DISCLAIMER: This recap of Loki Season 2 Episode 3, “1893,” contains spoilers. Proceed at your peril.
Welcome back, TVA agents and variants! We’re halfway through Season 2, and it’s a blast so far. I’m digging it. “1893” is gorgeous from an aesthetic standpoint. The production values are top-tier. We finally see a Kang variant in this episode, along with the return of Ravonna Renslayer and Miss Minutes. Listen, Miss Minutes is not to be trifled with. She’s formidable and downright terrifying. I’ve underestimated her as a power player.
“1893” proves that Marvel needs to take more chances on out-of-the-box material. It’s magical, darkly whimsical and an immersive ride. Less outright superhero-y stuff, more Loki-esque shows.
Ready to delve into “1893”? Let’s get to it.
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We open with Ravonna Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) arriving in Chicago, Illinois, in 1868 — the Sacred Timeline. She meets Miss Minutes (voiced by Tara Strong) in a barn. Miss Minutes reveals they must place a package in a window of a home across the way. This was a plan implemented by He Who Remains before Sylvie killed him. After Ravonna carries this out as instructed, we see a young Black boy scoop up said package. He discovers it’s a copy of O.B.’s TVA Guidebook. Hmm…
At the TVA, O.B. (Ke Huy Quan), Loki (Tom Hiddleston), Mobius (Owen Wilson), Hunter B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku) and Casey (Eugene Cordero) are attempting to remedy the Temporal Loom crisis. O.B. informs the group that Dox’s pruned branches have resprouted, and the Temporal Loom wasn’t designed to contain so many timelines. They need the temporal aura of someone who created the TVA. Besides He Who Remains, Miss Minutes has access to everything in the organization. She could fix this.
Loki and Mobius decide to hunt down that damn cartoon clock. They follow the ping on Ravonna’s TemPad, which revealed the latter’s location in last week’s episode. They wind up in 1893 Chicago, but neither Ravonna nor Miss Minutes are anywhere to be found. Then, our fave besties arrive in a branched timeline of 1893 Chicago. They’re at a fair. Mobius grabs a newspaper, which boasts Miss Minutes on the front page. She’s called the “Ghost Clock.” Our MM has kept busy terrorizing Chicago’s residents.
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After taking a breather to enjoy everything the fair offers (including but not limited to Cracker Jack popcorn), our fellas spot signage for “Victor Timely’s Astounding Temporal Marvels.” Surely Ravonna will be there? They pop into a theater where, right on cue, Ravonna makes her entrance. Loki and Mobius watch Victor Timely take to the stage for his show. We see it’s none other than a variant of Kang the Conqueror/He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors). Victor introduces his prototype for the TVA’s Temporal Loom, revealing he plans to build a device that powers and lights the planet. Majors is a commanding presence in this outing. He’s compelling as all get-out.
Later, once the show concludes, Loki and Mobius try to get Victor’s attention. They need him to accompany them to the TVA so he can fix the Temporal Loom. Otherwise, the TVA will collapse, and everyone there will die. Unfortunately, Ravonna gets to him first. Loki gets into a disagreement with one cantankerous fellow. Instead of waiting for the spat to turn physical, Loki utilizes magic to transport the man to a cage outside. Voilà.
Next, Loki, Mobius and Ravonna bicker over who gets to hang with ole Victor. Loki and Mobius temporarily triumph, whisking Victor away. At the TVA, B-15 confirms they can use Victor’s temporal aura to solve the Temporal Loom problem. Suddenly, Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) appears. She’s hellbent on exacting revenge. Loki pushes Victor into a Ferris wheel, but Sylvie tags along. As the ride spins, Loki keeps Sylvie at bat while protecting Victor, who’s terrified.
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Sylvie wants to kill Victor because Ravonna and Miss Minutes gave him the TVA Guidebook, meaning he’ll become He Who Remains, who creates the TVA. She hopes to prevent that from occurring. Loki asserts they need Victor to save the TVA. If he doesn’t, the whole of time will be in more peril than it already is. At one point, Sylvie and Loki shoot green beams of energy at each other simultaneously, knocking them back in opposite directions. This gives Ravonna enough time to swoop in on Victor.
Then, Victor takes Ravonna to his home. He formally meets Miss Minutes. Victor tries to woo Ravonna, and there’s some light flirtation occurring on her end, too. The ladies proceed to give Victor a crash course on all things TVA/He Who Remains. Victor takes it in stride. Side note: I love that he refers to Mobius as Loki’s “butler.”
Later, Victor urges Ravonna and Miss Minutes to accompany him to his lab, as the room they’re in isn’t his real home. Loki and Mobius spot him fleeing but don’t catch him in time. Our trio catches a boat that will transport them to Victor’s lab. Victor and Ravonna chat. Victor reveals a few inventions he’s been working on and how O.B.’s manual has been critical in that regard. For starters, he already knew the words “Time Variance Authority” before Loki and the others arrived. He’s in the process of perfecting a throughput multiplier.
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Ravonna mentions how she has high hopes for their “partnership.” During this conversation, Miss Minutes looks increasingly annoyed with Ravonna. She’s one salty cartoon clock. While Ravonna sleeps in a lifeboat, Miss Minutes persuades Victor to cut the ropes, sending Ravonna into the waters below. As she rows away, Miss Minutes tells Victor he had to cut her loose, so to speak, because she called their bond a “partnership.” How dare Ravonna friendzone him!
When Victor and Miss Minutes arrive at the former’s lab, our devious cartoon clock reminds him of what they’ll do in the future. Miss Minutes knows He Who Remains better than anyone. She marvels at his inventions while asking why he never gave her a real body. She hovers over a cluster of mannequins before throwing herself into one. Her face appears plastered over one mannequin’s blank visage. It’s creepy. Flustered, Victor hits a button on a device that makes Miss Minutes vanish as she’s about to say those three words. You know the ones.
Suddenly, Ravonna emerges from the shadows, armed with Victor’s prototype for the TVA time stick. She brandishes it, threatening to use it. In reality, she works for He Who Remains, not him. She’s here on a mission for HWR. Loki and Mobius arrive in time. Mobius tries to talk Ravonna out of pruning Victor. Ravonna reminds Mobius of everything she did for the TVA and him. She represents “order.” Not to be outdone, Sylvie barges into the shop, blasting Ravonna and Victor across the room.
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She storms toward Victor with her magical machete. Victor pleads with her, claiming she’s not the man she wants to kill. He isn’t He Who Remains. He can make his own decisions. Majors gives a beautifully understated, tender performance here. Sylvie, who looks like she might burst into tears, lowers her machete. She warns Loki not to make her regret sparing him. Loki and Mobius leave Ravonna to Sylvie while they usher Victor through a time door.
Sylvie confronts Ravonna. Ravonna encourages Sylvie to kill her and get it over with. However, Sylvie claims she’s slaughtered Ravonna hundreds of times in her imagination, each killing more brutal than the last. Instead, she materializes a time door and shoves Ravonna through it. We see Ravonna arrive in the Citadel at the End of Time. She spots He Who Remains’ corpse, right where Sylvie killed him. He’s decaying. The Sacred Timeline splinters above him.
Miss Minutes reappears alongside Ravonna. She doesn’t like that Ravonna tried to seize the reins in Chicago. After all, Miss Minutes was the one who ordered Ravonna to leave the TVA Guidebook for Victor to find. Miss Minutes claims she knows everyone’s secrets, including Ravonna’s. She knows a significant, life-altering secret belonging to Ravonna. Does Ravonna want to know what it is? I suppose we’ll have to find out next week…
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Can Victor save the TVA by fixing the Temporal Loom? What dirt does Miss Minutes have on Ravonna? Why didn’t we get at least 30 extra minutes of Loki and Mobius enjoying the fair? Only time (and three more episodes) will tell.
Loki drops new episodes every Thursday at 9 pm EST/6 pm PST, only on Disney+.
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What I do: I'm GGA's Managing Editor, a Senior Contributor, and Press Coordinator. I manage, contribute, and coordinate. Sometimes all at once. Joking aside, I oversee day-to-day operations for GGA, write, edit, and assess interview opportunities/press events.
Who I am: Before moving to Los Angeles after studying theater in college, I was born and raised in Amish country, Ohio. No, I am not Amish, even if I sometimes sport a modest bonnet.
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