#178 – Loki S2E3 – "1893” The Man Who Could Be Kang

Bom, bom bom bom bom. Bomb. Okay, real quick, let me just give it up to Natalie Holt for this theme song. This Loki theme song. It slaps every time. It's eerie, it's elegant, kind of disturbing, but weirdly triumphant. It just pulls you into the TVA energy immediately. There's something about it that says this episode's going to mess with your mind. And it kind of does. In this episode specifically, we get the old timey 1920s piano version, but we still hear the theme song lingering in the background. Welcome back officially to Marvel Maniac and MCU After Show. This is your host, Eric Cicada, aka Mr. Honest. And today we're diving in to Loki, season two, episode three, titled 1893. You know, I watched this season a good while back when it was airing. I might have watched it twice. I don't know. I don't know, though. But I. I saw Ironheart and that it was based in Chicago, and I said, oh, the first show that goes to Chicago. Well, I was entirely wrong. This episode centers around the Chicago World Fair, so we do get some Chicago homage in this episode, which I appreciate. I want to see more of Chicago in the mcu. Let us have a battle of Chicago, like Battle in New York. I don't think they'll do that, though. They want to keep everything, like, different and fresh. I don't know, but if it's made right, I. It's not like I want to see Chicago attacked by aliens or anything. We're heading back to the past to confront a future that hasn't happened yet. Or has it? This is a weirder episode. Not in a bad way. It's just got that time tangled tone that only Loki can really pull off. And at the center of it all, a version of Kang, who is nothing like the others we've seen, shows up. Yes, Victor Timely. I do like this character a lot. So let's just go into the instant reaction of this one. Okay. Honestly, this episode, it had me smiling. It's chaotic, theatrical, lowkey, hilarious. I'm thinking I miss minutes when I say that. And kind of terrifying if you stop to think about it. Still also miss minutes. She's creepy. Loki and Mobius are at their detective best, bouncing off of each other with dry humor while chasing down the temporal. Temporal residue like cosmic bloodhounds. And who do they find at the 1893 World's Fair? It is Victor Timely, a name we know from the comics. But here he is, awkward, twitchy, eccentric, and possibly a total fraud. Or a Genius or both. The people he steals from in this episode, they're not like the nicest folk. So somehow even knowing that this guy is he who remains, he brings likability to the character via Victor Timely. It makes me sad and mourn the King Dynasty because Jonathan Majors really has the chops, clearly. And Kevin Feige said even before Ant Man, Quantum Mania that they were considering shifting to Doom anyway. But I kind of, I kind of like don't really believe that as much. I think maybe they were Planning on the RDJ Dr. Doom in secret wars, but Kang Dynasty was going to be about kang, and maybe Dr. Doom came in at the end and defeated him. But I don't think it, I don't think they could lie that they weren't really like depending on this character. And if they were really thinking about that, like, I'm not trying to like call out Kevin Feige, but if they're really thinking about switching him out before the drama, why would they put that post credit scene in Ant man and the OAS Quantumania? They wouldn't have. They want. They were. They're trying to give us the confidence that they always have had and they, they deserve it. We should have confidence in the mcu. But we've lost a tiny little itty bit of trust because to a lot of people, the quality went down. To me, I'm what you call a cheerleader. I, I try not to really criticize the shows more than trying to find the good in them. But that being said, I always say Secret Invasion wasn't really great, in my opinion. And that was something I was so excited for for so long. So I'd rather not just like make a whole 6 series poop fest on, on that show. I'd rather just maybe not cover it. Or if we get like a couple of people emailing saying man covers secret invasion, maybe I will. But I don't think there's much demand for it. I'm worried it'll turn people away. So back to this episode of Loki. It was refreshing to see this different take on King. And after Quantum Mania, we were expecting another cold, calculating conqueror type. Instead we get a nervous inventor. A nervous inventor. I can't do it. And he's trying to sell time tech like it's a parlor trick. And that's what makes this episode sing. It's the uncertainty. And you're constantly asking, is this guy harmless or is he about to become the most dangerous man in existence? And as told, now we're going to break it down. Let's Keep moving. Well, we open in 1868 and this is where Ren Slayer drops off a TVA handbook to a young Victor Timely. A very deliberate move to jumpstart his future with the help of Ms. Minutes, who unravels. She unravels in this episode. So from the very beginning, she's already laying down the same path. He who remains wanted. Then we fast forward to the Chicago World's Fair, 1893. Victor's giving this wild little science show with sparks and magic and flying and metaphors about time flowing like electricity. The most confidence we see in the characters on stage. For sure, he's clearly brilliant, but also just a little bit scattered to say the least. And also a little grifty. Maybe a little more than a little. And suddenly everyone wants a piece of him. Here's the triangle, or maybe square of power. Ravonna. Ren Slayer wants to guide Timely into his destiny, practically grooming him into becoming the next king. Miss Minutes goes from TVA Siri to full crazy ex girlfriend AI her I want a body so I can maybe be with you moment where she freaks the heck out of all of us. Chills Mobius is trying to keep the peace. You know, this man loves his snacks. I think he loves going out on these little ventures, even if they're like life or death. But even he's starting to question whether this is all just fate playing out again. And Loki. Loki is torn. And you totally feel it during this one. Let's talk a bit about Loki's fear, because this episode shows a side of him we don't always get. And that's vulnerability. We have seen it in this show though, like in season one towards the end. Not the self pity kind of vulnerability, but the kind where you look at your worst fear in the eye and try not to flinch. And Tom Hson absolutely nails it as always. You could see him. You could see it in his face. The hesitation, the calculation and the tread. He's looking at this quirky little man and he knows. He knows this guy could become the being who ends time itself. I've seen what you become, he says. But what makes it worse is there's still walking the path he who remains paved. In my opinion. Okay, I've seen the show, but even now they're thinking they're making their own choices, but they're not. Loki is afraid because he knows they might already be too late. That everything that they're doing is exactly what's meant to happen. And that that's what breaks your your brain a little bit when I mean, like, how do you escape fate when the person who created the TVA made sure you'd follow it no matter what, Even though he didn't want them to think, he. He tricked Sylvie and Loki into thinking, just in that moment, that he had no control over the future, when in fact, he most likely did. So this variant, Victor Timely, matters. Is he a genius, a fraud, or a puppet? He's clearly intelligent, but he's also a con man. His loom machine is partly real, but partly just all for show. And yet the TVA manual in his hands gives him just enough credibility to make him dangerous. What's wild is you kind of like him even more than he who remains. Like you, like he who remains. He's kind of funny, but he speaks some dreadful truth. But Victor Timley, he's not corrupted or evil yet. He's quirky and nervous, even charming at times. And that's the point. He is not Kang yet. But the Seed is there. Now, let's not skip over Miss Minutes. She went from helpful TVA assistant to full blown horror movie energy in like five minutes. She's glitching and she's jealous and very vengeful. Her delivery, when she tells Victor, I want a body so I could be with you straight up, gave me Ultron vibes, but creepier. And when he rejects her, she flips. She turns on Ren Slayer, locks her out of the ship and basically declares war. Ms. Minutes might be the biggest wild card in the series right now. I never thought she could be so scary. I thought she was like a nice introduction to the multiverse at first, but they made the choice to make her a creepy ex girlfriend or something like that. So this whole loom and fight and the fallout of all of this, you know, Loki is just trying to save the multiverse, even just like a speckle of it at this point. And Sylvie doesn't even really understand why the TVA is and what's really going on with the Multiverse. And it's crazy. It's just like there's a lot of conflict between him and Sylvie in this episode. And you. You could feel it building more and more. Still, Sylvie wants to end the TVA for good. She sees every version of Kang as a threat. Even Victor, Timely and Loki trying to thread the needle. Hopefully this variant can be better. And the truth is, neither of them know the final beat with Victor being invited to help fix the loom. It feels like they just gave the keys of the Apocalypse to the nicest guy at the science fair. And somehow it still feels dangerous. So this episode might not move the plot forward in huge leaps, but it does something even bigger, better. It plants doubt. It shakes your confidence in what you think you know. Is Victor Timely the beginning of the new Kang Dynasty? Or is this the last chance to break the cycle? Also, if you're keeping score, Ren Slayer is locked out. Ms. Minutes is glitching and angry. Sylvie is barely on the same side as Loki, and the loom is falling apart. Chaos is coming. Winter is coming. It's just. Sorry, it's just waiting for the next episode. One of my favorite parts of the episode, though, as scary as she is, is when Ms. Minute scares everyone, turning into a giant, chasing them down the street. And again, another favorite part of this episode was definitely the World Fair. Great shots, lots of action, chase scenes, fights, a mirror of when Loki's trying to protect he who remains. But this time, Victor timely. And Sylvie is standing in front of him with the sword. Very, very good. And also, Sylvie goes. She. She can't bring it out of her to hurt this man, because at the end of the day, she's not he. He is not he who remains. Yet he's Victor Timely. And there's so much innocence that, I don't know, just. It gives. It even gives Sylvie some humility, which is crazy because she's pretty ruthless when it came to Kang. And I believe her. She will kill every variant. So I think that this episode was a nice palette cleanser for what's to come. This is a one of a kind episode, and we are about to move into the second half of the series next week where it kind of speeds up a bit and crazier things even start happening. So I a. I completely appreciate this trip to Chicago and what an outstanding episode all in all. And that's about all I got in my notes and outline for this episode. What are your thoughts on these shorter episodes? If you've been listening for a long time, I used to make long episodes, but now I'm trying to just do reactionary, kind of quick and to the point, a little bit more focused is what I'm going for. And I know that makes for shorter episodes, but I don't want to stretch something that doesn't need to be stretched when we all just watched it or we all know what happened. It's just cool to throw my takedown, give my thoughts, and wherever it ends, where in this case, maybe like around 13, 14 minutes, that's where it's gonna end. And I'm, you know, I always kind of Explain the process on the show just to keep you in the loop. Keep staying honest, you know, keep it within the name. And I'm happy to do that because it makes me feel like I'm not. I don't. I don't want to feel like I'm lying to you or giving you less content. I'm overcompensating. And I'm gonna keep that in there because I'm gonna show my vulnerability to you for some stupid reason. As always, thank you here for being here with me. And if you're enjoying the show, please consider supporting on Patreon or dropping a tip in the tip jar. Patreon.com marvelmaniac Even a dollar helps keep this multiversal madness running. I'd like to thank Michael Finney for being our number one on our Wall of Heroes. You can join the Wall of Heroes if you sign up for the Patreon in our about section of this episode. And if you're already supporting, you're a real one. So we're covering Loki Season 2 all month long and this Friday, we're revisiting the original X Men because mutants are finally on the board and we want our foundation solid before the future drops. You don't want to miss it. And I will say after Loki, my plan as of right now, which I'm going to leave an option to change if something else comes up, we will be covering X Men 97 after Loki while covering all the other X Men movies in the background. It's gonna be a mutant blast and I'm excited to see you there. Thoughts? Marvelmaniacpodmail.com Theories? Thoughts? What would you like to see me cover or recover? In my opinion, the movies that I want to cover, Slash, recover, all the Ant Mans and all the Guardians. Not because my episodes of those were bad. It's just I went over a trilogy storyline type thing, thing with Dustin for Spider man and Guardians with tj. And we covered all the movies in that franchise. So it's going to be fun to kind of go through each one. I think it's the only series in the MCU I haven't fully covered, so you can look forward to that, too. We have a lot of time now, almost a full year until the next Marvel movie. I know we're gonna get shows and stuff and things here and there, but it's gonna slow down a bit. But we aren't. We are going to, we're going to cover every bit of this multiverse that we can before this movie comes out. I am planning even. I'm planning for months ahead, and I'm going to surprise you. I don't want to, like, get something in your head like two months from now, and I don't do it because I am kind of choosing as I go. But I'm laying out a lot of options. So we're going to be covering a lot of stuff. Just expect the Netflix shows, the Punisher, Jessica Jones, anyone who we've heard announced as coming back into the MCU in any way, we're going to cover it and it's going to be a blast. I honestly am so excited. So Victor Timely isn't a conqueror yet, but the TVA needs him. The multiverse may depend on him. And Loki? Loki doesn't know if he's doing the right thing or just following orders from a ghost. But anyway, thanks for listening. For all time. Always. And Avengers disassemble.