Dear Loki

What started out as a tweet became a picture note and then it became this longer post that could only be accommodated here. I had to, because it seems like none of my friends are Marvel fans anymore and not being able to discuss sucks. I am a week late in finishing season 2 and it was nothing like I had expected! The persistent Marvel fan in me is finally rewarded with a cocktail of emotions after so long. A great storyline and an emotional relevance is something I'd been longing for from the MCU. Tom Hiddleston playing Loki is the best thing Marvel's got right now!

I would've never imagined that I'd fall so utterly, deeply and madly in love with that sneaky villain who had once stabbed Coulson and made us all very angry. Loki is nothing short of a Marvel masterpiece.

The child in me who has grown up watching these stories, ended up writing a letter.

Spoilers ahead.

Dear Loki,

Back in 2012, you commanded all humans to kneel before you and to give up their free will. But here You are, sacrificing your freedom in order to protect the free will of the entire multiverse.

While You walked the bridge, I clapped.

I stood up and clapped some more,

My eyes brimmed with tears and

My throat hurt from trying to hold them back.

At last we witnessed You in all your glory, sitting on your throne

Face to face with your glorious purpose,

But what you really wanted was to be with your people, and not alone.

A throne was the last thing you wanted, contrary to the younger you. Yet you chose the path to a lonely destination only to save your friends and all of humanity- all of us. My heart hurts with the thought of you sitting all alone, perhaps in great pain (you never really showed), but I am left feeling bittersweet as you found your true purpose, your true potential and are perhaps continuing to redeem yourself. But you've gone way past that brother.

When you told Thanos before dying in 2018 - "You'll never be a God" it gave us all hope and a momentary glimpse into your realization of what being God truly meant. After Endgame I had hoped for Tony Stark to return and somewhere deep down I hoped for the goodness in you to get a second chance. We mourned your loss along with others, but thank God, you came back or should I say thank you , You came back. You returned and enchanted us with your charm and your ability to choose good over evil, to be selfless and to sacrifice. A second chance like I could have never imagined! Bless Mobius. You became the hero that we needed and also the hero that we deserved (hah).

This is the most satisfying journey of a character I've witnessed in the MCU, so thank you! From God of Mischief to a protecting God (of the Multiverse)- literally holding all of time together, I wonder if You're the most powerful in the MCU right now?

Is the Time Stone green because of you?

I hope some day you are freed from this burden and you return to your friends and to your brother. I hope the sun finally shines upon you all. If only someone could tell Thor about you, he'd be so proud!

Till then I'm making peace with this beautiful interpretation by Tree Tunnel Productions -

I Love you Loki Laufeyson (and Tom Hiddleston)!

You're the best!

Love,

Megha Ray

India, Earth 616.

A special mention to the makers and everyone behind the scenes, as well as the soundtrack and costumes. The music, CGI and costume at the end felt so correct, so humbling. The humility that Loki now has after this self-altering journey shows in his final look as God. What brilliant work from everyone in the team! What writing, what conviction and what attention to detail! I could go on and on but I must stop. I do have some questions about Kang, Renslayer, Miss Minutes, Victor Timely and time in MCU itself, but more on that later. Anyway, nothing changes how Loki made me feel so no one can take that.

What a guy! What an arc! What a journey and WHAT A SHOW!

Tom Hiddleston is a great actor. Whatever he does, comes from an honest place and that shows in his work. He made sure he carried the weight of his entire journey until the end. His eyes say it all in that last shot.

These two tweets precisely show what I mean by a full circle...

This post would be incomplete without a special mention to Owen Wilson for making Mobius as lovable as Loki himself in such a short time. He was excellent and was the life of TVA. Him and Hiddleston delivered the best chemistry in the show and that has been one of the major highlights of Loki since season 1. His final dialogues at TVA and as he watches his life also gave me the chills. So much packed in those expressive eyes and his voice in whispers.

Here is what I am taking back -

If at all you have free will, it does not matter if you are wired to be mischievous. Mischief in itself is not evil. A given trait, in itself, is not evil. It is how one chooses to implement these traits in reality. Loki used his tricks numerous times for wrongdoings in the past but he became someone who used his tricks on He Who Remains to overpower him, not for selfish reasons but to save lives in the best way he could. He let go of his personal interests and bore the weight of his responsibilities. No one could do the good that he could, so he made that his responsibility and did it, despite the sacrifice. That is what it takes to be a hero. I'm sorry. My bad. That is what it takes to be a God.

Pc : Disney+

P.S. Yeah I know I wrote a letter to a fictional character who will never read it, but love knows no bounds. With greatness he did it all - villain, anti-hero and hero.

Marvel made its masterpiece.