Chaos. Shenanigans. Unpredictable. Self-centered.
What emotions do these words conjure up? It depends on your point of view but generally I get anxious when I read things talking about variance or change.
The Catholic Church teaches objective truth exists. An unchanging reality. God exists. Jesus Christ died and rose from the dead. The Holy Trinity is a communion of Three Divine Persons while remaining united as One God.
But in a practical sense life is messy and seemingly unpredictable. Change is a constant humans know. I see change at work all the time.
Order is important. As a father, I notice a change in behavior of my kids when their schedule gets thrown off. Spontaneous action leads to unexpected results. Anxiety sure. But also joy and wonderment.
The Disney+ show Loki tackles the issue of free will and destiny. Is the future predetermined? Is any individual truly free? What happened when a god of mischief (and unpredictability) meets an agency aiming to maintain order across all time?
Mischief Matters
Based on a character from Norse mythology, Loki is the god of mischief. Throughout the Avengers in the Marvel Cinematic Universe he switches between villain to anti-hero to hero.
Loki is also an adopted brother to Thor and he constantly feels like an outcast. This may be one of the motivations for his actions. Mischievous behavior (at least in kids) is a cry for help and desire for attention. The gods are just super-powered toddlers in adult bodies.
The show Loki does a great job in showing the viewers his perspective. Loki isn’t all bad. He has glimpses of goodness in his heart. Flashbacks to scenes of his adopted mother show how Loki truly does care and has the ability to love others.
The primary antagonists in this miniseries is a group called the Time Variance Authority. According to TVA agent Mobius M. Mobius, his agency is tasked with protecting the Sacred Timeline. Any variant individual who causes deviation in the timeline is pruned out of existence. This version of Loki technically isn’t “supposed” to exist. He escaped Avenger custody in 2012 and obtained the Tesseract. Mobius is interested in this version of Loki as a means to catch a more dangerous Loki variant. The god of mischief sees this as his new “glorious purpose” considering he learned of his death at the hands of Thanos.
The Path to the Future isn’t Fixed
Watching his death on a TVA tape of his life, Loki tacitly seeks to overcome this destiny. In the first Avengers film, the god of mischief sought to rule the Earth. At the time, Loki believed free will exists. He tells the humans in New York City, “It’s the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life’s joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity. You were made to be ruled.” When Mobius shows Loki this clip from his life, the adopted Asgardian explains, “choice breeds shame and uncertainty and regret. There’s a fork in every road, yet the wrong path always taken.”
A person in power usually seeks to control variance in the population. They want to create conformity under the guise it will bring peace and unity. However, Loki realizes the importance of freedom once he is not the one pulling the swings. The TVA seeks to maintain the “predetermined” timeline by destroying variants.
‘Loki’ demonstrates how the future isn’t predetermined. Individuals have a certain tendency towards good or evil and order or chaos. But life is about choices and oftentimes one decision can branch out to cause a ripple effect. Loki’s character development shows how even past mischief won’t predetermine the future.
Matt Chicoine
Matthew Chicoine is a free-lance writer, a life-long Catholic, and an avid truth seeker. He earned an M.A. in theology from the Franciscan University of Steubenville in 2014 and enjoys binge reading Tolkien, Chesterton, C.S. Lewis, Fulton Sheen and comic books. Visit his blog at https://thesimplecatholic.