For All Time. Always.

"For All Time. Always." is the sixth episode of the Disney+ streaming television series Loki and the season one finale. It premiered on July 14, 2021.
==Synopsis==
The clock is ticking in the season finale which finds Loki and Sylvie on a date with destiny.
==Plot==
Beyond the Void at the end of time, the tangible force of the Sacred Timeline is seen pulsing around an asteroid. On it, Loki and Sylvie approach the doors of a Citadel after managing to enchant Alioth to arrive there. In front of the doors, Sylvie becomes anxious and asks for a few moments, telling Loki that she waited to meet who is behind the TVA most of her life, after she was abducted by the organization. Entering the castle, the pair is startled by the sudden appearance of Miss Minutes. The mascot of the TVA welcomes them to the Citadel of the End of Time and says that the ruler of the organization, He Who Remains, is impressed that they came so far. 
Miss Minutes tells them that He Who Remains is offering a deal, explaining that they could be reinserted on the timeline and have anything they want while the TVA continues to do its work. She tells Loki that he could win the Battle of New York, kill Thanos, obtain the Infinity Gauntlet and the throne of Asgard. To Sylvie, Miss Minutes says she could wake up with a lifetime of happy memories, not needing to be on the run anymore. Besides this, Miss Minutes states that Sylvie and Loki could be together on the timeline. The pair pauses questioning if it is really possible for two Lokis to be in the same place, but Miss Minutes claims that He Who Remains is capable of making it work for the pair to be together. Despite tempted by the hopeful scenario, Sylvie and Loki refuse the proposal. Sylvie states that this life would be a fiction and Loki agrees saying that they are the ones who write their own destiny now. Hearing this, Miss Minutes sarcastically wishes them "good luck" in trying to do it by themselves and vanishes. 
At the TVA, Ravonna is inside her office and recalls her friend Mobius when she sees the rings of his glass on the side of her table as result of the many times they shared drinks. Miss Minutes appears and apologizes for taking so long to return, explaining that she had another issue to solve first. She tells Ravonna that she is downloading the files she needs to her TemPad. After the download is completed, Ravonna checks the TemPad and says that those are not the files she asked for. Miss Minutes confirms that they aren't, but "he" thinks that these files will be more useful. Confused, Ravonna asks who she is talking about, but Miss Minutes just wishes her a good reading and disappears. Meanwhile, walking further inside the Citadel, Sylvie and Loki enter the Hall of Heroes and eventually met He Who Remains, who invites them to talk in his office. Inside the elevator to the office, He Who Remains asks if they are disappointed now that they saw him. Loki is surprised that He Who Remains is just a man, but Sylvie says that this only makes him easier to kill. She tries to strike him with her machete, but He Who Remains escapes all her attacks using his modified TemPad. 
Back in Ravonna's office, she is packing files into her briefcase when she is surprised by Mobius entering the room announcing his return. Relieved to see that he managed to come back from the Void alive, she then asks if he is going to prune her with the Time Stick he is holding. Mobius replies that different from her, he would not do this to a close friend. Ravonna apologizes and says she had to prune him for the good of their mission at the TVA. Mobius asks what she is talking about since they now know that the Time Keepers are fake and everybody member of the TVA is a Variant. Ravonna says that their mission couldn't have been in vain and then calls Hunter D-90 to her office. However, Mobius tells her that this won't work because they already know her secret, and then takes out from his pocket her pen from Franklin D. Roosevelt High School. Meanwhile on the Sacred Timeline, in Fremont, Ohio, 2018, Hunter B-15 runs from Minutemen inside the Franklin D. Roosevelt High School. She lures D-90 to the vice principal's office, where they are confronted by the Vice Principal Rebecca Tourminet. D-90 becomes confused because Rebecca looks exactly like Ravonna. B-15 explains that the vice principal is not the judge of the TVA and says that she has a lot to talk about with him.
In He Who Remains' office, he explains to Sylvie and Loki that they cannot kill him because already loaded his TemPad with everything he needs to not be murdered by the duo, because knows about events that are going to happen in the future. He pulls out some scripts and shows the one which contains their conversation from the past few minutes as proof of his claim. He Who Remains informs them that he knows and has seen everything, even things that the TVA is not aware of. He saw their journey on Lamentis and the Void, and knows about their talks, scheming and even about their intimate, sentimental shared look by the lake on Lamentis. In addition, he reveals that he not only knows everything but he also was the one who guided them to the Citadel during their entire journey. When Sylvie asks why they are even there, He Who Remains says that it is important to experience the journey to prepare their mindset to complete the quest. Loki then questions if everything was just a game and part of He Who Remains' manipulation. He Who Remains finds this conclusion interesting coming from Loki and provokes the duo by asking Sylvie if she really trusts Loki, implying that the God of Mischief is manipulating her. Loki tells Sylvie to ignore this accusation, but He Who Remains continues by asking if Sylvie is even capable of trusting anyone at all. 
Back at the TVA, inside Ravonna's office, Mobius says that it is time for the people to know the truth about the organization. But Ravonna thinks that the lie was necessary and that the creator of the TVA had a reason for giving their mission to them. Mobius, after having survived the Void, tells her that there is nothing necessary about the horrors awaiting those who are pruned. Ravonna argues that there would be only death and chaos without the TVA's work. Mobius adds that there would be also free will, but Ravonna tells him that only the one in charge can have free will. Mobius reminds her what she said once about the two of them being "friends across time, allies to the end", but then she sent him to die in the Void. He accuses Ravonna of betraying him, but she says that she was the one betrayed. Ravonna says that she protected and cared for Mobius, only for him to waste their eons of friendship and ally with "a couple of Lokis". As Ravonna opens a Time Door to leave, Mobius asks her to stay so they can work together to transform the TVA into something better. When she refuses, he lights up the Time Stick, saying he won't let her go. But when Mobius attacks her, he is easily disarmed and falls on the ground. Despite their argument, Ravonna is unable to prune her friend again, so she turns off the weapon and picks up her briefcase. When Mobius asks where she is going, she says "in search for free will" and then leaves the TVA through the Time Door.
At the Citadel, He Who Remains tells Sylvie and Loki the story of the creation of the TVA. During the 31tst century, a Variant of He Who Remains lived on Earth and was a scientist that discovered the other realities of the Multiverse besides his own. This caused the encounter of the Variants of He Who Remains and for a while there was peace, with them sharing technology and knowledge to improve each other's universes. However, some of these Variants were ambitious and desired to conquer the new universes discovered. With this, a Multiversal War began, with each Variant fighting to preserve their own universe and annihilate the others, which almost led to destruction of the entire Multiverse. However, the war ended after a Variant of He Who Remains found a creature that could consume space and time itself, Alioth. He Who Remains experimented on Alioth, managing to weaponized it, and then used the creature to help him isolate the realities of the Multiverse into a single timeline, eliminating his other Variants. After organizing the Sacred Timeline, he needed to manage the flow of time and prevent further branches, so he created the TVA and the Time Keepers, and the efficient bureaucracy that led the Multiverse to eons of the peace. He Who Remains explains that he is not the devil and if Sylvie and Loki think he is evil, his Variants are much worse.
After hearing this story, Sylvie says that He Who Remains is a liar, while Loki asks if he will simply continue to prune innocent timelines. Replying Loki's question, he tells the duo that he won't but the two of them would. He offers two options to the pair: they can kill him, destroying all he built and unleashing his evil Variants in the Multiverse, or they could take over and become the new rulers of the TVA. When Loki doubts that he would give them the control of the TVA, He Who Remains says that he has been doing this for a long time, and now is too old and tired to continue his job. He has been looking for a successor and the ideal person to replace him came as a pair, the two of them. He Who Remains says that if they accept to assume his place, they can rule however they want, even as benevolent rulers. Angered, Sylvie tells him that he treats people's lives like a game, but he claims that his actions are practical, and nothing was personal. When Sylvie says that it was personal to her, He Who Remains becomes frustrated and tells her that she is a hypocrite who also killed many people and needs to grow up. He reminds that all of them are villains who did terrible things in the past, but now Sylvie and Loki can do it for a good reason. 
Suddenly, as the Sacred Timeline outside starts branching off, He Who Remains pauses and tells them that they crossed the threshold in time. He confesses the duo that he lied when he claimed to know everything that is going to happen, because he only knew until a certain point, which literally just passed. As He Who Remains becomes excited with the unknown, Loki asks if he will just let them decide his fate. He Who Remains says yes, because there is no bad outcome for him: they will either take over and continue his life's work, or kill him, which will allow his evil Variants to start a Multiversal War that will end with him as the ruler of the TVA again. To prove his honesty, He Who Remains removes his TemPad placing it on the desk. Seeing He Who Remains unprotected, Sylvie wastes no time to attempt to attack him with her machete, but Loki stops her. While Sylvie is convinced that He Who Remains is just a liar trying to manipulate them and still wants her revenge, Loki believes in him and wants to think carefully about their next actions before making a decision. When Loki tries to explain to Sylvie that if they eliminate He Who Remains, his position will be available for someone else worse to take over, Sylvie accuses Loki of wanting to replace him as the ruler of the TVA. She then questions if everything between them was just a long con and Loki is wounded that she doesn't trust him after all the time they spent together. 
Loki assures Sylvie that the problem doesn't involve him wanting a throne, it is about the balance of the universe. Sylvie wonders why they cannot see this situation in the same way, so Loki tells her that it is because she doesn't trust and he cannot be trusted. Reaching a dilemma, the pair fights inside the office, with Sylvie attempting to get to He Who Remains to kill him and Loki blocking her attacks to prevent her to do so. He Who Remains watches the duo, enjoying the new turn of events and not knowing what the outcome of the battle will be. Loki begs Sylvie to stop and think about the cost of making the wrong choice. Enraged, Sylvie even dares Loki to kill her and take the throne she thinks he wants. Disturbed by this, Loki refuses to harm her. When Sylvie finally seems to have the advantage and jumps to kill her target, Loki appears in front of her, blocking her blade with his own body and dropping his sword. He holds Sylvie's uppers arms and cries as he tells her that he does not wish to harm her or have a throne, because the only thing he truly wants is for her to be okay. Sylvie is touched by Loki's words of care for her. She drops her machete and pulls him close for a passionate kiss. However, still decided to complete her mission, when the couple breaks apart from the kiss, she looks at him and says that they are not the same. She then uses the TemPad that was on He Who Remains' table to open a Time Door and pushes Loki through it, sending him back to the TVA. 
After falling back into the portal, Loki quickly stands up and runs towards the Time Door to return to Sylvie, but it closes before he is able to. Finally alone with He Who Remains, Sylvie walks towards him holding her machete and asks if he is not going to beg for his life. But He Who Remains is still too amused by all the events he witnessed unfolding before his eyes and doesn't care about his own death. As Sylvie plunges her blade into his chest, he smiles, then winks and says he will see her soon. Killing the ruler of the TVA and accomplishing her goal doesn't bring Sylvie any of the satisfaction or relief she expected. She slumps to the ground beside his body, questioning her own choices. Outside the office, the Sacred Timeline branches off into innumerous threads. At the TVA, Mobius and B-15 watch the chronomonitor and see all these new branches, which are already past red line, so there is no way to revert them.
Meanwhile, after failing to stop Sylvie, Loki is devastated that the woman he loves chose the path of revenge and spends a few moments crying for her. But then he decides to warn the others about the danger that is coming. He finds B-15 and Mobius inside the Archives of the TVA while they are checking the new branches on a TemPad. Mobius and B-15 are surprised by the great number of branches and discuss how they will be able to prune all of them. B-15 wonders if "he" simply wants them to let all the timelines branch. Loki approaches and tells them that it is too late to stop the branches, because he and Sylvie freed the Sacred Timeline. Loki explains how they met He Who Remains at the Citadel and about his Variants, who will cause a Multiversal War, so they need to prepare. However, the two of them don't recognize Loki and ask who he is. Mobius thinks he is a new analyst and asks what division he is. Confused, Loki turns to the area of the Time Keepers statues, only to see that they are not there. Replacing them, there is a statue of He Who Remains.
==Cast==
===Main Cast===
*Tom Hiddleston as Loki
* as Sylvie
*Owen Wilson as Mobius
*Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Ravonna Renslayer
*Wunmi Mosaku as Hunter B-15
*Jonathan Majors as He Who Remains
*Tara Strong as Miss Minutes (voice)
*Eugene Cordero as Hunter K-5E
===Guest Stars===
*Neil Ellice as Hunter D-90
*Sarafina King as Minuteman #9
*Ilan Muallem as Minuteman #11
*Lauren Revard as Miss Minutes On-Set Reader
===Uncredited===
*Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Falcon (archive audio)
*Evangeline Lilly as Hope van Dyne (archive audio)
*Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa/Black Panther (archive audio)
*Paul Rudd as Scott Lang/Ant-Man (archive audio)
*Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (archive audio)
*Chris Pratt as Peter Quill/Star-Lord (archive audio)
*Chris Hemsworth as Thor (archive audio)
*Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America (archive audio)
*Michael Douglas as Hank Pym (archive audio)
*Brie Larson as Carol Danvers (archive audio)
*Taika Waititi as Korg (archive audio)
*Pom Klementieff as Mantis (archive audio)
*Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier (archive audio)
*Benedict Cumberbatch as Stephen Strange/Doctor Strange (archive audio)
*Paul Bettany as Vision (archive audio)
*Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/Hulk (archive audio)
*Lou Ferrigno as Hulk (archive audio)
*Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury (archive audio)
*Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye (archive audio)
*Letitia Wright as Shuri (archive audio)
*Mads Mikkelsen as Kaecilius (archive audio)
*Richard E. Grant as Classic Loki (archive audio)
==Gallery==
==Trivia==
*Season 2 was announced on July 14, 2021, the day this episode premiered.
*He Who Remains, a Variant of Kang, appears in this episode. Kang appears as the villain of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
*In the comics, Kang and He Who Remains are separate characters. In the MCU, they are two versions of the same person.
**This is the second time where a hidden villain in the MCU show is a combination of characters who are separate in the comics (the first was Sharon Carter, who was combined with Power Broker).
*He Who Remains is the third hidden villain in an MCU Disney+ show, the first two being Agatha Harkness and Sharon Carter.
**He is also the first hidden villain of an MCU Disney+ show to be a male.
*In the comics, Ravonna is an alien princess and Kang's lover, but in the MCU she actually is a Variant of a human working for a Variant of Kang.
*"It's Been a Long, Long Time" is featured in the MCU for the third time. It was first heard in Captain America: The Winter Soldier when Fury is in Steve's apartment and again in Avengers: Endgame when Steve and Peggy share their dance.
*In several shots, the windows behind He Who Remains resemble Mickey Mouse.
*In the opening sequence, we hear several callbacks from previous movies, such as:
**It's Been a Long, Long Time was first heard in Captain America: The Winter Soldier when Fury was in Steve's apartment and again in Avengers: Endgame when Peggy and Steve share their dance.
**Iron Man's repulser is heard.
**Sam Wilson's quote "Way to go tic, tac!" to Scott Lang from Captain America: Civil War.
**Hope van Dyne's line "That's how you punch" to Scott Lang in Ant-Man.
**Hulk's roar is heard.
**Black Panther's battle cry, "Wakanda forever!" is heard from the first film and Avengers: Infinity War.
**Spider-Man's web-shooter is heard.
**Scott's quote, "You wouldn't have heard of me" to Sam Wilson in the first Ant-Man film.
**Natasha's quote "Let me put you on hold" to Phil Coulson in The Avengers film. 
**Star-Lord's quote, "Dance off, bro!" to Ronan the Accuser in the Guardians of the Galaxy film.
**Thor's quote "He's a friend from work!" from Thor: Ragnarok.
**Captain America's lines to himself "I can do this all day" "Yeah I know. I know". 
**A young Hank Pym is also heard.
**Captain Marvel's quote "Higher, further, faster baby" to Maria Rambeau in the Captain Marvel film.
**Loki's line to Thanos, "We have a Hulk" is heard from Avengers: Infinity War.
**Bucky Barnes' line. "Who the hell is Bucky?" to Captain America is heard from Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
**Peter Quill's line "I have part of a plan!" from the first Guardians of the Galaxy film is heard.
**Black Widow's line to Loki, "I have red in my ledger" from The Avengers film.
**Doctor Strange's quote, "I've come to bargain!" to Dormammu in the Doctor Strange film.
**Even Vision's line to Ultron, "I was born yesterday" is heard from Avengers: Age of Ultron.
**Hulk's line to Loki, "Puny God" is heard from The Avengers film.
**Nick Fury's speech "There was an idea" from The Avengers film.
**Hawkeye's line to Scarlet Witch "You are an Avenger" from the Avengers: Age of Ultron is heard.
**Loki's final words, "You will never be a god" from Avengers: Infinity War are heard.
**Banner's line "I'm always angry" from The Avengers film is heard.
**Baby Loki's cry from a flashback in the Thor film is heard. 
*Neal Armstrong's first words from the moon can be heard, "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind".
*Nelson Mandela's quote "We have fought for the right to experience speech" is heard when the galaxy is shown.
*According to the head writer of the series, Michael Waldron, at one point they had a fight scene planned with Loki and Sylvie against Miss Minutes in the Citadel. 
*There is a Wizard of Oz parallel when it shows a hall that looks similar to the scene in the film when everyone does a nervous walk to meet the wizard. 
*In the scene that shows Ravonna Renslayer as a teacher in the year 2018, a plaque on the wall shows her name to be Rebecca Tourminet, which was Ravonna's alias in the comics when she goes to the year 1903.
*He Who Remains mentions that one of his Variants is from the 31st century, which is also where Kang the Conqueror is from in the comics.
*Loki telling Sylvie that he doesn't want a throne and only wants her to be okay, indicates that she is his new "glorious purpose". This is something that was foreshadowed in the previous episode when the Loki Variants asked him if the reason he wanted to return to the TVA so badly is because he left his "glorious purpose" there and he replied "something like that", and later when he chooses to stay in the Void with her instead of returning to the TVA with Mobius.
*Sophia Di Martino explained that she doesn't know if Sylvie was aware that Loki would be sent to a different TVA when she pushed him through the Time Door. She says that Sylvie did this as a way of saving him, to get him out of the way so she can do what she needs to do, but also to keep him safe.
*According to Tom Hiddleston, Loki blames himself for what happened in the Citadel and will not stop searching for Sylvie in future events, because he is determined to set things right.
==References==
==External links==
*
*
*
Category:Loki episodes