The Loki Series was Actually Good and Here’s Why

Written by Beatrice Galvan

The first season of Loki aired almost a year ago but I’m still seeing hot takes and a lot of mixed reactions. With online content picking back up on the Unfiltered website and with being a huge Loki fan myself it was only right that I hop on and write my own thoughts about the series– I’ve been dying to share my thoughts! (better late than never, right?) Though reactions have been mixed I believe a vast majority of negative reactions towards the Loki series that I’ve been seeing on social media come from a very clear misunderstanding and misconception of the character entirely. 

Let’s begin, whether you like the show or not, to make the argument: Loki’s action throughout the entire series is “out of character” or that he has had zero growth is just entirely not true. When seeing “hot takes” like this it is just very clear that a lot of the misunderstanding of this character is due to confusion over what is headcanon/fanfiction and what is actually canon or true in the actual MCU.

Loki was never tortured nor was he ever brainwashed by Thanos, that is simply just a headcanon from Tumblr that has been interpreted by many fans as being the cold hard truth. However, Marvel’s official character description of Loki on Marvel.com states:

Arriving at the Sanctuary through a wormhole caused by the Bifrost, Loki met the Other, ruler of the ancient race of extraterrestrials the Chitauri, and Thanos. Offering the God of Mischief dominion over his brother’s favorite realm Earth, Thanos requested the Tesseract in return. Gifted with a Scepter that acted as a mind-control device, Loki would be able to influence others. Unbeknownst to him, the Scepter was also influencing him, fueling his hatred over his brother Thor and the inhabitants of Earth.

This debunks all the theories of Loki’s torture/brainwashing fans have speculated. Though, this does prove that Loki’s actions/feelings in Avengers (2012) were amplified by the mind stone. With the mind stone purely just existing in Loki’s scepter, it exacerbated the anger and resentment that were already present deep inside Loki. It was sort of a Frodo and the ring moment– Loki did have this anger and resentment, but it might not have gone as far as the events in New York in Avengers (2012) without the manipulation of the mind stone; and although Thanos did not outright mind-control or torture Loki, he did take advantage of his anger and jealousy of Thor by offering him Thor’s favorite world to conquer. That is why Avengers (2012) Loki appears eviler than in any of the other films. 

Despite Loki’s actions (though some were very extreme), everything he’s ever done in these films has been in pursuit of love and acceptance. In the first Thor movie, Loki outright tells Thor “I never wanted the throne, I only ever wanted to be seen as your equal.” Despite his jealousy/envy of his brother he still very much loves him, and when given the choice to do the right thing he does it (or definitely tries to). Ever since Loki found out he was adopted and told by Odin his “birthright was to die,” everything Loki had done from that moment on was for external validation and appreciation– to be told he was finally worthy by someone– anyone– because he knew he would never get that from his father. If Odin would have been even just a half-decent dad Loki would have never teamed up with Thanos or even stepped foot on earth.

Despite what many people believed was a “pointless show,” was actually an in-depth character study of Loki. This poor God of Mischief was in constant search of love and acceptance by acting out. He was always under the shadow of Thor so he made it his lifelong duty to do things with the intent to be different. He strived for individuality. The show took a character who constantly escalated every single situation he was ever in, and who went to the extreme simply just to receive any kind of attention he can get his hands on and flat out told him not only are you not the main character but nothing you have ever done was of your own will. And without all those things, what does that make Loki? Throughout the entire series Loki was faced with the question, “What makes a Loki?” and Loki himself could not even answer that question forthright.

This show is about Loki's search for radical self-acceptance. He always wanted to be the hero and every single decision he made in the show absolutely makes sense to his character. Loki has always defined himself by how others saw him but has learned that there is something bigger than himself, the TVA. An association designed to create the fate of each living thing throughout all universes, they create the fate of even someone as powerful as a God like Loki.

A few arguments I’ve seen on social media are “they never explored his bisexuality/gender fluidity” or “Loki’s Joten heritage is not explored.” In all honesty, Loki’s Joten heritage, sexual orientation, and even gender identity have nothing to do with the storyline, at hand. It does not further the plot of the show, therefore, it is just not needed. Because bottom line, regardless of those factors, he is still a variant. Being a queer woman, myself, I understand the need for representation in the media, but I personally liked how subtle Loki’s coming-out scene was. Without them creating a big deal, it shows it as something normal. With that being said, Loki is a shapeshifter, therefore he is fluid and changeable. Loki’s relationship with gender goes beyond just “identity” and into the realm of magic and wisdom. Things like gender and sexuality are perceived differently in Asgard (and Norse Mythology) than it is in our own realm so of course, a Norse God would not go through the same internal struggle that an ordinary human on earth would go through. Moving on, the people that complain about not seeing any background of Loki’s Joten heritage, which makes the show “shallow” just sound contradicting and obviously didn’t understand the reason for the series. The Loki series is a very introspective character study that prioritized the character development and future of Loki rather than sulking on his background exposition. Therefore we don’t really need to know anything about his Joten heritage. Besides, Loki may have been born in Jotenheim but he was raised in Asgard. Loki perceives himself as an Asgardian so constantly bringing up his Joten heritage totally discredits his position as an Asgardian. 

Now, I do understand some fans’ anger about the show, many people had high expectations and wanted to have a better understanding of their favorite God of Mischief. However, this is barely season 1, the groundwork was just laid so if Loki did have any sort of struggle with his gender, sexual orientation, or Joten heritage there is still plenty of time for those attributes to be explored in the coming seasons of Loki; but for the time being, it just would not fit into the plot of season 1. 

With all that being said, I did like the Loki Series– however, I disliked the romantic relationship between Loki and Sylvie. I tried thinking about it level-headedly– perhaps the romantic relationship could be seen as a metaphor for Loki finally gaining self-love and acceptance of himself since they are the same person. But after seeing Spider-Man: No Way Home and hearing Andrew Garfield’s Spider-man calling the other Peters brothers, the love between Loki and Sylvie just felt borderline incestuous. On top of that, the romance between Loki and Sylvie just seemed forced, we didn’t need it, it was just another unnecessary love story thrown into media, in my opinion. Despite that, I believe the show was fantastic, and everything done showed great character development for Loki– I believe Kate Herron planted a nice solid foundation for the show to continue to flourish and bloom.  It is only 1 season in so I cannot wait for what is in store for the coming seasons.