Loki Season 2 Finale “Glorious Purpose” Spoilers Ahead
Loki Season 2, Episode 6, “Glorious Purpose,” cements Loki’s hero journey by leading him through a sacrifice. Last week during “Science/Fiction,” when I said that I was hoping death wouldn’t be the end for him, given how tragic hero journeys tend to go, I should’ve also specified that a lonely life shouldn’t either. Albeit he’s finally proud of himself, and Tom Hiddleston is still putting on his best performances, but regardless—he deserves to be with friends. He deserves the very second chance he’s granting others. (I deserve to watch him be happy, dancing at clubs, living his best life, and so on and so forth.)
Doomed doomed doomed—that’s essentially what the TVA and everything under He Who Remains is—doomed. We knew what we were in for when Loki first began. We know that there’s still so much story left to unfold and how we’ll get there…well, only time will tell. But if there’s one thing Loki’s Season 2 finale, “Glorious Purpose,” makes abundantly clear, it’s that Loki is a hero, and this is only the beginning of his entanglement with love.
Loki’s Season 2 “Glorious Purpose” Proves the Show’s Always Been About a Found Family
At the start of Season 1, Episode 1, also titled “Glorious Purpose,” (cries) Loki is entirely on his own, somewhat still selfish—a variant of the hero we almost knew. However, from the moment he starts listening to Mobius explain what he’s done, it becomes unmistakable that just like in his introduction during the first Thor, the god of mischief still has the same desires that thread through all other variants—the want to merely belong to something bigger. And thankfully, in his quest to save the world and time from collapsing, he finds a family—his people, variants, and a place that could’ve been home.
This might be the very reason why it’s so easy for Loki to pull the same weight that most heroes do and sacrifice himself. It’s why he says the words, “I know what kind of God I need to be. For you. For all of us” with every fiber of his being. Tom Hiddleston is utterly sensational as Loki, consistently wearing his heart on his sleeve in a way that we only see with a few characters in the MCU. Still, he’s different in more ways than one because no redemption arc is as compelling or thoughtfully constructed to showcase the loneliness that leads people toward a life of villainy.
Every single thing that Loki does is in order to please the people around him. He’ll pretend like it’s a quest for rebellion—an act to stir chaos and mischief, but no, it’s about finding acceptance. It’s about wanting to be seen without living in the shadows of perfection. With Odin, Thor, and now with his friends, Loki merely wants people to know that he’s capable of so much more than meets the eye. This is what his journey has always been orbiting around.
As a season, Loki Season 2 isn’t perfect, but it comes pretty close despite convoluted time shenanigans. In every way where it matters, the show is a loud, vulnerable character journey that slowly gets to the crux of mankind (or, in this case, celestial-kind?). It also begs the question of what leads Mobius to leave the TVA finally, and it’s hard not to say that it’s losing Loki—a friend, a partner, a member of his family—someone far more significant than he ever thought he’d find when he was tasked with the interrogation. Sylvie, OB, B-15—the memories of Thor, all the variants—they each find something bigger they weren’t expecting because a silly chaos god wanted them to have a second chance at life.
And a second chance is exactly what Mobius and Sylvie pursue because it’s what Loki wants for them. The subtle smile at the end of the credits is such a brilliant exhibition of satisfaction. Loki is okay—he’s going to be fine, and maybe, hopefully, someone will pull him out there because it’s hard to believe this is the end. But nothing is more evident than the fact that Loki makes a choice he’s proud of because he’s confident in the people he’s making the choice for. Where there’s a true family bound together by something thicker than blood, then there’s a love that’s worth fighting for. He knows he’s accepted as is. He knows he’s loved. He knows his glorious purpose isn’t a gilded throne but the people who led him there. They’re the reason he’s holding, turning dying branches into forms of life.
Timelines are sacred, yes, but there’s something even more sacred about the boy who believed he was a burden, understanding that he’s irreplaceable—his life isn’t accidental but meaningful. And it’s all because of the merry misfit found family. His armor is no longer solely to protect himself, but it’s to protect those he loves, and isn’t that what hero journeys are all about?
Now streaming on Disney+: What are your thoughts on Loki’s Season 2 Finale “Glorious Purpose?” Let us know in the comments below.