'Loki' web series episode 3 review: A hopeless crusade?

Well, it might have taken 3 episodes, but we finally have a name for our murderous female Loki variant: Sylvie. But that is, by far, the biggest revelation in an episode that delves a bit deeper into Loki's psyche, using a post-apocalyptic dying planet as its backdrop.

There's a lot to unravel with our God of Mischief, and Loki is doing a fantastic job of making this villain/anti-hero type character into something a lot more layered, especially since this one knows that he will eventually die at Thanos' hand.

What is mysterious is Sylvie. For all intents and purposes, she is effectively a female Loki (yes, Loki is genderfluid in the comics, he just never took on a female form in the mainline MCU movies) who is on an apparent crusade against the mysterious Time Keepers for an as-yet unrevealed reason. Last episode, she bombarded the entire so-called Sacred Timeline, though the ramifications of this are yet unknown.

As for this episode, Loki and Sylvie find themselves going into the TVA, and onto the apocalyptic dying moon Lamentis after a brief scuffle. From there, the two, ever at each other's throats (though Loki all the more curious about his remarkably indifferent other self), are forced to work together to get power so they can escape this apocalypse.

Tom Hiddleston and Sophia Di Martino really get to shine in this episode, though technically it's Martino's first time getting any proper screen time so far. They have an odd sort of melding of characters that's both natural and rather strange at times, given that they're both essentially the same person. Despite that, there are enough distinctions between the two that they can both stand on their own strengths, though Sylvie does need (and likely will get) a fair bit more digging into as to her reasons for her crusade against the TVA.

Speaking of which, the episode also has a remarkably potent and possibly world-altering revelation with regards to the TVA, which we won't go into for the sake of spoilers. Suffice to say however, that should Loki and Sylvie find themselves managing to escape from this predicament of imminent death that they find themselves in, it will bring into question everything that has happened so far, and what is likely to happen in the future.

With each episode, Loki manages to rouse ever more curiosity about this new universe Marvel is diving into, and with half the season left to go, one can only wonder where it will all lead into.