As usual, in case you're short on time but want the low-down on Loki:

We begin with the usual Previously On segment, in which we are reminded of the significant plot points that will affect this finale:

1. Loki was born to cause pain and suffering and death - Mobius

2. Mobius - "For all time." Ravonna Renslayer - "Always." Title drop!

3. The Time-Keepers not being "real" changes it all - Hunter B-15

4. Sylvie pruned herself (not knowing but assuming that it wasn't dying)

5. Classic Loki created a classic illusion to distract Alioth the guard dog

As the all-too-familiar Marvel Studios flipbook opening sequence begins, we hear some of the favorite one-liners from across the MCU:

1. Way to go, Tic-Tac: Sam / Falcon / Captain America v2.0 (Civil War)

2. That's how you punch: Hope van Dyne / The Wasp v2.0 (Ant-Man)

3. Wakanda forever: RIP, Chadwick Boseman (Black Panther)

4. You haven't heard of me: Scott Lang / Ant-Man v2.0 (Ant-Man)

5. Dance-off, bro: Peter Quill / Star-Lord (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1)

6. A friend from work: Thor Odinson (Thor: Ragnarok)

7. I can do this all day: Steve Rogers / Captain America (all over MCU)

8. I'll show you ferocity: Hank Pym / Ant-Man (Ant-Man)

9. Higher, further, faster, baby: Carol Denvers / Captain Marvel (CM)

10. We have a Hulk: Loki Laufeyson Odinson (Avengers: Infinity War)

11. We're gonna jump on that spaceship and get outta here, wanna come? : Korg (the inimitable Taika Waititi) (Thor: Ragnarok)

The ensuing babble of many other dialogues will need careful listening to discern other moments, memorable or otherwise, referenced here.

Next begins a tour of the Earth-616 universe, recapping nice people saying nice things that are meant to restore our faith in humanity (?).

1. We think of time as a one-way motion: too generic to be attributed

2. One small step for (a) man...: Neil Armstrong (first man on the moon)

3. How dare they: Greta Thunberg (watch this video if you're so inclined)

4. My dream...: Malala Yousufzai (youngest Nobel Peace Prize awardee)

5. We have fought for the right to experience peace: Nelson Mandela

(There is a barely-audible snippet of a Bollywood / Punjabi song, too! INDIA!)

1. Glorious purpose: Loki (and we now flip-flop between universes)

2. Motivated by women throughout the world (which one, may I ask?)

3. What is grief, if not love persevering: Vision (WandaVision)

4. I will rise: Maya Angelou (American poet and civil rights activist)

5. Open your eyes: Sylvie (Loki - check out all the episodes right here)

And so we arrive at a misshapen fragment of rock in the middle of these swirling timelines, crowned by a derelict mansion made of stone, to which we walk along with Sylvie and Loki, reaching a bad black door.

A few terse moments which aren't exactly a heart-to-heart (but close enough) between the two Lokis, and they enter the mansion's caverns.

A virtual fragment appears before them, speaking in a Southern drawl (Tara Strong, delivering as flawless a performance as ever as Miss Minutes), startling them and luring them with all they've ever wanted.

They resist temptation as heroes are wont to, and Miss Minutes returns to Ravonna Renslayer, giving her some virtual files to read, sent by "him" - that is, He Who Remains, who apparently controls all the time flows.

Back in the Citadel at the End of Time, Sylvie and Loki meet He Who Remains, played by Jonathan Majors of Lovecraft County fame, and who will appear as Kang the Conquerer in Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania. Check out my short & sweet recap of Marvel Phase 4 here.

Mobius goes back to the Time Variance Authority offices - it's a pity we didn't get to see much of the astounding city (which is in the Quantum Realm of the Marvel Cinematic Universe), but there's time enough, yet.

Hunter B-15 leads Hunter U-92 to Fremont, Ohio in 2018, where the original version of Ravonna Renslayer is a headmistress/principal.

There's a lot of back and forth between He Who Remains / Kang the Conqueror (he mentions it as one of the names he has been dubbed) and between Mobius and Ravonna. Ravonna beats up Mobius and goes in search of free will, carrying a pruning stick and a briefcase of papers.

Kang explains how his variants across universes (or as he calls them, realities) started to fight to reign supreme, and so he called an audible.

He used Alioth, a creature "created from all the tears in reality, capable of consuming time and space itself" to end the Multiversal War caused by his variants. Then, he created the TVA to maintain the "Sacred Timeline" so that his (or other) variants would not cause another war.

He says he's older than he looks, and man is he right - Jonathan Majors is just 31! His life story surely reinforces my faith in there being fame in my future - I just have to persevere and Never Give In - my school motto.

After lots of exposition, Loki and Sylvie have a sword fight but kiss and make up, after which Sylvie sends Loki back to the TVA and kills Kang.

He winks and says "I'll see you soon," meaning what he warned was true.

Back at the TVA, Mobius and B-15 watch the timeline become a vine. Loki sits in despair, then comes to a decision and finds Mobius. But Mobius doesn't remember him at all, and Loki sees that the TVA is dictated in this timeline by Kang the Conqueror, not the Time-Keepers!

Loki will return in Season 2, so that's going to be an awesomax series.