01x05 - Journey Into Mystery

[bunniefuu]

- Trusting this man is not a good idea.
- I can handle him.

The TVA has pruned a lotta
these guys, and no two are alike.

LOKI: You're all Variants!

The Time-Keepers didn't create you.

They kidnapped you from the timeline.

MOBIUS: The nexus event you caused,

whatever that connection is,
can bring this whole place down.

RENSLAYER: Fine. You want the truth?

I'm trying to protect you.

Friendship like ours is uncommon.

You know where I'd go
if I could go anywhere?

Wherever it is I'm really from.

Yeah, wherever I had a life
before the TVA came along.

- Prune him.
- [GROANS]

The Time-Keepers took
your lives from you.

You're Variants.

We're the same.

SYLVIE: Mindless androids.

LOKI: Then who created the TVA?

Sylvie, I have to tell you something.

You're gonna tell me everything.

[GASPS]

[INDISTINCT CHATTER]

[OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING]

[DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYS]

LOKI: What is this place?
Where are we? Who are you?

This is The Void. That's Alioth.
And we're his lunch. Come on!

[BELLOWS]

[OPENING THEME MUSIC PLAYING]

Give me your TemPad.

Who's really behind the TVA?

I'm as in the dark as you are. [GROANS]

Poor Judge Renslayer. Your
whole reality's been destroyed.

Tell me, how does it feel to
be on the other side of it?

[GROANING]

This is it, isn't it?

This is where you dragged
me after you stole my life.

A fitting place, then, to take yours.

And what if I said Loki wasn't dead?

Not yet, anyway.

- I'd say you were lying.
- Maybe.

- Or maybe we want the same thing.
- How is he still alive?

And how will saving him get us
closer to who's really behind the TVA?

It's complicated.

- I'm telling you this willingly.
- Why?

Because I wanna know
who's at the top of this.

I want to know who lied to me.

When we prune a branched reality,

it's impossible to
destroy all of its matter.

So we move it to a place on the timeline

where it won't continue growing.

Basically, the branched
timeline isn't reset.

- It's transferred.
- To where?

A void at the end of time.

Where every instance of existence
collides at the same point

and simply stops.

Why?

I don't know.

The dogma states that the end
of time is still being written,

that the Time-Keepers are
transforming it into utopia.

That's nice. Super believable.

Whatever the real reason...

nothing ever comes back from there.

I can help you if you trust me.

I suggest we take a breather, so I
can ask several thousand questions.

- Gotta keep moving so we don't die.
- Okay, but what's your plan?

- Don't die.
- Okay, but beyond that?

- Don't die.
- That's not a plan.

It's a general demand of living.

If you're Lokis, you
should always have...

[BIRDS SQUAWKING]

Will someone please explain to
me what the hell is going on?

Look, it's been a very, very,
very trying past few days.

Months? I don't even know how
long it's been since New York.

All I know is, I got
pruned and I woke up here,

and now I'm surrounded by Variants
of myself, plus an alligator,

which sadly I didn't
find all that strange.

And now we're running from God
knows what to God knows where.

When I need to be trying to
find a way back to the TVA.

[RUMBLING IN DISTANCE]

Stop wailing or you will signal Alioth.

You mean the monster in the sky?

Thank you.

This is the place where
the TVA dumps its rubbish,

everything they prune.

And Alioth,

he ensures none of it ever returns.

BOASTFUL LOKI: It's a living tempest
that consumes matter and energy.

They send entire branched realities
here that are devoured instant...

We're in a shark t*nk.
Alioth is the shark.

[GROWLS]

Oh, there's no such thing
as an alligator t*nk.

Besides, it's a better metaphor.

He's overly sensitive like the rest of us.

Hang on,

- that thing's a Loki too?
- Oh, yes.

Okay, fine. Willing to accept
that. Why are there so many of you?

Because Lokis survive.
That's just what we do.

- Great. So how do we escape?
- We don't.

All of us were arrested by the
TVA and pruned, just like you.

And just like you, we all stood around

making bad plans that went nowhere.

But we could use a TemPad.

Oh, the one thing that could
get us out of here, yes.

They're all over the place, right, guys?

[LAUGHING]

Fine. What about causing a nexus event?

The TVA doesn't care what happens here.

- Surely there's something to do.
- There is.

Survive. That's all there
is. All there ever was.

KID LOKI: We're done talking. Let's go.

Just do what you want.

[THUNDER RUMBLING]

Okay, wait, wait, wait.

Why do you wear the horns?
You let a child command you.

You'll do well to respect the boy.

- This is his kingdom.
- LOKI: Right.

What was your nexus event, Your Majesty?

I k*lled Thor.

[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING]

[GRUNTING, YELLING]

So, why did you want to return
to the TVA so badly, anyway?

You leave your glorious purpose there?

Something like that.

RENSLAYER: Miss Minutes,
I need you to remote access

a series of restricted
files from the archives.

MISS MINUTES: Ooh, doggy! On what?

RENSLAYER: The beginning of
time. The founding of the TVA.

- MISS MINUTES: Right away.
- Wait.

- What about the end of time?
- It's just a void.

What if The Void isn't the end?
What if there's something beyond it?

Hiding in the shadow of
apocalypses obscured me from the TVA

because I couldn't create a
diverging branch there, right?

So if all of this is still being written,

whatever happens is just a new timeline.

It would be impossible to
start a nexus event there.

- You could be completely undetectable.
- That's it.

That's the only place they could be.

So how do we get past The Void?

[SIGHS] It's impossible.

There's nothing for the TemPad
to lock onto, no destination.

Then we go through it.

- That's su1c1de.
- Then I guess my need for you has passed.

Wait. What about The Void spacecraft?

Yes, the prototype.

Great. I'll get the file.

It's a spaceship designed to
withstand the temporal void.

It could take us to the end of time.

- Find Loki.
- Find the man behind the curtain.

- And k*ll him.
- Together.

Miss Minutes, where are
the files on this timecraft?

MISS MINUTES: Still lookin', hon.

Nothing?

Hmm. Buried pretty deep.

It's highly restricted. I
might not even have clearance.

Oh, no, I think you would. If it's real.

How long?

Any second now.

GUARD: Go! Go! Go! Move it!

[GRUNTS]

- You hurt?
- I'm fine, but she took my TemPad.

Sylvie? Not thinking of
going on the run, are you?

We know where you hide.

Sooner or later, we'll catch you.

It must be so exhausting.

I'll admit you had me
fooled there for a minute.

Or did you get a little real?

Did Judge Renslayer really feel
betrayed by her beloved TVA?

Why don't you come back out
and we can talk about it?

Sure. Just tell everyone else to piss off

and we can settle this between us.

Works for me.

What happened to finding
the man behind the curtain?

Tell you what. You come
out with your hands up

and I'll put you in a time loop.

Something not so bad.

You can live out your
days in a good memory.

Do you have any good memories?

Just one, really.

- She self-pruned.
- Good.

Then she's dead, too.

[FOOTSTEPS RECEDING]

[PLEASANT MUSIC PLAYING]

So, after I vanquished
Captain America and Iron Man,

I claimed my prize,
all six Infinity Stones.

[GROWLS]

That's alligator for growling and
saying "liar" at the same time.

At least my nexus event wasn't
eating the wrong neighbor's cat.

[SNARLS]

- [GROANING]
- Whoa, whoa, whoa, Hey, hey, hey.

[MUSIC CONTINUE PLAYING]

- Tell them your story, Loki.
- Me?

Nobody wants to hear about that.

I would, actually.

Um...

It's just I've been
wondering, because I'm...

Well, we're supposed to die, right?

Thanos kills us after Ragnarok.

Thanos?

In my timeline,

everything proceeded
correctly, my entire life,

until Thanos att*cked our ship.

So, you didn't try to s*ab him?

[CHUCKLES] Certainly not.

Take no offense, my friends,

but blades are worthless in
the face of a Loki sorcery.

They stunt our magical potential.

- But they look awesome.
- CLASSIC LOKI: Oh, yes.

Especially when they clatter to the ground

just before your neck is snapped.

I cast a projection of myself so
real, even the Mad Titan believed it.

Then hid as inanimate debris.

After I faked my death,
I simply drifted in space.

Away from Thor, away from everything.

Thought about the universe
and my place in it,

and it occurred to me
that everywhere I went,

only pain followed.

So I removed myself from the equation,

landed on a remote planet and stayed
there in isolation, in solitude

for a long, long time.

How did the TVA find you?

I got lonely.

[CHUCKLES]

To tell you the truth,
I missed my brother,

and I wondered if he missed
me, if anybody else did.

But as soon as I took my first
steps to getting off the planet,

the TVA arrived.

Because we, my friends,
have but one part to play,

the God of Outcasts.

Nothing more.

The God of Outcasts.

- I'm going.
- Going where?

Out of this place, out of
The Void, back to the TVA.

We're as good at escaping
as we are at surviving.

That gives me a decent chance.

- You won't do either, you'll be m*rder*d.
- Well, so be it.

- That was my destiny to begin with.
- You're different.

- Why?
- No, I'm not, you see?

I'm the same, really. I'm
the same as all of you.

Have any of you met
a woman Variant of us?

- Sounds terrifying.
- Oh, she is.

But that's kind of
what's great about her.

She's different.

She's not trying to take over the
TVA, she's trying to take it down.

And she needs me.

Now, you said Alioth
is what keeps us here.

You said it's a living
thing. You said it's a shark.

Well, if it lives, it dies.

So I'm gonna k*ll the shark.

I'm gonna k*ll Alioth, and I
could use all the help I can get.

[BOTH LAUGHING]

[LAUGHING]

Yeah, baby. Yeah.

[LAUGHTER CONTINUES]

- Monsters.
- CLASSIC LOKI: Oh, yeah.

[CLANKS, CREAKS]

[GASPS SOFTLY]

Ah. Hello, which one of us are you?

This is a nightmare.

- [WIND WHISTLING]
- [THUNDER RUMBLING]

[GRUNTS]

[OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING]

[HORN HONKING]

[DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING]

SYLVIE: You.

Shut the door, we still
got a situation here.

You should be careful just jumping
into a stranger's car like that.

- Watch out!
- I see it, I see it.

Really? You're driving right towards it.

God, you really are one of you.

Hang on.

You bastard! You led
the wolves to our door.

We prefer snakes to wolves.

I've eaten both. They die just the same.

Apologies, my liege.

I betrayed you, and now, I'm king.

About that...

- You can't be serious.
- Come on.

- What did you expect?
- That was not the bargain!

I gave you our location. In
exchange for shelter and supplies,

you give me your army
and I take the throne.

PRESIDENT LOKI: Ah, yes.

Not so good a bargain.

How about this one? My army, my throne?

About that.

Why you beef-witted, half-faced scrubs.

- We had a deal!
- For God's sake.

- [GROWLS]
- [SIGHS]

Why the hell is there
an alligator in here?

ALL: He's a Loki!

[GROWLS, SNARLS]

[PRESIDENT LOKI GRUNTS]

[FLESH SQUELCHES]

- [SCREAMING]
- [GROWLS]

[ALL GRUNTING]

[LAUGHS]

[YELLS]

[YELLING, GRUNTING CONTINUES]

BOASTFUL LOKI: Glorious purpose!

Come on.

Take that, Loki!

Damn it! Animals, animals!

We lie and we cheat,

we cut the throat of every person
who trusts us, and for what?

Power. Glorious power. Glorious purpose!

We cannot change.

We're broken, every
version of us. Forever.

And whenever one of us
dares try to fix themselves,

they're sent here to die.

That's why I need to get out of here.

Nothing can change
until the TVA is stopped.

- And you trust her?
- She's the only one I do trust.

And right now, I believe she's our
only chance of stopping the TVA.

That's good enough for me.

Okay, okay. We'll help you.

But approaching Alioth
is a death sentence.

We'll get you to it, but
that's as far as we go.

All that time, I really
believed we were the good guys.

Annihilating entire realities,
orphaning little girls,

classic hero stuff.

Well, I guess when you think
the ends justify the means,

there's not much you won't do.

By the way, you did
some annihilating too.

- I did what I had to do.
- Yeah, so did I.

You hunted me like a dog.

I'm sorry about that.

When I pruned myself, I thought
I might be able to find Loki.

That storm, that thing,
it's likely already got him.

You really believe that?

It doesn't matter.

The only thing that matters
now is getting out of here

and finding out who's
behind all of this.

Great. How do we do that?

We turn around.

Turn around? What, and go
back to the angry cloud?

Yeah. I think it might be the answer.

We're going back to it.

CLASSIC LOKI: I have to say,

it feels odd walking toward
the gargantuan creature.

Do you have a plan of action?

Get inside, find its
heart or brain or whatever,

- and then, you know, do it in.
- KID LOKI: I mean...

Just because it's not
complicated doesn't mean it's bad.

It also doesn't mean it's good.

- [GROWLS]
- See? He's on board.

He's praying. He thinks
we're going to die.

SAILOR: All hands to battle stations!

Alioth is like any animal.

He'll go after the big meal first.

And while he's busy with that, we
can sneak around the back and...

[ALIOTH BELLOWS]

[SAILORS CLAMORING]

Fire!

[GRUNTS, SCREAMS]

[PANTING] Okay.

Maybe we, uh...

think a bit more about this, huh?

Car.

- What?
- Along the horizon.

LOKI: Is that bad?

KID LOKI: Well, usually
means cannibalistic marauders

or cannibalistic pirates.

Delightful.

Now they're slowing down.

- What are they doing?
- Just stay on guard.

Sylvie.

I don't understand. Is he a
coward or was he being brave?

- I'm not too sure.
- Come on.

You're alive.

What happened? You okay?

Mobius!

How did you...

We thought you could do with some backup.

Oh, no, wait, wait, wait,
these are my friends.

Well, they're, um...
How best to put this?

Us as a child, us in the future,

and us as an alligator.

It's best not to question it.

You throw a rock out
here, you hit a Loki.

So you're all after the giant
cloud monster, too, then?

Well, we haven't decided how
we're going to k*ll it, but...

- Come again? k*ll it?
- Yes, we're gonna k*ll Alioth.

Oh, my God. That was your plan.

- Yeah.
- And you went along with it?

- KID LOKI: I had my doubts.
- Probably unsafe.

All right, well, what's your plan, then?

I think the person we're after is
beyond The Void at the end of time.

And if they are,

that thing is just their guard
dog protecting the only way in.

Okay, so, um, how do we
get past the guard dog?

I'm gonna enchant it.

[LAUGHING]

- That's insane, right?
- As insane as what?

- Paper-cutting a cloud to death?
- Listen,

- I've been down here longer than you...
- I'm going to enchant it.

She's pretty confident.

Leave us.

Why am I locked in here?

You freed the Variant.

- You were disloyal to the TVA.
- Disloyal?

- Did you think you'd escape punishment?
- Disloyal to who?

You were in the Time-Keepers'
chambers. They weren't real.

And why does that change anything?

That changes everything!

The people need to know the truth.

No, the TVA needs stability.

And until we figure out what's
going on, that is what it will get.

So you need to tell me everything.

What exactly do you want from me?

You had a link with the Variant.

I want you to tell me what drives her.

Revenge drives her.

k*lling the Time-Keepers.

But they turned out to be
fake, in case you forgot.

So she'll be searching
for whomever created them.

[SCOFFS]

This isn't about protecting
the TVA at all, is it?

You just want to find whoever
is behind all of this, too.

[CHUCKLES]

You'll never find them.

Not before she does.

And why is that?

You only want it.

She needs it.

[BEEPING]

Hey, y'all.

I need all the files on
the founding of the TVA.

Everything from the beginning of time.

Well, that's a mighty tall order.

Whoever created this place is in danger.

I need to find them.

Okay. Right away, ma'am.

CLASSIC LOKI: You really
don't remember him?

MOBIUS: I mean, the TVA
arrested a lot of Lokis,

but, no, I don't remember an alligator.

I mean, who's to say
he's even a Loki Variant?

He is green, isn't he?

I don't know, he could be lying.

The long con. Of course, that just
makes him more likely to be a Loki.

It's always the game within the
game with you guys, which I respect.

KID LOKI: Mobius,

assuming you do get back to the TVA,

what exactly are you
getting yourself into?

I don't know.

I'd like to let people know the truth.

So just like that, you're
turning on the very thing

you devoted your life to.

Well, it's never too late to change.

I hope they know what they're doing.

Mobius isn't so bad.

Or so good.

I think that's why we get along.

He cares about you.

- It's cold.
- Mmm-hmm.

I could conjure one
for you, if you like.

You could conjure me a new outfit.

You have no idea how uncomfortable
something like this is.

So...

Mobius and his theory about...

Right, right. About our nexus event.

- Total rubbish, right?
- Absolutely. Of course. I mean...

I don't mean that it
wasn't a nice moment.

No, it was great. It was really nice.

It just sounds like another TVA lie.

A hundred percent. I
mean, totally. Yeah.

I don't know how to do this.

I don't even know what we're doing.

I don't have friends.

I don't have...

anyone.

Well...

there are more important things, right?

Right? Yeah. Like bringing down the TVA.

Saving the universe, even.

Well, there's no need to be
dramatic, but, yeah, kind of.

It's not very snuggly.

- [CHUCKLING] Okay.
- Is it a tablecloth?

No, it's a blanket.

Thank you.

My pleasure.

How do I know that, in the final
moments, you won't betray me?

Listen, Sylvie, I...

[SIGHS DEEPLY]

I betrayed everyone who ever loved me.

I betrayed my father, my brother...

my home.

I know what I did.

And I know why I did it.

And that's not who I am anymore.

Okay?

I won't let you down.

You sure?

'Cause if we make it,
and the TVA is gone,

there might be a
timeline for you to rule.

Ah.

And then I'd finally be happy.

[SIGHS]

What about you?

What will you do when this is all over?

I don't know.

I don't know either.

Maybe...

Maybe we could figure it out...

together.

Maybe.

[CHIRPING]

[THUNDER RUMBLING]

[DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING]

Okay, so what's the next move?

SYLVIE: The TVA needs to be brought down.

We don't know who created
it or where they are,

but that thing out there does.

When it hit me earlier, I linked to it.

It was brief, but I caught
a glimpse of something,

and I think if I can get close
enough to it, I can enchant it,

and it's gonna take me to
whoever's behind all of this.

I'm staying.

- Loki, I don't know if this is gonna work.
- You go, I go.

It's happening, guys. The
branch will be right out there.

MOBIUS: I'll give your
regards to Renslayer.

Oh, please do.

You boys want a ticket out of here?

What? No. We're staying here.

This is our home.

- [GROWLS]
- Are you sure? What about Alioth?

We've survived this long.
We know what we're doing.

Loki, you're gonna need
this on your journey.

Go on.

CLASSIC LOKI: Good luck.

I hope you find what you're looking for.

Looks like you got away in the end.

I always do.

What will you do at the TVA?

Burn it to the ground.

Thanks for the spark.

Well, see you later, Loki.

Thank you, my friend.

[WHISPERS] You're my favorite.

[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYS]

[CHIRPING]

SYLVIE: When a branch appears,
Alioth will focus on it.

That's when I'll enchant it.

[ROARS]

[ROARS]

What if we don't have
time to wait for a branch?

We'll have to cause a distraction.

Come and get me!

[DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING]

[GRUNTS]

LOKI: [SHOUTING] No! This way!

Come and get me!

- [ALIOTH ROARING]
- No! No!

[UPLIFTING MUSIC PLAYING]

[GRUNTING]

How is he doing that?

I think we're stronger than we realize.

[GRUNTING]

Go!

[ECHOING]

What are you doing?

SYLVIE: We're gonna enchant it.

LOKI: I don't know how.

SYLVIE: You do.

Because we're the same!

[ROARS]

[BOTH GRUNT]

[GRUNTING]

[DRAMATIC MUSIC CONTINUES]

[GRUNTS WEAKLY]

Glorious purpose!

[LAUGHING]

[EXHALES]

Open your eyes.

[SIGHS]

[MUSIC PLAYING]