Spoilers ahead for the Season 1 finale of Loki, so now is the time to turn back if you haven't watched the episode yet!
The first season of Loki has come to an end, but the finale ultimately raised far more questions than it answered with massive implications not only for Season 2, but for the MCU as a whole moving forward. One unexpected twist came when Miss Minutes offered Loki and Sylvie a possible way out of their situation, and Miss Minutes even had a hand in Ravonna Renslayer's final big move of the finale that cast the adorable little digital assistant in a far more sinister light. Fortunately, Loki director Kate Herron spoke with CinemaBlend about how the season ended, and she dropped some intriguing details.
Miss Minutes zipped over to the Citadel from the TVA when Loki and Sylvie were on the verge of meeting He Who Remains for the first time, and she offered them pretty much everything they ever wanted, with an extra cherry or two on top about staying together. They obviously said no, and Miss Minutes seemingly had enough agency of her own to look pretty annoyed about it. CinemaBlend's Nick Venable spoke with Loki director Kate Herron and asked what she could say about Miss Minutes giving that extra option, and her reaction at being turned down:
Yeah, I'm so intrigued by her relationship with He Who Remains, and I love that there's like this sinister turn with her character. And I think we knew we wanted her to be a bit more sinister in Episode 6, so I couldn't resist the jump scare. It was like, we have to make it creepy, so let's just go for it. And I think that's the fun thing, right? She's almost like the devil on their shoulder being like, 'You can have exactly what you want.' I think that it was really fun in that we thought of her as this very sweet kind of good character, and it's like, oh, no, she's actually quite powerful and knows more than anyone at the TVA. So, yeah, I think that was kind of fun, really, and that moment was really meant to be a temptation and kind of show, you know, will Loki or Sylvie go for this? And they won't. I suppose in terms of the audience, it's like at that point, you don't know what's going to happen in that room upstairs and how they're going to be tempted again. So it's kind of almost like a starter to the main course
If Loki and Sylvie thought they hit the pinnacle of weird with Miss Minutes taking a sinister turn, they had another thing coming when they met He Who Remains. And she wasn't done complicating matters in the finale when she zipped away after the two Variants turned her offer down, as she went to Ravonna to deliver the files that she needed, with Ravonna seemingly catching on that something was off when Miss Minutes responded to her protest that they weren't the files she asked for by saying "but he thinks this'll be more useful."
Miss Minutes zipped back off again with a simple "Happy reading!" in response to Ravonna's question of who "he" is, which again showed some personality and agency that maybe she shouldn't have had as far as Ravonna knew. Unfortunately, the episode ended without showing exactly what the files were, although they affected Ravonna enough that she left the TVA abruptly despite previously maintaining that they had to keep doing their jobs. She's in search of free will, but what does that mean for her placement in the timeline? Kate Herron shared her insight:
Well, I think the cool thing that we can say is that they've clearly sparked something in her that she's like, 'The one who has power is the one in charge.' And we know she's been given something that's at least gonna lead her to answers, and I think that's the really beautiful thing with the performance that Gugu [Mbatha-Raw] did is that this is someone that's having like a crisis of faith. So I hope where she will go, we'll get answers. Like, why was she in that role? What was happening? And I think for her, it's just really like a kind of journey of, I guess, self-discovery she's about to go on.
Of all the times to head out on a journey of self-discovery, Ravonna just had to go ahead and pick when everything is falling apart! Her ending in Loki Season 1 is very much open, so there's every chance that she'll turn up again in another MCU project ahead of Loki Season 2, but only time will tell on that front. There are still plenty of layers to the first season worth examining, including how the big villain reveal of the finale was an unintentional reference to Se7en!
For now, you can always watch and rewatch the MCU content that has released so far courtesy of Disney+, and look forward to what comes next now that the Marvel movies are releasing after having to take 2020 off. For some viewing options set outside of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, check out our 2021 summer TV premiere schedule!
