The following article contains spoilers for episode 4 of Loki.
Episode 4 of Loki, “The Nexus Event,” has a lot to offer in terms of shocking (and some not so much) reveals. With half the season already over, fans were expecting the latest episode to answer at least some, if not all, of their questions and looked forward to the return of Owen Wilson’s Agent Mobius M. Mobius, who was missing in action in last week’s episode. But, they couldn’t predict what the episode had in store for Mobius and his future, or the lack thereof, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Fans have come to love the chemistry between Mobius and Tom Hiddleston’s Loki in the past few weeks. The series has proven to be Marvel’s version of the buddy cop comedy, with the camaraderie between the two main characters being appreciated a lot more than that of Sam Wilson and Bucky from Disney Plus’ other offering, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. However, the latest episode might have put an end to this budding friendship as fans saw Mobius being pruned under the orders of Judge Ravonna Renslayer. But, is he truly dead?
After Loki and Sylvie are arrested, they are brought back from Lamentis-1 to the TVA headquarters, which is where Loki and Mobius come face-to-face once again. Similar to the first episode of the series, the two end up having a conversation in an interrogation room, with Mobius urging Loki to tell him the truth about Sylvie and her plans. Even though he doesn’t believe a word of what Loki says, and puts him in the time loop cell where he meets Lady Sif, the God of Mischief’s reveal about the TVA lying to him leaves Mobius feeling a bit suspicious.
In his bid to discover the truth, Mobius then visits Renslayer to ask a few questions related to the case. She doesn’t have any clear responses and even brushes aside his queries about Hunter C-20, who Mobius had found in the Roxxcart store, seemingly having “lost her mind.” Renslayer later reveals that C-20 has died, laying the blame on Sylvie’s enchantment. However, Mobius isn’t convinced and Renslayer’s dubious behavior gives Mobius enough reason to believe that perhaps Loki wasn’t lying after all. While she isn’t looking, Mobius exchanges his TemPad with Renslayer’s in the hopes to find out what truly happened.
On her personal TemPad, Mobius finds the video for C-20’s interrogation after returning from Roxxcart and she confirms his suspicions. In the clip, she is heard remembering the life she lived on Earth before coming to work for the TVA. She goes on to state that she is a Variant, reiterating Loki’s truth, and the video ends there, but not before revealing that C-20 was being interrogated by none other than Renslayer herself. Why does the judge need to do the work that the investigators do? Well, obviously because she has something to hide.
Mobius is finally convinced that Loki has been telling him the truth. He wasn’t created by the Time-Keepers, something he has believed for a long time, and the TVA has in fact been lying to him all along. All the employees at the TVA, including him, are just Variants who have had their memories wiped and are being forced to work there in order to protect the sacred timeline. Having discovered the truth, Mobius decides to free Loki from the time loop cell, only to meet his untimely demise.
As the two arrive back to the interrogation room, Renslayer is seen waiting for them along with multiple TVA guards. She discovers the switch in the TemPads, which means she knows that Mobius has learned of the dark secret behind the Time-Keepers and the TVA. When they meet earlier, Renslayer asks Mobius where, or when, he would like to go if he had the chance. Mobius chooses the moment he is caught to reveal that it would be to wherever it is that he is really from, “wherever I had a life before the TVA came along.” And just when Loki and Mobius seem to be getting along perfectly, and becoming the trusting friends that fans have been wanting to see since episode 1, Renslayer orders to prune Mobius.
In the first episode, when a Variant refuses to take a ticket, the TVA guards prune him as well. It is established then itself that when a guard “prunes” anyone, it ends in that Variant’s death. So, it would be safe for fans to assume that Mobius dies in that moment after he is pruned, which is a devastating reality that they are not ready to accept just yet. But, there is still hope for their “favorite analyst” (Renslayer obviously lied about that part).
As if Mobius’ supposed death wasn’t shocking enough, the episode ends with Loki being pruned by Renslayer as well. And that too just as he is about to reveal his true feelings for Sylvie. As his body disintegrates, the screen goes black and fans are left with a horrible cliffhanger. Did the fourth episode just kill off two of the main characters? It can’t be…right? Well, the quick answer is no. This is the first Loki episode to have a post-credits scene and it is revealed that the God of Mischief didn’t actually die, but was merely transported to a post-apocalyptic world. Who he meets there is another massive surprise.
All this time, fans believed that pruning meant killing, but the God of Mischief escaped unhurt. The fact the pruning didn’t kill Loki could mean that Mobius is also alive somewhere on the timeline. Perhaps pruning refers to the Variants being exiled to a post-apocalyptic setting because they are of no use to the TVA. After having disrupted the timeline once, the TVA doesn’t trust to send them back to live out their destiny but instead dumps them in a land that they cannot escape. Mobius could potentially be in the same setting Loki ends up in.
It has already been established that everything the fans have been told about the TVA and the Time-Keepers is a lie. The three powerful beings are simply androids that another powerful entity is using as a cover. Whereas the TVA is using Variants to do their dirty work. So, they could have also lied about “pruning” the Variants up until this point, and the truth is something entirely different. While this is a plausible theory, fans will have to wait another week to find out whether Mobius will make it out alive or not.
Loki is now streaming on Disney Plus.