LAUGHS IN AMAZEMENT) Oh…
Welcome. Have a seat, a float. I’ll just be a minute.
Oh, take your time. Don’t worry about me.
(MISS MINUTES HUMMING)
(SIGHS) You’re so much like him. Look at all your amazing work. I’m so happy to be here. … Is that…
This is it. The culmination of my life’s… work.
Just wonderful.
Yes.
You have always been so smart, Victor.
(CHUCKLES) Okay. I’m ready. Let’s go.
Now, what’s the rush?
Don’t we have to get to… the TVA?
I was thinking… It might be smart to lay low for a while. We made quite the ruckus back there.
Okay.
Okay. You know, for a moment, I was worried that you wouldn’t come with me. That you liked Ravonna better than me. Is there a sketch of me in that journal of yours?
Not yet, but I… I’m sure there will be.
When you first created me, long before the TVA or a Multiversal War, I was just a simple AI. Just something to play chess with. But you knew I could be more for you, so you gave me autonomy to write my own programming. I was allowed to have wants, and follow whims and become who I am. And still, each night we played chess and talked.
A loyal friend.
More than friends. The war, the TVA, the eons after. I, alone, was by your side. But there was one whim you never allowed me. Why didn’t you allow me a real body?
(STUTTERING) Well, that wasn’t me.
If I had a body, we could truly lead together.
Yes, that’s… something I don’t know how to do.
You never even tried. With all your powers and all your abilities, you just kept me as your thing. Your computer, your toy. Instead of what I could have been. Your girl.
Victor, what are you doing? Put that down. Don’t do this! We’re a team. You need me! I love you!
(SHUDDERS)
Oh, dear.
RENSLAYER: Lovers’ tiff?
TIMELY: Thank God you’re here. Things were getting quite strange. (SHRIEKS) That’s… that’s very dangerous. Still a prototype. Quite unstable. Clearly, I made a mistake leaving you behind.
Save it. I was entrusted with this mission by He Who Remains, not his Variant. So, from now on, I’m the one in charge.
(GASPS)
Are we clear?
As a bell, Ravonna. Ms. Renslayer.
No, no!
Step away from him. We need him.
Move any closer, and he’s done.
Stop. Von, what are you doing? Is this the free will that you were looking for? Look at me. You have lost your way.
Mobius, you really are unbelievable. How dare you lecture me?
MOBIUS: I’m not lecturing, I’m pleading.
After all those years of doing your dirty work, cleaning up your messes, making the hard decisions you never had the nerve to make. After all the times I put the TVA above myself, even at the cost of my own happiness, my humanity. Who are you to lecture me about losing my way?
Look. We’ve all lost our way, but someone has to keep track of the big picture here.
(SHRIEKS)
You have no idea what it takes to lead, to act, to keep order. Did you happen to notice the second I left, everything crumbled? I am the only one who can bring stability to the TVA because that’s what I’ve been doing, thanklessly, for eons. When will you learn that none of your words mean a thing? All that matters is order versus chaos. I’m order.
MOBIUS: No.
(TIMELY COUGHING)
(GROANS)
Please. I haven’t done anything.
Oh, you will. You’ll do terrible things.
That isn’t me. That… You don’t know me. You don’t know the heart… the heart I have beating in my chest. I can make my own choices. I’m not the man you think I am.
(SIGHS)
Get him out of here.
MOBIUS: Walk through.
(TIMELY GRUNTS)
Don’t make me regret this. And leave her to me.
Here we are. I suppose I’ve been a box you’ve been wanting to tick for a long time.
(GRUNTS)
(COUGHS)
If you’re gonna kill me, just do it.
Oh, no. I’ve killed you a thousand times in my mind, each time more brutal than the last. It’s crippling, that kind of obsession. I’m starting to realize that. It’s power for you, isn’t it? That’s what you want. A seat at the End of Time. Well, be careful what you wish for.
(GRUNTS)
Love you.
Darn.
I should’ve known.
I had him under control until you sabotaged me and made fools of us.
Well, it was foolish of him to make an enemy out of someone who knows all his secrets. I know a really big one about you. I can tell you, but…
But what?
It’s gonna make you real angry.
(THEME MUSIC PLAYING)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
