Fresh off the phase-defining finale to “Loki” Season 1 (seriously, watch it if you want to understand Marvel’s Multiverse Saga), Season 2: Episode 1 has a lot to unpack, as well as give fans a little bit of a breather before throwing another hugely consequential arc at fans.

The Season 1 finale saw Loki (Tom Hiddleston) stuck in what looked like an alternate reality version of the Time Variance Authority, but S2E1 reveals that actually was transported back in time, when Kang the Conqueror was a little more transparent about his involvement. Loki “time slips” in this episode between the past, present and future, which serves as our main conflict (The TVA also debates whether or not to continue pruning timelines, but it’s almost an afterthought).

To fix him, Loki and Mobius (Owen Wilson) go to see Ouroboros (Ke Huy Quan), or “OB,” who is a TVA handyman. The TVA resides somewhere outside of space and time directly outside of the Sacred Timeline and its new branches, which becomes relevant because Mobius has to venture outside it in a spacesuit in order to fix Loki. Basically, Loki has to prune himself at a specific time and Mobius has to grab him before he is lost to time.

Most of this episode is Hiddleston and Wilson chewing the scenery, which is fine. After last season’s finale, viewers need a respite to get reoriented into this world and their dynamic is what makes this show work. Quan is a great addition, elevating an already strong cast.

The faction of the TVA that believes in pruning decides to go after Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino), so we’ll see where that goes. We also learn that in the future, she has something to do with the TVA’s demise.

This is a very decent first episode, but it’s nothing great. It’s mostly more of the same from an already strong show.

“Loki” Season 2: Episode 1 “Ouroboros” gets a 7.5/10