Loki – S02E06 – Glorious Purpose | Transcript

Loki
Season 2, Episode 6
Episode title: Glorious Purpose

Original release date: November 9, 2023

Episode summary: Loki attempts to avert the Temporal Loom’s destruction. Each attempt ends in failure, no matter how far back in time he goes. It is only when Loki himself learns the specifics behind the technology of the Throughput Multiplier that Timely succeeds. However, the Loom fails to stabilize, as the infinite amount of branches makes it mathematically impossible. Realizing there is nothing he can do in the present to stop it, Loki time slips back to the moment Sylvie kills He Who Remains.[b] He tells Loki that the Temporal Loom is a fail safe protecting the Sacred Timeline, and the only way to prevent its destruction is to kill Sylvie, who is adamant about replacing it with something better. Loki proposes to destroy the Loom, to which He Who Remains answers it could restart the multiversal war by leaving the Sacred Timeline vulnerable to his variants and that any attempt by Loki of stopping them will fail. After talking with Mobius and Sylvie at different past moments, Loki slips back to before Timely enters the Loom, and tells Sylvie and Mobius that he knows the kind of god he wants to be. He destroys the Loom, and realizes that he can revive the dead time branches with his magic. Shedding his TVA identity, Loki rearranges the branches into a tree and takes his place at the end of time. With the TVA normal again, Ouroboros reactivates Miss Minutes, who becomes loyal to the TVA again in its new purpose of tracking variants of He Who Remains, with one of them having been stopped at Earth-616’s “adjacent realm”.[c] Mobius leaves the TVA to visit his original timeline. Meanwhile, Renslayer ends up in the Void where she encounters an unseen force.

* * *

O.B.: Load the Multiplier, launch it, and get back. Got it?

TIMELY: Got it.

Okay.

Time to be brave.

Good luck.

Time to be brave.

I’m back.

You okay?

Yes. Yes. We have to get Timely out there.

(GRUNTS)

Ready.

SYLVIE: How long will he have?

Not long.

I don’t know about this radiation level, it’s worse than when I was there.

HUNTER B15: He’ll make it.

Be brave.

Here we go.

(GRUNTS)

Come on, let’s go! Let’s go!

HUNTER B15: Come on, let’s move!

(TIMELY SCREAMS)

(SQUELCHING)

MOBIUS: What happened?

SYLVIE: He’s gone. It’s over.

MOBIUS: Okay, what do we do?

The Temporal Radiation is just too high.

HUNTER B15: What did we do wrong?

CASEY: I don’t know. It wasn’t me, I swear.

O.B.

HUNTER B15: Is he dead?

What could we have done differently?

O.B.: Good question.

We took too long.

(RUMBLING)

Again. Faster.

(DISCO MUSIC PLAYING)

Okay. No time to argue. Follow me.

Good luck, professor.

Listen. Get in, get suited up. When…

When those doors open, get down the gangway as fast as you can. Load the Multiplier, hit the green button, launch it and get back. Okay?

Okay.

O.B.: That’s exactly right.

Let’s keep moving. Let’s go faster this time.

TIMELY: Time to be brave. LOKI: You ready?

“This time”?

(SCREAMS)

Okay. No time to argue.

Good luck, professor.

Listen… Get in. Get suited up. Get down the gangway fast. Load the Multiplier, hit the green button, launch it and get back.

Keep moving. Go little faster this time.

“This time”?

(SCREAMS)

(GROANS)

MOBIUS: What happened?

SYLVIE: He’s gone.

Again. Not faster, earlier.

SYLVIE: It’s over.

Miss Ravonna, after what happened in my workshop…

Miss Minutes, I know right now you’re hurt and you’re angry. But we need your help in finishing the Throughput Multiplier, faster.

Time is of the essence.

I wasted time and now the time wastes me.

Don’t set the Multiplier down.

Again.

Come on!

Again. Again.

(SCREAMING)

Again.

Come on, come on, come on.

Again.

Introductions. Ouroboros, this is Victor Timely.

Victor Timely, this is Ouroboros. Guess what?

The TVA Handbook, you both wrote it. Isn’t that amazing?

Loki, why are you being so weird?

LOKI: O.B…

O.B.: Victor Timely?

Ouroboros.

MOBIUS: Hey, hey.

Nice to meet you!

Here is a model of the Loom which O.B. so helpfully mocked up.

Everyone, Victor, this model is not finished, okay?

There’s only one coat of paint on this.

O.B., what are you talking about? It’s absolutely perfect.

Now listen up. We have to get Timely suited up and to the Loom.

Wait… Why me?

Because you volunteered, you did, you will.

Something could go wrong, and you know how the Multiplier works.

I do.

It’ll make sense.

You will wear this protective suit.

Mobius, you’re in luck.

It looks like Mobius, but it’s actually Victor Timely.

That’s me?

Victor, in this suit, when those doors open, get down the gangway as fast as you can.

It’s gonna take some doing, it’s not gonna be easy.

It’s not gonna be easy…

LOKI: Lot of Temporal Radiation.

Everyone following? Good.

ALL: Yes.

Victor, load the Multiplier into the launcher, spin it, hit the green button, which will launch it where it’ll dock with the Loom and scale its capacity to manage the backlog of branches.

O.B.: The Multiplier isn’t ready yet.

It is.

Because Timely has this.

What’s that…

A prototype…

Yes.

…which will widen the temporal input and invert the temporal decay.

This device, plus the Throughput Multiplier, will make the rings bigger.

Loki, give…

Give that back to the professor.

Thank you so much. Trust me.

It’ll take time to adapt my Throughput Multiplier…

How long? How long?

Depends. I don’t even know what I’m looking at.

What is that?

O.B., how long will it take me to know everything that you know about mechanics, physics, and engineering?

How much do you know?

Let’s assume I don’t know much, but I’m a fast learner and I’m a god.

Let’s start at the beginning.

Start at the beginning.

We don’t have time. It’s better if we work alone.

O.B., I understand.

But if I had to know,

I mean, I really, really, really had to know, how long would it take?

Decades.

Centuries.

Loki, I’m not questioning your surprisingly advanced engineering skills, but maybe O.B. should test that thing first?

Testing protocol is key to safe scientific advancement.

It’s perfect. Timely, need you this way.

We have to scan your Temporal Aura in this fine machine.

Now, it looks lethal.

Is that…

It is absolutely safe. Watch this.

TIMELY: Loki, Loki!

AUTOMATED VOICE: Access denied.

Your turn. I’ll take those.

Thank you.

Thank you.

When you’re ready.

Ready.

And go.

AUTOMATED VOICE: Welcome, He Who Remains.

TIMELY: Can I, can I come out?

LOKI: And you’re still here.

You’ll need those.

Guys, it’s worse than I thought.

We have to move fast. Who’s it gonna be?

It’s him. It’s you. You volunteer.

Here’s the plan. Get in, get suited up.

When those doors open, get down the gangway as fast as you can.

Load the Multiplier, hit the green button, launch it, and get back.

Got it.

By the way, remember, tape your right thumb, left knee, and faceplate or the Temporal Radiation will peel your skin off.

Watch the first step, trip hazard.

Thumb, knee, faceplate.

One last thing.

Yes.

Whatever you do, do not set the Multiplier down, or it will roll off the gangway. Okay? Don’t forget.

(CLICKS TONGUE) Be brave.

Time to be brave.

LOKI: Casey, we need to widen the voltage input and invert the temporal decay.

What about the ion decoupler?

LOKI: It’s fine.

Route it with the primary compartment.

CASEY: Won’t it overheat?

No. Allow it to interface with Timely’s adaptive exponential computing system.

Those upgrades will allow the Loom to scale the capacity to manage the branches.

The rings. Rings are too small.

We’re gonna make them bigger. Let’s go.

MOBIUS: Better watch out, O.B.

Someone’s coming for your job.

Coming for your job.

That’s right. I’m coming, O.B., watch your back.

Casey, get the Multiplier down to Timely as fast as you can.

Okay.

What the shit are you doing?

Trust me.

No.

I know what I’m doing.

No!

Watch.

Casey, don’t forget to latch his helmet.

Yeah.

LOKI: Latch his helmet.

Thank you.

Mr. Timely’s ready.

I know.

AUTOMATED VOICE: Access denied. Password required. Password accepted.

Here we go.

Yes!

Hang on. This all seems a bit rushed.

Only to you. Trust me. If you stop, you die.

All right.

Here we go.

(GRUNTS)

(GRUNTS)

LOKI: Get to the end of the gangway as fast as you can, and then load the Multiplier into the launcher.

That’s it, one step at a time.

Be brave. You’re being so brave.

You’re doing really well. Fantastic.

Keep going.

One foot in front of the other.

Before you know it, you’ll be at the end of the gangway.

Well done.

(YELLS)

(GRUNTS)

He did it. He made it.

Not yet.

Ah, ah! Victor, what did I tell you?

Do not put the Multiplier down, it will roll off the gangway.

Oh, my God, yes!

LOKI: That’s right. Well done. Now load it into the launcher.

(GRUNTS)

Come on.

(GRUNTS)

Come on.

He’s got it.

Right. Listen to me carefully.

Hit the green button.

TIMELY: Hit the green button.

No.

LOKI: Hit the button.

It can be a little sticky.

TIMELY: Hit the green button! (GRUNTS)

Yes!

(SIGHS IN RELIEF)

Now come back, quick.

Get back, get back.

TIMELY: Back?

Yes, come back. (CHUCKLES)

It’s working. It’s working. It’s gonna work this time.

(GRUNTS)

Come on, Victor. Yes, come back!

(GRUNTS)

Come on.

Go, go, go, go! Go!

Go. (LAUGHING)

Yes!

MOBIUS: Yeah!

Are you kidding me?

He did it!

Yes!

How did he do that?

Pumpkins.

(MACHINE WHIRRING)

It’s working.

CASEY: I’m going to go check the systems.

Finally.

It’s integrating.

The Loom is weaving the branches together. It’s stabilizing.

TIMELY: Did it work, Wizard?

HUNTER B15: You did it!

O.B.: Oh, my God. We did it.

Did it work?

LOKI: Oh, yes, it worked. It’s working right now.

Really?

It’s working. Look at this.

It worked.

HUNTER B15: You did it. You did it!

We’re gonna make it.

It worked.

You did it.

O.B.: Wait.

What?

O.B.: These readings are off.

LOKI: What do you mean, “off”?

O.B.: I don’t know. They’re just off.

It can’t be.

How can the readings be off? How…

O.B.: The Loom is overloading again.

How can the Loom be overloading?

(COMPUTER BUZZES)

No.

That’s not possible.

It’s not possible.

We increased the throughput.

The Multiplier was perfect.

O.B.: It did increase the throughput, but there are just too many branches.

(RUMBLING)

(METAL CREAKING)

We have to get out of here.

TIMELY: Wait.

The branches of time are duplicating and expanding at an infinite rate.

LOKI: I… I don’t understand.

(CHUCKLES SHEEPISHLY)

It’s a scaling problem.

But that’s what we were adjusting for.

TIMELY: The Loom will never be able to accommodate

for an infinitely growing multiverse.

You can’t scale for infinite.

It’s like trying to divide by zero.

It can’t be done.

So, no matter how much we increase the throughput,

it will never be enough.

Be enough. Never enough.

And the Loom will always fail.

Fail.

And the new timelines will always…

It’s almost as if as soon as the timelines started branching, this was doomed to happen.

(RUMBLING)

I’m sorry.

Sylvie, stop. Stop.

(SWORD CLATTERING)

(SYLVIE PANTING)

Stop.

Stop.

I’ve been where you are.

I’ve felt what you feel.

You don’t want this.

(SYLVIE GRUNTS)

What’s happening?

You’re right. What were you thinking trusting me?

I can’t be trusted.

You have to believe me.

You cannot kill him.

You must not follow through. It all ends if you do.

I know this sounds strange. I’ve seen it. I know it.

Get out of my way.

I won’t.

You’ve been seduced by a throne.

The last thing I want is a throne.

Sylvie, stop!

If you want me to stop, you’ll have to kill me.

(BOTH GRUNTING)

Ooh!

Close.

(LOKI GRUNTS)

(LOKI THUDS)

(WHISTLES)

(SWORD SLASHES)

(HE WHO REMAINS GROANS)

HE WHO REMAINS: See you soon.

Sylvie, stop!

SYLVIE: You want to stop me, you’ll have to kill me.

(GRUNTS)

(SWORD SLASHES)

(HE WHO REMAINS GROANS)

HE WHO REMAINS: See you soon.

(SWORD SLASHES)

(HE WHO REMAINS GROANS)

Not what you were expecting, hmm?

You’re just… a man.

Flesh and blood. Don’t tell me I’m a disappointment.

(GRUNTS)

(LAUGHS)

Hear me out.

No. No.

SYLVIE: You want me to stop, you’ll have to kill me.

If you want to stop me, you’ll have to kill me.

(LOKI PANTING)

(SWORD SLASHES)

(HE WHO REMAINS GROANS)

HE WHO REMAINS: See you soon.

SYLVIE: Want to stop me, you have to kill me.

If you want to stop me…

I have to kill you, I get it.

Why do you never try to stop her? Fight back? Do something.

So, how many times have you been at this?

What did you do?

Oh, come on.

You’re not telling me you haven’t learned how to pause… time… yet.

(LAUGHS) I figured you’d be way past that.

Don’t worry, lover boy. She’s okay.

But she is in the eye line a little bit. So why don’t we just…

So, this, this isn’t the first time we’ve had this conversation, is it?

How did you know?

I know about the slipping.

And who do you think paved that road?

Any guesses? Survey says…

He Who Remains.

Bingo!

Here you were, slipping through time.

Thinking you were, you were sticking it to the system.

Gonna beat the man. And then… Whoop!

Here he is.

Kiddo, did you really think I was just gonna sit back and let her kill me?

And that’d be it? Zip? Nada?

RIP HWR?

(LAUGHS) No, I told you.

Reincarnation, baby.

“We die with the dying. We’re born with the dead.”

Uhhuh. Okay. So, this is a lot for you.

I get it. So why don’t you just go through this a couple thousand more times?

Get your bearings.

And then you just, you just let me know.

Okay, when you’re ready to have a conversation.

Okay?

And what makes you think… this is the first time we’ve had this conversation?

Tsst.

Well done. You’re my favorite.

When there was two of you here, you were my favorite.

(CHUCKLES) Okay.

So, seems you’ve figured it all out. Hmm?

Tell me, how is Victor… (IMITATES STUTTER) Timely?

Of course you know about your…

Wait. Don’t tell me.

You’re, you’re having some, some, some problems with the Temporal Loom.

Scaling problem.

Scaling problem? That’s what he told you?

Victor told you it’s a scaling problem? Wow.

No. No, there’s no, there’s no problem.

It destroyed the TVA.

The Temporal Loom is a failsafe.

When the Loom is overloaded with branches, it deletes the ones that aren’t supposed to be there.

Everything except the Sacred Timeline.

(CHUCKLES)

And the TVA, that’s just, that’s just collateral damage.

Look, no biggie. Easy to rebuild.

What a waste of time.

And as you may or may not know, my Variants are already out there.

We’ll find them.

There’s too many.

I won’t stop.

Doesn’t matter.

Never stopped me before.

I know, champ.

But the outcome to this equation remains, remains the same.

You lose.

I know.

I know.

Shake it off.

I’ll change the equation.

I’ll break your Loom.

Um… But the Loom prevents a brutal war where nothing survives, Loki. Not even the Sacred Timeline.

Okay, let’s try it this way, every… every moment of peace you’ve ever experienced was yours because I was here.

Alone, at the end of time, keeping watch.

I understand.

But you want to break the Loom.

What do you think would happen to your friends?

Hmm.

I made the tough choices. That’s why I get the big chair.

I keep us safe.

Can’t you see what I’m offering here… is mercy?

For me, or for you?

(LOKI SIGHS)

No.

I’ll find another way.

Okay.

And around and around and around we go.

Let’s see it.

Make the hard choice.

Break the Loom and you cause a war that kills us all. Game over.

Or, kill her, and we protect what we can.

MOBIUS: What are you gonna do?

Finish what I started.

MOBIUS: Which is?

Claim my throne.

You wanna be king?

I don’t want to be, I was born to be.

I know, but king of what, exactly?

Okay, so let’s get into it. The man who would be king…

No, Mobius, stop.

Stop? We just started.

We gotta keep going.

No, no, no.

I know what this is.

What is it?

You want to know what makes Loki tick?

Yes.

You want to know why I do what I do?

Why I have so much range?

Yeah.

You’re gonna make notes, and then you’re gonna click that button on that machine and then you’re gonna play out scenes from my whole life, how it’s all meant to be, past, present, future.

Burdened with glorious purpose.

My life was a waste of time.

Okay, it looks like someone got a hold of the set list.

How are you doing this?

Mobius, I need your help.

Well, I’m listening.

How do you choose who lives and who dies?

Prune. We prune around here and we don’t choose the TimeKeepers, they have that responsibility.

The TimeKeepers.

Dictate the proper flow of time.

They’re busy untangling the epilogue from its infinite branches.

Exactly, yeah.

I know the dogma,

but really, you’re the one doing it.

Because it was the proper flow of time.

What comfort is that?

Comfort? Well, there’s no comfort.

You’re not gonna find comfort at the TVA.

You wanna hear a good story? Listen to this one.

A couple of Hunters went out on a mission somewhere near the Black Sea to find a Variant who’s gonna be responsible for 5,000 deaths,

5,000 deaths that were not in the proper flow of time.

They get there and there’s a little hiccup.

The Variant is an eightyearold boy.

He was just minding his own business.

Swimming with his brother, jumping off the dock.

And one of the Hunters who never had trouble pruning before, he had never hesitated, but that day he did.

He paused.

Timeline started to branch, more Variants appeared.

Happened so fast, his partner had to step in and prune the kid.

But by then, cat was out of the bag.

Couple Hunters died.

All because that one Hunter, he lost sight of the big picture.

Gotta keep the big picture in mind.

Hmm.

Most purpose is more burden than glory.

And trust me, you never wanna be the guy who avoids it ’cause you can’t live with the burden.

How do you live with it?

Scar tissue.

What happened to your partner?

The Hunter who pruned the boy when you couldn’t.

Oh, things worked out fine for her.

She actually became a judge.

You know, she’s the reason you’re here instead of dust in a TVA vent.

Renslayer.

She knew the hard thing to do was the thing that had to be done.

And by hard, I mean impossible.

No, there’s no comfort.

You just choose your burden.

Thank you, Mobius.

HUNTER B15: Is this it?

We… (WHIMPERS)

(SCREAMS)

There’s nowhere left to go.

What’s happening?

We’re outside time.

How?

I finally learned to control the time slipping.

I went back.

I thought I could fix the Loom.

It’s a failsafe.

It was designed to protect the Sacred Timeline and nothing else.

Of course it is.

I’m out of options, Sylvie.

I’ve tried everything.

The only way that anything survives…

Is if I never kill He Who Remains in the first place.

So you have to kill me.

I’m not giving you my blessing, if that’s what you’re waiting for.

What do I do?

It’s the Sacred Timeline, or nothing.

It’s not enough to protect the Sacred Timeline, Loki.

Even down there, it’s full of death and destruction and injustice.

Do you really wanna be the god who takes away everyone’s free will so you can protect that?

But what good is free will if everyone’s dead?

And who are you to say we can’t die trying?

(SIGHS)

Who are you to decide we can’t die fighting?

You’re replacing one nightmare with another.

I grew up in apocalypses, Loki.

I’ve lived through enough of them to know that sometimes it’s okay to destroy something.

If… If there’s a hope that you can replace that thing with something better.

(INHALES)

AUTOMATED VOICE: Welcome, He Who Remains.

MOBIUS: Loki.

Hey.

(DOOR LOCK BEEPS)

Loki, what are you doing?

(BANGS ON DOOR)

MOBIUS: Open the door.

SYLVIE: Loki.

I know what I want.

I know what kind of god I need to be… for you.

For all of us.

No!

Loki!

I need to get out there.

(SCREAMS)

The branches are dying.

He’s giving us a chance.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING)

(SCREAMING)

HUNTER B15: Your team are doing an excellent job.

Let me know if you need anything.

How’re things going over here?

Hey, y’all, I’m Miss Minutes.

And are we sure she won’t…

Try to kill us all?

Yeah.

You don’t instill confidence, O.B.

Are you headed to the War Room?

CASEY: Yeah.

HUNTER B15: Let them know I’ll be up in a moment?

I’ll do you one better, I’ll save you a seat.

Hey, you. You okay?

I got those reports on the Variants of He Who Remains.

Do any of them know that we exist yet?

Nope.

I guess one of ’em caused a little bit of a ruckus on 616 adjacent realm, but they handled it. So, we’re all good for now.

That’s all we can ask for.

Are you headed up?

Yeah, I’ll meet you up there.

Casey said he’s gonna get these taken down.

MOBIUS: Although it is a good reminder.

Those who do not remember the past are, you know…

HUNTER B15: Hmm.

So, when we get in there…

Yeah, funny you should mention that because…

You’re leaving.

I mean, you think the TVA is gonna miss a tired, washed up old analyst with a heart of gold?

I think there’s one or two who will.

I… I am, I, I’ve gotta go see what exactly it is we’ve been… protecting for all this time.

Well, if you ever want a seat in there, it’s yours.

Thanks.

They need you in there.

(SNIFFLES)

Are you scared?

Oh, yeah.

(SIGHS)

(INAUDIBLE)

(SERENE SYNTH MUSIC PLAYING)

(WIND HOWLING)

(THUNDER CRASHES)

(RUMBLING)

(METAL CREAKING)

DON: He’s going in, no one can stop him. Help! (SHOUTS)

We’re on the same team. Help!

The inmates are running the asylum.

Okay, okay, peace, peace.

Dinner, come on, let’s find some common ground.

Here we go. Crazy two.

The yard could do with a bit of work.

No. It’s great.

Christ, it’s the best house on the block.

Never look, never know.

It’s weird that Loki’s not here, isn’t it?

Yeah.

Well, see you around, I guess.

Where are you gonna go?

You?

I might just wait here for a little bit.

Let time pass.

(TIME DOOR OPENS)

(TIME DOOR CLOSES)

(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING)

(THEME MUSIC PLAYING)