#loki analysis

[ether-here-or-there]

I don't like when people say Loki is narcissistic because 90% of the time what they point out is him putting on a facade to either protect himself or under duress, especially when people point out The Avengers movie and his behavior within as evidence.

So, for the sake of one of my favorite characters, I'm going to actually look at the DSM-5 criteria needs where an individual needs 5/9 of these traits to be considered a narcissist.

To that, I will post the website I was using to look at the criteria and their descriptions to come to my conclusion at the end.

What Are the Nine Traits of a Narcissist? 5 Types & Treatment

Inflated self-esteem or a grandiose sense of self-importance or superiority

He quite literally is a prince, so his claims of superiority are just as likely to come from the same skewed viewpoint Thor shared before Odin literally humbled him by banishing to Earth. When you strip him past the act he puts on, both in Avengers where he is quite literally mind controlled so that his envy and rage are exaggerated to Thanos's benefit and when he is defending himself in the sham trial Odin gives him in DW where he literally asks for the axe to end the conversation, Loki's actions come from severely damaged or lacking self-esteem.

He thought he was Odin's son and Thors brother, but never felt treated as Thor's equal despite his own recognized achievements (Hogun saying Loki is a masterful sorcerer when saying he could have brought the Jotun's into Asgard) and so acted out in a small way with only the intent of delaying Thor's kingship. When he incidentally figures out he's not Odin's son and is in fact a Jotun, worse, Laufey's son-- he verbally explodes because Odin had been lying to him his entire life and brought Loki up on those lies and half-truths. ("You were both born to be kings" "You'd never have a Frost Giant sitting on the throne of Asgard")

Loki's actions throughout all of Thor 1 are his attempt to prove himself a worthy son and he is repeatedly reiterating that.

What superiority he does feel for humanity for a time is quite literally a trait of all Asgardians, they all think they are above humans. Frigga is especially pissed at Odins choice of banishment when she finds out its Midgard, Loki compares them to ants (while again, mind controlled and exaggerated), Odin compares Jane to a goat in DW and gives Thor a mini lecture for him loving her. No one on Asgard respects humans, but if I'm going to take the Loki show in consideration then I can most certainly say Loki definitely does when he's around the long enough while still repeatedly assuring he is a god without deprecating them in the later season. Y'know, like Thor did after a while on Earth and interacting with the Avengers.

Craving admiration

This is something that fits Loki to a tee, I could not lie on that front. Loki, time and time again, does want admiration and even has a play produced (Though mentioning the people wanted to commemorate him) that highlights his sacrifice in DW and ends on that note since we don't see the play continue after Thor's actor mourns Loki and we get an Odin actor expressing love for a child actor portraying a Jotun Loki.

He definitely is a man that craves admiration and love, and the play doesn't help the case I'm making.

+1 point to Narcissistic Loki, need 4 more

Exploitative relationships (i.e., manipulation)

This is one of those criteria that seems obvious but, again, is not. Loki most definitely exploited Clint, Selvig, several SHEILD agents, and attempted to do so with Tony before throwing him out a window when it was obvious he would not be able to accurately manipulate them. But like with his grandiose nature, that was under the duress of Thanos and the influence of the Mind Stone. If Loki is not in his natural mental state, it cannot speak for his psyche in any meaningful way.

Outside The Avengers, Loki doesn’t show this trait either. Thor 1 only has him reiterating that Heimdall and the warriors, as citizens of Asgard, do have to listen to his rulings and descisions as current King of Asgard with Odin out of commission. Initially to continue Odin’s order of Thors banishment, then stressing it to deal with the war when Heimdall remarks he couldn’t see Loki. In Dark World, he’s the one being manipulated to help if that’s how we’re wording it when Thor recognizes he needs Loki’s aid and offers to let him get revenge for their mother’s death. Ragnarok continues to lack manipulation on Loki’s part, and the Loki Show has him again being manipulated for the benefit of hunting down his variant.

Little to no empathy

Very much not the case. Again, the interpretation is skewed by the fact he’s a god dealing in the world of mortals, but his actions with other Asgardians is enough to point out this just does not fit him. The moment he learns Frigga’s death he visibly becomes very depressed and trashes his cell, acting on Thor’s behalf with eagerness because he’s getting a chance to avenge his recently slain mother. He repeatedly endangers himself for Thor and Jane in the following fight scene, even taking on the same injury that killed his mother, but he survives. Before this, he’d almost gotten sucked into a black hole grenade protecting Jane.

In Thor 1, he acted continuously in the groups benefit by forewarning a guard to fetch Odin so they wouldn’t be in danger in the first place and when they inevitably did end up on Jotunheim continued to act defensively of the others in the fight. He didn’t want them hurt and called for Thor that they had to go once Fandral was stabbed repeatedly with ice spikes.

In Avengers, despite the Mind Stone, Loki did pause at the destruction of New York and cried when he actually hurt Thor. I say despite because it’s noted his anger and envy were heightened under Thanos’s control, feelings which mostly attest to Thor, but Loki still reacted that way.

In Ragnarok, Loki does visit Thor in his confinement and tries to talk to him about the now shared feelings of being lied to your whole life.

Loki is empathetic across the main MCU, there’s not really much ignoring that

Identity is easily disturbed (i.e., can’t handle criticism)

Definitely disturbed. Loki has a lot of issues with his identity and self-worth stemming from Thor 1 that, while not really picked up on in later installments, are the catalyst for most all his future actions.

To get into the specifics of this trait, Loki does "retreat from or deny realities that challenge grandiosity" in the fact that he does attempt to deny and destroy his connection to Jotunheim and Laufey in order to reaffirm his grand identity as Odin's son and a worthy Prince of Asgard-- by destroying Jotunheim and killing his biological father he is seriously trying to retreat from his reality by destroying the part of it that's threatening his identity.

+1 on Loki being a narcissist, 3 more to gain to be one

Lack of attachment and intimacy

Much as I don't like it and as much as I think Loki as he's depicted might have some other issue with intimacy, Loki is a well-connected person. He has obvious attachment with his parents, though Odin's becomes more strained, and had a good relationship with Thor. In the show, he does form genuine bonds with Mobius, Sylvie, and the TVA crew to the point of self-sacrifice so that, well on the larger scale the whole Multiverse acquires freedom, Loki does it because the alternative is killing Sylvie and his friends not being free.

Loki might be avoidant of attachment and the risks it brings, but he's not devoid of it for his fellow Asgardians or humans when he does form attachments to them.

Feelings of depression or emptiness when not validated

This again came with very skewed data but, alas, I will lean towards Loki having this trait. He visibly droops and loses energy when lacking in attention, perking up when the opportunity reappears before quickly taking it.

+1 point to narcissistic Loki, 2 left to get

A sense of entitlement

Skewed, heavily, but to reiterate Loki "I never wanted the throne, I only ever wanted to be your equal."

Loki, at the core of it, wants to be treated as Thors equal. Does he come off entitled? Yeah. But again, he's a prince. He has been raised as one for over 1,000 years, he's got much different standards than the normal human. Loki doesn't want to lose what friends, he wants to live a life that's not in his brother's shadow, he wants to be free. That's not so much entitlement once its boiled down as it is... decency.

Can feel like others are envious of them, or may envy others

He most certainly envies Thor; He's the golden son with seemingly everything, but Loki doesn't ever claim or act like a person to be envied. I'll give him a half point here

+1/2 to narcissistic Loki, leaving him at 3.5 points out of the needed 5 to be considered for NPD.

So yeah, I really don't think Loki is a narcissist and the DSM-5 seems to agree with me.

Now I am horribly biased, I like Loki and he's my favorite character in the MCU, so I am free and open to criticism (preferably in the form of asks or anons bc this post went long and I'm kinda hesitant to adding to it's length, lol) Plus, I am in no way an expert nor any voice of experience or authority on this subject for NPD.

[prettydjarinsoloinspires]

no but think about the Loki from Thor. from Avengers. the fact that he’s fighting for something good that he believes in means so much. the fact that he can sit there and say he just wants his friends back. these friends. the ones who see him for him. who don’t judge him. who he feels like he BELONGS with.

when has Loki ever felt like he belongs anywhere? he’s always been the outsider, the outcast, the villain. at the TVA he has felt appreciated and accepted. no one is singling him out or giving him a hard time for being himself. he FITS. he has come so so far. and shipping aside, the main reason for that is Mobius. someone who has seen every dark crevice of his life and his bad choices and his darkest moments and treated him with compassion and understanding.

the orphaned, abandoned, misunderstood villain has been able to write his own story because one ordinary man believed in him.

[holdfastperseus]

Saw someone saying that acts of service & quality time are Loki’s love language while Mobius’ are words of affirmation and physical touch. Can I just say how perfectly they complement each other? Loki who rarely gets any compliments and is often overlooked, is loved by Mobius who praises them, believes in them, and reminds them of who they truly are all the time. Loki who avoids physical touch suddenly meets this analyst who is very touchy but instead of shying away, Mobius’s touch becomes their anchor & their comfort. Mobius who is “just another analyst”, an asset for as long as he can remember, meets someone who wants to spend time with him outside of work, someone who smiles fondly at him as he rants about jet skis and nothing in particular. Mobius who eats lunch alone meets a god of mischief who stormed in and destroyed his salad along with his routine, changing his life forever for the better. Mobius, who suddenly has a god following him around like a lost puppy because they’re drawn to him, because these are two people who didn’t really have anyone. Who is important but never important enough. And they saw each other, and they found one another time and time again, and they’re perfect for each other.

[hertzdo]

Loki and subjugation [PART 3]

[PART1] [PART 2]

The frames aren’t tilted here. "Yeah why not Thor? When I asked you to be reasonable you told me to stay at my place! The gal." He has fully endorsed his new role. The one who got power. There is no coming back from this.

Thor could have killed him. Now he wants his fight because he spent a lifetime trying talking.

The way he yells it, its full of pain and rage almost a growl, as if it was still contained, come on Loki, scream it, full lungs!

The throne was imposed to him, that’s a role he had to play, that’s not what he wanted, what he craved it never mattered.

Funny that Thor appears tilting too now.

Their whole dynamic and relationship were unbalanced, Loki wants Thor to feel what he felt, he wants to be seen.

The thing is, Loki wouldn’t have been so hurt by the omission if he didn’t feel treated differently from the start.

"See how it is Thor? SEE?". Loki’s “Is it?” repetition felt like a vengeance to me. Two words. Violent catharsis. This is Loki's catharsis here.

"SEE ME"

Here we have the metaphors of the burden, of being trapped, crumbling under the weight of his brother's worthiness.

"The feeling of subjugation is oppressive. It's a burden to live under the weight of that feeling."

"Do you hear me? Just stay put for once, just like me."

"Jeez my plan backfired again."

Ah, finally screaming are we. But still not listened to. (Of all the deleted scenes, if I had to keep one it would be the one where he's screaming in his cell in "Thor: The Dark World")

This is it. The frame is way too tilted, he's loosing it.

That’s a real murder attempt, not the back hand slap, not the skirmish of earlier. Here Thor can’t see Loki coming, he’s focused on breaking the bridge, if it didn’t break, Thor would have taken the blow.

But not for yourself Loki. Because all you did was trying to play the role you were given and show them you were worthy of it even if you didn’t want it (being king). You wanted a role in the play of your family other than the statue in the background that no one listens to. You wanted to be a real Odinson.

?????????????????????????????????????????????

I mean it’s coherent with the communication problem but wow Jesus. Bring them back up before opening your stupid mouth I don’t know.

Thor's isn't much more eloquent but at least he sees it when Loki is going to let go. Perhaps he finally sees him for real but it’s too late.

And well, Loki’s balance gave up. He gave up. Because even after all he did, it didn’t change a thing. It costed him suicide to try making himself heard. One of the thing with the subjugation schema is that you might find it incredibly difficult to ask other to change their behavior. And Loki tried, no necessarily in the best way but he did try.

Loki’s story in "Thor" is a fucking tragedy. Some misguided souls could say it was attention seeking (as many people have misguided ideas about suicide). OF COURSE IT WAS attention seeking, no one fucking listens to him! It was literally killing him! You think that’s a life? To be told to stay at your place, to be silenced, to have to resort to subterfuge and sabotage to make a point, to ask your big brother to be reasonable and then to have to clean his mess? To learn you didn’t even had a chance from the start? That you couldn’t ever be “worthy”? But you try all the same, and you fail.

In my experience, you get suicidal because you get stuck in a situation that make you despair and you see no other way out. The ultimate stage of depression. The absolute lose of hope. And it actually takes a lot of courage to let go.

Odin finally (indirectly) gave him a role, a use. A chance to prove himself. He failed. He doesn’t want to go back to the cage.

And the two of them wont address the elephant in the room, at least not on screen. It's quite revolting. No wonder Loki has to ask later if Thor mourned.

To conclude this movie analysis we can go back to the first statement I made at the beginning "And I am afraid Loki did what he did because he thought it was all he was ever allowed to do." I principally said that for Loki in "The Avengers" but there is this idea that Loki could never be something else than a statue in the background and when he was finally allowed to do something it crystalized in his mind; "Only when king I can be something". Not necessarily what he wants, but anything else than the relic stuck in the golden prison nobody really cares about.

I'm convinced that one of Loki's deepest desire, aside from not being left alone, is to to exist for real. Of feeling real. Like a person. Not like a stuck relic. To have his own identity, not "Thor's brother", to be himself. To be here. Not in the background.

To be heard and seen.

But we'll come back to this later. ____

[PART 1] [PART2]

Thank you for reading all this.

Next time we are going to talk about Loki in "The Avengers"

[ineffablelara]

Loki and the strenght found in knowing you are loved

Everything started with this post I found on twitter:

translation: When Elena Ferrante wrote: "Perhaps, in the face of abandonment, we are all the same; perhaps not even a very disciplined mind can bear the discovery of not being loved."

Followed by this quote:

translation: As Freud said: "How bold one gets when one is sure of being loved."

And then someone wrote a thread about how that was the reason Thor was always so confident in himself while Loki was so insecure in contrast and let me tell you that's exactly it!!!

(This is going to be a loooong post so come with me for more)

Loki's doubts about Odin's love destroyed his self worth and by extension, his life. Growing up feeling like your own father doesn't love as much as he loves your brother messes with your head, I'm sure Loki always thought there was something wrong with him, that if he fixed some of his flaws and became more like Thor he'd be loved, but that never really happenned and he got consumed by bitterness and hatred.

Thanks to that he was "weak" while Thor was impressively strong, Thor never really doubted himself, at least not in the same way Loki did, even at his lowest when he was banished, he quickly picked himself up and realized that Odin was just trying to teach him a lesson, he didn't doubt his father's love for him, not even for a second, and thanks to Jane's love and everyone else's friendship he reclaimed his powers and became worthy again in a span of days.

Now imagine Loki in his place, banished from Asgard, stripped of his powers and completely alone, he'd never trust the first person that appeared in front of him like Thor did, he'd be boiling with rage and that would be the confirmation he needed that Odin never truly loved or wanted him, he'd be completely broken and lost, unable to trust the people around him and drowning in bitterness, self loathing and hatred, all because he didn't believe he was loved like Thor did.

Because if his own father wasn't able to love him he must be truly unlovable right?

But what about Frigga? You may ask. Well, while I do believe he felt loved by her, I also think he saw part of her affection as pity due to him being neglected by Odin, the person who wrote the thread even mentioned this, Loki thought that maybe she was just trying to compensate for his father's absence and, not to get on speculation territory here, but maybe she still encouraged Loki to turn himself into a warrior like his brother instead of focusing on his magic. Yes, she shared his magic with him to give him something to be good at, to give him "some sun for himself", but that doesn't mean she didn't have other expectations for him too.

I know I never shut up about this book but in Where Mischief Lies Loki talks about how Frigga encouraged him to hide his powers from the court and to try and be a warrior like his father and brother, he said she would advise him to keep his gifts for himself and that being a warrior would be best for his future, he also talks about how she made a constant effort to keep her own powers off radar, and imagine growing up like this? Being told over and over again that you should hide who you are because it would be better if you were something else? The book was written to show us a more innocent Loki before the events of the first Thor but I consider it to be its own universe, still, I think there's a chance that something like that happened with our Loki too.

And like, this is exactly how you destroy someone's self worth, telling them that they should hide parts of themselves, implying that they should be ashamed of who they are and that they should strive to become more like the norm, I won't really dig into this here and I apologize in advance if I'm being stupid or disrespectful but I think this is exactly like how some queer people believe that if they behave like a "good" queer they will be acepted by the homophobic straights while the "bad" queers will be the only ones to be affected by the bigotry, I bet WML!Frigga (And maybe MCU!Frigga) was like: "Son, I love you and I know I taught you your magic, but maybe if you just toned it down a little I think your father and the court would be more pleased with you, It's okay to flaunt your powers while there's just the two of us in the room, but stick with your weapons when you're out there with your brother and the warriors, I'm telling you this for your own good, it's what's best for your future"

And again, growing up like this basically destroyed any chance Loki had of accepting and loving himself fully, there's no way you can learn how to love yourself when someone tells you that some of the things that make you you are better off hidden from society.

But maybe you don't want to believe that this was how Frigga treated Loki and that's okay, still, we can't deny that Asgardians don't really value magic as much as they do fighting and being a warrior, the fact that Loki's abilities were frowned upon and viewed as lesser than by the entire society he was a part of is already proof that he wasn't really encouraged to lean into his magic, and even though he wanted to find pride and strenght in it, it's really hard to go against an entire planet full of people telling you that your talents are not something worth of notice.

So, back to my point of being sure one is loved: I don't think Loki ever really felt like he was entirely loved by his family, not that he thought they all hated him, but he thought that they lowkey wanted to change a few things about him so he would more "palatable" to them; Odin would erase the magic if he could, Frigga would make him less sharp-tongued and more tame and Thor would make him "less awkward", specially around "their" friends. Now, am I saying that this is the Truth? Not really (but I'm also not saying that it isn't lol), I can easily see Loki believing these things, his self esteem getting lower and lower thanks to these thoughts of inadequacy and his doubts towards his family's love for him.

Now let's talk about being loved, shall we? In his show Loki develops a friendship with Mobius, and that becomes what I think it's the most meaningful connection variant L1130 has in his life (yk, since his entire reality got pruned and he has no one else left). But his bond with Mobius isn't meaningful just because Loki has no family anymore, no, Mobius genuinely understands and cares for Loki, he shows him compassion and acceptance, and sure, their relationship didn't start exactly on the best of terms but they evolved with time and their connection only grew.

I swear this is not a lokius post btw, I really think their friendship became sort of an anchor for Loki, especially after the s1 finale, I also don't want to downplay the impact sylvie had on him or her importance in his life but I think they only got more and more distant after the citadel, every interaction they had after that was rocky and uncomfortable, Loki was clearly anxious and nervous around her in the McDonald's scene, and things didn't really get any better after that. The bar scene was one of the few (If not the only one!) where neither of them was really being combative or aggressive with the other, and they still called each other selfish, so that should tell you how great their relationship was after s1ep6.

His and Mobius' friendship on the other hand, only got stronger after that, when Loki arrives at the TVA and finally finds his Mobius he's so relieved, he went from having a panic attack to casually laughing, humoring Mobius' attempts at lying to OB in the R&A, all in a span of minutes

Loki felt comfortable with Mobius, he was the person he was after to start setting things right, Mobius showered Loki with patience and reassurance, doing everything to calm him down and to make him feel better about the situation and it worked! He had faith in Loki like no one else did, even when he was on the gangway, at the risk of having his skin peeled off of him, he plead with OB to wait a little more so Loki could make it back to them, he chose to stay out there and wait, knowing that it could mean his death, all because he believed that Loki would come back, and he did!

Loki felt accepted by him, loved without any changes required and that allowed him to bloom into the stronger, more confident version of himself that we saw throughout s2, he felt seen and validated and because of that he behaved in ways he never had before. Mobius showed him compassion and patience, so he did the same for his friend, when Mobius had an outburst Loki was quick to reassure him that there was no judgment on his part, only genuine concern and immediately tried to comfort Mobius with some pie and a story about that one time where he was so angry at his dad and at his brother that he decided to hold a city hostage with an alien army 😅, yk, just to let Mobius know that he shouldn't be ashamed for losing it, because Loki has done way worse than just slapping a guy when he lost his temper.

It's one of their sweetest moments because after that Mobius kinda praises Loki for being the god of mischief, using his title as something positive and that he should be proud of, and that gives us one of the most beautiful (if not the most) smile Loki has ever had onscreen, this picture literally warms my heart because of how sweet and lovely it is, finally someone is celebrating who he is, someone is proud of him and he never felt more accepted and loved

And that brings us back to the initial quote that inspired this whole post: "How bold one gets when one is sure of being loved", this is s2 Loki in a nutshell, he becomes bolder and stronger, not in a cocky or arrogant way, no, he's confident in himself but in a good, healthy way because he finally has a good self esteem, he has someone who he knows fully believes in him, unlike what he said about Frigga in s1ep3: "She was the kind of person you'd want to believe in you", implying that he really wanted her to believe in him but deep down wasn't so sure about her faith. He found a rock on Mobius and that prompted him to become the God the entire multiverse needed to thrive and prosper, all because he was sure of being loved, for the first time in his long, long life.

(And before someone brings this up: yes, I know his relationship with sylvie had a part in his character development too, but no one can tell me that Loki ever felt like she reciprocated his feelings, at least not on the same level, and as I already said: after the citadel they only got more and more distant and she made very clear that she did not want him around anymore, he accepted that and moved on, but there was no strenght to be found in her rejection, he grew and matured thanks to her too, but strenght in the knowledge of being loved? He didn't find those things in her I'm so sorry)

[percheduphere]

LET'S TALK ABOUT "HE'LL MAKE IT BACK"

Special thank you to @mmobiuses, @starrose17, and @stevenrogered whose gifs make-up the lion's share of this post. Thank you to all the other amazing gif artists as well, without you, my metas won't be possible.

This might come as a surprise to a lot of people, but I actually wasn't big on Lokius until Season 2. I thought Loki and Mobius made a cute ship in Season 1, but that was the extent of it. In truth, I lost interest in the Loki series by the S1 finale and had 0 interest in watching S2. I didn't give the series another try until I saw positive reviews on Tumblr. I therefore started watching S2 when S2E4 dropped.

LOKI SEASON 1

Enjoying the potential love story between two characters is a deeply personal and subjective experience. So take what I say as my personal experience observing Loki and Mobius's relationship.

I fully believed Mobius loved Loki in S1 in the platonic sense. Tom Hiddleston has given a few interviews on Loki's and Mobius's relationship and seems to believe in this sentiment as well [see 5:30-7:30 and 10:57-11:00]).

That is to say, in S1, I didn't feel, "Oh, my god ... he loves him." It was more, "Yes, he loves him", there is no question, his actions prove it.

There is wiggle-room for unrequited love in the S1E4 interrogation scene, but the jealousy Mobius exhibited could have just as easily been a combination of anger on behalf of his murdered colleagues and platonic jealousy.

However, I felt the first hint of unrequited love from Mobius occurred during his goodbye scene with Loki in S1E5. Specifically, this look:

I had no expectations for that look to pay off in any way. Season 2 surprised me.

LOKI SEASON 2

S2E1 is amazing episode because, through subtext, it reframes how Mobius's S1 emotions may be interpreted with stronger evidence for romantic motivation. In this episode, there appears to be a subtle, gradual build-up to the moment that Mobius's love for Loki may be viewed as fully romantic. Let's break down the episode and look at the progression:

First, learning that Loki is at the TVA: *sigh* I can't find the "Loki's here?" gif.

Second, and perhaps the most infamous, the reunion and whole-body support Mobius provides Loki in the TVA War Room (physical comfort):

Third, Mobius bringing Loki somewhere safe and quiet, assuring him that "it's okay" (emotional comfort):

Fourth, Mobius insisting that Loki's condition must be fixed, not once but twice, in two different scenes. A third (writer's magic 3s!) instance occurs in the Heart of the TVA, just before the gangway scene (prioritizing the other):

Fifth, Mobius's admission that Loki's timeslipping looks horrible, and he can't look at it anymore. He repeatedly stresses to Loki how serious this is (emotional and physical empathy):

Sixth, Mobius taking Loki to exact right person who can help. This is particularly significant, because Mobius is the only person in MCU canon who has verbally expressed concern for Loki's physical well-being and took immediate action to stop the pain (act of service):

Seventh, the third time Mobius prioritizes Loki's wellbeing. He scolds Loki and reminds him they have only one shot at getting his timeslipping corrected before the temporal radiation becomes too high (prioritizing the other):

Eighth, Mobius interrupting Loki, insisting that he will make it back. The subtext here is that no other outcome is acceptable or thinkable for Mobius (emotional comfort):

Finally, Ninth, the clincher: "He'll make it back." (self-comfort)

This scene is everything to me. Moments 1 through 8 build-up to this singular moment. Let's do a micro-analysis on it.

After Loki timeslips, the camera stays on Mobius. It tracks him as he kneels down to pick-up the time sick, the last thing Loki touched. The camera then pans up as Mobius rises.

@stevenrogered, THANK YOU for this gifset. It's literally the only one I could find that captures the camera tracking Mobius after Loki disappears, and this is my all-time favorite Mobius scene.

Mobius stands for a moment, motionless, and the camera holds on his facial expression. He's staring at where Loki WAS for extended period of time (keep this in mind for later). He's holding his breath. He's worried, scared, and hopeful, not for himself and the danger he faces on the gangway, but for Loki.

Finally, he exhales as he says to himself, "He'll make it back".

This entire sequence--particularly the moment when Mobius picks-up the time stick and holds it in silence--made me feel, "Oh ... Oh ... he loves him."

The camera stays with Mobius, capturing his reaction to this high-stakes situation for a significant amount of time (@loki-us, maybe you can get this timed starting from the moment Loki disappears and Mobius starts to kneel to pick-up the time stick?). Cinematographers don't do this type of hold unless they want to illicit a strong emotion from the audience regarding the character we are focusing on in the moment.

My insides swooped, which rarely ever happens when I view film or television.

And this camera hold, this pregnant pause, is mirrored by Loki's stare in S2E5:

[clarcced]

Chekov's Heart Shaped Gun - An Analysis Of What Love Means In Loki (TV)

What Sylki actually means and why it’s not romantic love. / How S1E3/4 and S2E5 prove that love is who one calls home. / How Lokius will prevail.

Let's begin our analysis in s1e3.

Sylvie says she can’t sleep when another version of themselves is around. She is stronger than most in the show, yet she lacks trust in themselves- then wakes up from her nap a scene later, but alas, her even saying that is interesting. On that note, Sylvie and Loki are variants of each other. It's only fair to say that they basically have the same trust issues.

Mobius is a trustworthy person overall but to a Loki that’s near impossible to come by as it seems. Loki sleeps soundly with Mobius literally across him, considering the fact that he too couldn't sleep around an untrustworthy person. He trusts Mobius, even before he met Sylvie.

Moving on, Loki takes the glasses offered to them on the train and drinks both upon Sylvie’s refusal to drink hers. The glasses and their contents are identical and have a green tint to them- which is symbolism to establish the fact that Loki and Sylvie are in fact the same person- in variance, supported by the cinematography of this scene: mirroring sides.

Loki drinking both can mean three things all together in this context which I transformed into sentences because I lack in English vocabulary:

“See, I am you, you can trust me.” – Which she doesn’t.

“I take what comes my way.” – Loki doesn’t go around looking for love in any shape or form and takes what is thrown at him – resulting in “whim-prone” actions.

“I can have my cake and eat it too.” as in Sylki stuff- which sounds like clumsy and desperate flirting to me, honestly. There is also the element of Loki’s massive ego in this context, which turns into self love and becomes less (self/)destructive as the show progresses throughout S1 and S2.

Why did they address Loki’s bisexuality in the show specifically? Verbal “representation” without context? That’s below this well-thought-out show’s writers.

I keep coming back to the wording.

"Would-be-princesses" - plural, derogatory (as in aspiring to be, but not one) "Another prince" - single, specific

[Note: I saw some people posting that the timeline name of Mobius "Don" means 'prince', but couldn't find that specific definition myself in any online dictionary/baby names site. Best definition I could find was "brown, chief, noble" over on Wikipedia, so for now let's refrain from that specific definiton and focus on what is given to us plain and straight. I'll make this note make sense in the end of this analysis.]

Or could it be perhaps to give them a common ground to stand on? Nope. They don’t stand on that common ground, not even for a minute.

A drink. (Ding ding ding!!!!)

Yes, a drink. When he gets that drink, he sings an Asgaridan (well, Norwegian) song:

In storm-blackened mountains, I wander alone

Across glaciers, I travel forth

In the apple orchard the fair maiden stands

And sings, "When will you come home?"

When she sings, she sings, "Come home."

So who’s the maiden exactly? Loki dedicates the song to Sylvie, but never says it was specifically written for a romantic love interest. Not gonna lie, I might be reaching here, but hear me out: the lyrics can go both ways. They talked about their mother and how Sylvie barely remembers hers. So, Loki, as he is, sings about a traveller coming home to a maiden, possibly his mother or lover, depending on the context at which the song is directed towards.

The only time we see Loki truly helpless against the world is when he mourns his mother. The purest form of love he has ever received, gone. Upon their conversation with Sylvie about what “love” is, Loki disagrees with it being mischief itself, instead takes time and a couple drinks and sings about a fair maiden- his mother calling him home. That is the only type of love he has truly ever felt for another.

Now imagine singing a song about your mother to another variant of yourself. Mommy issues much? Sure. Bad way to flirt? Absolutely. He basically shows Sylvie what he thinks love means to him, but also establishing a connection with Sylvie based on HIS mindset: They are the same. No matter what the maiden represents, a romantic interest or love for a mother, these two variants are of the same kind in the end.

“No. Terrible metaphor.” Sylvie says. Fast forward to 3 episodes later in s1e6 she drops the dagger she holds on Loki’s throat and proceeds to kiss him, says they’re not the same and kicks him back into the TVA.

Being a Loki is not about being a villain and losing every time, it’s about surviving. To survive, they must adapt and adapting they do. They hold hands in s1e4 and a nexus event begins. A Loki, a so-called villain, in league with another Loki. No mischief, just loving each other- by each other by this point I’m talking about THEM as ONE. They easily could’ve kissed right then if their relationship was romantic, but they didn’t. They love themselves in that moment of an approaching apocalypse.

“But I’m not you.” – As the track “Stop” plays.- [The Sylki track that also played in the scene mentioned in the previous panel.]

Loki just wants Sylvie to be okay. He wants his inner mischievous giant to be okay. He wants his inner self to be okay. But Sylvie refuses this. She kisses him BECAUSE she refuses the fact that they can ever be the same or view love the same way. To Sylvie, love is very much real in the shape of a dagger, yet she drops it to the ground, then kisses Loki. Sylvie shows Loki that love is not what Loki thinks it is.

Love is not what Loki thinks it is.

Reality isn't what you think it is. -Loki to Mobius in s2e5

Fast forward to s2e5. Loki is in conflict with himself. – Thus, time slipping.

Everyone is sent back to their HOMES. Loki remains at the TVA when others are back in their original timelines- except Sylvie. She sees that McDonalds life as her home. So, that means, these people were sent to when and where they belonged before the TVA, or in case of Loki and Sylvie their respected new homes- also giving purpose to their belonging to that place- the when, where and why.

In Loki's mind, Mobius's home IS the TVA, his purpose, his 'glorious purpose' if you will. He searches around the TVA where him and Mobius spent their time pacing around or just sitting down to have a key lime pie.

Sylvie says that they are, in fact, Lokis of the same nature.

The acceptance.

Then it turns out it wasn’t about when, where or why. It’s about WHO. Loki could never have that drink because these two variants of the same species, Loki and Sylvie, are on different paths of life and love. Their roads have crossed but went their separate ways in the end.

Home.

It's about who, right? Loki could have found himself beside Sylvie in the McDonald's, easily, if he actually saw her as home. But no. He remained in the TVA, where Mobius once called home- which apparently he does too now. He belongs in the TVA with Mobius and their friends, with or without Sylvie.

This brings us to the smoking love shaped gun.

"Must've been would-be-princesses or perhaps, another prince."

"Love is... uh, something I might have to have another drink to think about."

2 people close to him offered him the drink he's yet to enjoy: Sylvie and Mobius.

The would-be-princess and the other prince.

"It's about who." Loki says, looking directly at Mobius.

He chooses the prince.

He makes it known to Sylvie at the very end of the episode, slowly turning to her: "I can rewrite the story."

He found his purpose in Mobius. He is the "who" that'll help him rewrite the story of time. He is home.

.

Thank you for sticking around till the end of this one. I appreciate any corrections/reminders of what I've missed or got wrong.

[lettingtimepass]

Lokius Nation we won, but at what costs? A quick breakdown of my thoughts on the Loki Finale!

Watch on the Clock App

Transcript below!

Let’s talk about the Loki Finale.

Spoilers incoming.

Sighs deeply

As Twitter user Han (@hansoeii) put it, Lokius Nation, we won, but at what cost?

Now you might be thinking, but we didn’t get a Lokius kiss or a love confession, how could we have won?!

Let me explain…

In episode 5, when Loki is talking to Slyvie at the bar, he talks about how he wants to give his friends - and Mobius - the chance to choose. To choose to stay at the TVA or to have a life on the branch if they want. Of course, he wants Mobius to choose to have a life with him - but after the time loops and talking with HWR, he realizes this isn’t possible because he’s the only person who can make the difficult choice - To give up his own life to give everyone else the chance to choose. To finally accept his Glorious Purpose, his burden, as Mobius puts it.

The other heartbreaking part is that Loki doesn’t talk to “his” Mobius before making his decision. Because if he did, Mobius wouldn’t have let him make that decision. He wouldn’t have let him go alone. That's why Loki can’t say anything before heading down those steps.

But after all this - Mobius realizes he doesn’t have a purpose at the TVA without Loki. So he goes down to the branch to see Don and his boys - the life he could have had.

Apologies I can’t find the post, but on Tumblr someone pointed out that Mobius might have left the TVA just so Loki could see him on branch. Since the TVA exists outside of time, Loki, and formerly HWR probably can’t see directly into it, which is probably partly why HWR created Miss Minutes to keep an eye on the TVA and report back.

So Mobius goes down to a branch and stands in the light. Sylvie joins him. When we cut between these two, we see this green and gold light around only Mobius. Green and gold? Do I have to spell it out?

Finally at the end it’s revealed that Loki is watching the conversation, but we specially hear Mobius’ words echo across time. Let time pass.

I absolutely adore this post from @makkarisbelova, “Mobius wanted to just stand there and let time pass simply to feel himself in a timeline sitting in the palm of Loki’s hand.”

Loki was watching, and Mobius knew.

The fact that Mobius and then Loki are the last shots of the show solidified that whether you consider them romantic partners or best friends, their friendship is the center - the heart - of the show.

Obviously this is extremely heartbreaking and feels like it’s perpetuating the trope where gay people are never allowed to be together. BUT I will give you one more breadcrumb.

Tumblr user @kcscribbler pointed out that Loki's magic includes duplication-casting, along with time manipulation. Theoretically, he could cast a duplicate of himself into any timeline, without leaving his new throne.

So I think at some point, whether it’s right after the screen cuts to black or perhaps sometime after when they’re both ready, Loki casts a projection down to Mobius’ branch and he’s able to talk to him and explain why he did what he did. Then Mobius can finally have closure, because remember, he has no idea that Loki went through thousands of time loops trying to fix the loom. Loki can finally have all the time in the world to explain everything to Mobius, including confessing his true feelings.

It’s still not a perfect, happy ending by any means, but all things considered, I think the writers and of course the actors understood how special and important this relationship is. So please don’t be discouraged that we didn’t get a happy ending. Please keep creating art, writing fic, posting your theories, and loving them. And since we now have an infinite multiverse… everything is possible 💚