Glorious Purpose: Loki Season 2, Episode 6 Recap (With FAQs!)

Here we are, at the end of time, I mean the end of Loki Season 2.

The last episode left us with lots of hope that our villain-turned-hero could save the day.

Was he able to do it and if so, how? Let’s find out in my Loki Season 2, Episode 6 recap of Glorious Purpose.

Faster this time

We pick up right where we left off in episode 5 and immediately launch into a Groundhog Day-esque situation.

The first time Loki goes back in time, he asks OB what they could have done differently and the only thing OB can think of is “go faster.”

And so, Loki keeps trying to rewrite the story so Timely doesn’t turn to spaghetti and their mission doesn’t fail, but his edits aren’t changing the outcome.

After many failed attempts, we land back to the scene earlier in the season where OB meets Timely.

Loki identifies a new issue where OB doesn’t know how long it will take to get the whole plan into action, so he asks him to teach him what he would need to know to help them so he can go back and time to control the unknown.

But the problem is, OB, Timely, and Casey tell him it’ll take decades, maybe even centuries, to learn what is needed.

Centuries later

So that is what Loki does – he time slips back centuries to try to fix things.

But when it comes time to take action, centuries later, Loki is rushing everyone around, taking charge, and answering even the toughest of engineering and physics questions.

How does he know all this? Why is he rushing? Mobius, Timely, and others speak up, but let it go as Loki continues to usher them along.

If Loki told them what he was doing and why he’s acting so weird, it could have an adverse affect on how the story plays out.

At long last, Timely steps back out onto the gangway for another attempt and this time doesn’t turn to spaghetti.

He’s going as quickly as he can, which is at a snail’s pace. He gets to the launcher, loads it, and hits the green button.

But nothing happens.

He gives it a good slam and we have lift off.

Timely turns to get back and makes it back inside. The Temporal Loom is expanding to give room for the backlog.

Success.

Except not. They’ve run into a new problem and the loom is overloading again because there are too many branches despite having increased the throughput.

Centuries later and it failed. Again.

The branches are duplicating and expanding at an infinite rate.

Victor Timely

Or in other words, the universe will always be growing, so they couldn’t possibly expand the loom to accommodate it. 

There is no scalable solution. At least not in one go.

It’s almost as if as soon as the timelines started branching this was doomed to happen.

Sylvie

The team looks defeated.But Loki gives it another go at rewriting the story.

HWR

This time he goes back to episode 6 from season 1, just before Sylvie kills He Who Remains. He’s determined to stop Sylvie from trying to kill him, which led to the collapse in the first place.

I’ve been where you are. I’ve felt what you feel. You don’t want this.

Loki

He pushes her backward, away from HWR so she can’t go through with it. But Sylvie is not having it.

If you want me to stop, you’ll have to kill me.

Sylvie

They get into a tussle, but Sylvie overpowers him and follows through with killing HWR.

And now we’re back to Groundhog Day, with Loki stepping back in time to try to prevent HWR from being killed. Again and again and again.

Until Loki, exasperated, asks HWR why he does nothing to stop her. And then he does: by freezing her. 

HWR laughs and asks Loki how many times he’s been through this, trying and failing, time and time again.

Loki realizes he’s being a bit foolish and busts out a T.S. Eliot quote from the poem, Little Gidding.

We die with the dying. We’re born with the dead.

Loki

Or in other words, he needs to learn from the past if he wants a better future.

He Who Remains brings Sylvie back and unpauses her. But Loki surprises him by pausing Sylvie.

This impresses HWR to the point where he calls Loki his favorite of the two. They discuss the Loom and HWR laughs when Loki says the Loom can’t scale.

The Temporal Loom is a failsafe. When the Loom is overloaded with branches, it deletes the ones that aren’t supposed to be there. Everything except the Sacred Timeline.

He Who Remains

He then tells Loki that no matter what he does, the outcome will remain the same: he will lose.

But Loki isn’t defeated yet. He says he’ll change the equation and break the Loom.

HWR reminds him that what he has done is for the good of everyone; that the Loom is what prevents a brutal war from breaking out thanks to his viscious variants.

He Who Remains: Can’t you see what I’m offering here is mercy?
Loki: For me, or for you? No. I’ll find another way.

Loki, Season 2, Episode 6: Glorious Purpose

HWR brings Sylvie back again and suggests another way: kill Sylvie.

Something that up until now Loki has refused to do, despite her threats that it’s the only way he can stop her.

Where’s the pie?

And the we find ourself back to a scene from early on in season 1, where Mobius is interviewing Loki.

Loki asks Mobius how to make an impossible choice.

Aw, he’s asking his bestie for advice during hard times. They really are in a bromance!

Mobius tells the story of a TVA hunter who was meant to prune someone who would go on to kill thousands of people.

Some hunters were sent to prune him. Except one hunter hesitated and it caused chaos with the timeline, so his partner had to step in and do it for him.

The TVA hunter duo? Mobius and Renslayer. 

She knew the hard thing to do was the the thing that had to be done. And by hard, I mean impossible. No, there’s no comfort. You just choose your burden.

Mobius

Live free (will) or die

And suddenly, everything turns to spaghetti and we’re back in OB’s lab from the end of season 2, episode 5.

We’re left with Loki and Sylvie. He pauses everything and explains the situation to Sylvie, breaking his rule about not telling his friends what he’s been up to.

But Sylvie is still being stubborn as always and isn’t letting down.

It’s not enough to protect the Sacred Timeline, Loki. Even down there, it’s full of death and destruction and injustice. Do you really wanna be the god who takes away everyone’s free will so you can protect that?

Sylvie

Loki responds by reminding her this it’s this or everyone dies. But she doesn’t budge and continues to argue her position.

Loki stands his ground too, but meets her in the middle. He knows he has to keep fighting, but perhaps instead of saving the TVA he has to building something better.

A chance

We’re back in the Temporal Loom control room from the beginning of the episode.

Except this time, Loki rushes down the stairs to the gangway and closes the door behind him so he can’t be stopped.

I know what I want. I know what kind of god I need to be for you. For all of us.

Loki

He steps out, sans Temporal Core Suit.

And as he continues to walk down the gangway, his clothes peel away to reveal a regal outfit, perhaps made of fine Asgardian leather. The classic Loki horns emerge from his head.

He destroys the Temporal Loom, turning it to spaghetti – but this spaghetti doesn’t wither away.

As he touches each branch, it glows green. A hole appears and Loki walks toward it and as he does, he and the branches disappear.

He’s giving us a chance.

Sylvie

Loki continues to climb, pulling the branches behind him, up to the nearly destroyed throne in the citadel at the End of Time.

He sits down on the throne and pulls all of the branches together. Glowing green with life, the branches twist up around him into the Tree of Life.

Where are they now

We’re back at the TVA and it’s thriving.

Casey, OB, and Hunter B-15 are in the TVA control room. Miss Minutes appears – but seems to be on an early version. Or at least one that isn’t jealous and murderous.

Hunter B-15: And are we sure she won’t…
OB: try to kill us all?
Hunter B-15: Yeah.
OB: ::shrugs::
Hunter B-15: You don’t instill confidence, OB.

Loki, Season 2, Episode 6: Glorious Purpose

She scans the room and sees Mobius. They discuss his latest report about variants of He Who Remains.

He looks down at a file on his desk. His file. He’s finally taken a look at the life that was left behind when he was taken for the TVA.

And now that he knows what his life on the Sacred Timeline was like, he’s decided to leave the TVA.

The “where are they now” trip continues with OB unboxing a refreshed TVA guidebook.

A young Victor Timely looks back at curtain blowing in the breeze, but there is no mysterious package falling in this time.

Ravonna Renslayer wakes up in a field. There’s a pyramid off in the distance.

A breeze blows and we see part of the TVA logo underneath the grass. She’s in the Void. She sees something off in the distance that’s glowing purple, but we never see what it is.

Mobius is back at his suburban raised ranch, playing with his two boys in the front yard. And of course, there’s a jet ski in the driveway.

Except it’s actually Don playing with his 2 boys and Mobius is watching from afar, with Sylvie.

Sylvie: It’s weird that Loki’s not here, isn’t it?
Mobius: Yeah.
Sylvie: Well, see you around, I guess.
Mobius: Where are you gonna go?
Sylvie: ::shrugs:: you?
Mobius: I might just wait here for a little bit. Let time pass.

And Loki? He’s at the End of Time. Sitting on the throne that he’s always wanted.

Have questions? I might have answers.

Season 2 might be over, but I bet you have lots of questions still! Let’s dig in.

Does Loki become He Who Remains?

Sort of. Loki now sits on the throne at the End of Time, but I wouldn’t call him He Who Remains.

What is the tree of life and how is it connected to Loki?

According to Mythopedia, the tree of life, or yggdrasil as the Norse called it, is the “giver and taker of life and order.”

Now whether Loki created yggdrasil or has become it is not entirely clear…yet. I suspect this will come up in a future Marvel movie.

What does Ravonna Renslayer see in the Void?

Before we leave Ravonna in the Void, she sees something off in the distance that fills the sky with a purple glow. This bit left me confused, too.

We never see what that something is. At the moment, I’m thinking it’s the Tree of Life, which had a pink/blue (or purple) glow to it.

Is Tom Hiddleston done playing Loki?

Technically Loki is no longer, so you could say that Tom Hiddleston is done playing Loki.

However, that doesn’t mean Hiddleston is done with Marvel. I strongly suspect he’ll be back, but as this new character, the God of Stories.

Will there be another season of Loki?

As of November 9, 2023, neither Marvel Studios or Disney+ have announced a third season of Loki.

Given the ending, I suspect we will see our friends again, either in an upcoming movie (perhaps Avengers: The Kang Dynasty or Deadpool 3) or in another season.

In an interview with Variety, Loki producer Executive Producer Kevin Wright admitted that there were more stories to tell with Loki, while at the same time suggested that season 1 and 2 were “…two chapters of the same book.”

I interpret that as saying we’ll see Loki again, but it’s up in the air as to whether it will be in a movie or a third season or both. I think it will be strictly movies, though, given the outcome of the finale.

And for me, that’s enough…for now!

What was your favorite part of Loki Season 2, Episode 6?

Wow, what an episode. I’ve really enjoyed the whole arc Loki has had with this show – going from villain to hero in two short seasons.

What was your favorite part of this episode? Mine was the very ending, as Loki transforms from TVA office dude back to Loki, but this time with his own throne.

Let me know what your favorite moment was in the episode below.

This post was originally published November 10, 2023. It was last updated November 16, 2023.