Enslaved existence NEXUS reflection time
——After watching the fourth episode of "Rocky"
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The fourth episode of "Rocky" continues to create suspense. This way of telling the story is not very friendly to the audience. In my opinion, the problem isn't how fast the story unfolds, it's that too many important cues are overlooked. So much so that the performance of the story is confusing. In terms of the theme of the story, the screenwriter's portrayal of "anti-oppression" is also too strange, it can be said that it is forcibly related. Many viewers have a tendency to over-speculate with Loki, as they did with WandaVision. Many people fall into the "Mephisto complex". Whether or not "Rocky" can solve its current problems will depend on the performance of the last two episodes.
1] What is the timeline? Or a parallel universe?
The fourth episode opens with a childhood female Loki, and ends with four Loki who look like another world. It feels to me that they are from parallel universes, not from different variations of the timeline. But the plot of "Rocky Runs" has always been limited by timeline differences. A timeline always takes place in a universe, but how to explain the individual differences among the Loki?
If the protagonist Loki and the female Loki belong to the same timeline, how can the difference in their memory be explained? The two Loki never seemed to be curious about how the other got here, and the two of them asked and answered casually, and then it didn't matter. At the beginning of the fourth episode, it only tells that the little girl Loki was captured by the Time Variation Administration, but did not explain the reason for the arrest, or even the time. The basic elements of the narrative can be omitted at will, and it is no wonder that the audience will "over-guess". Even if it's just a way to create suspense, it's a bit too much to do it by covering up the essential elements of the story.
Take a look at "Crisis on Infinite Earths" in the DC Arrow universe and at least lay out the basic elements of the story. The Earth to which most of the characters in DC Films and TV belong are numbered and clearly displayed. Whether the characters the Flash deals with are from his own timeline or from a parallel universe, it's all clear. Timelines and parallel universes cannot be confused.
From a possibility point of view, if ignoring the time and reason of the incident is not the negligence of the screenwriter and director, then the reason may be that the incident in which the female Loki became a time criminal is a fictional memory. This memory of the female inquisitor may have been fabricated to inspire her hunt for time criminals, or something. If it is reversed by a similar plot, then it seems to make sense.
2) The routine of "Rocky"
The most common speculation about Loki is that the villain is Kang the Conqueror, and that the Time Variation Authority is a place housed in the quantum realm. There is also speculation that the ultimate villain is the future Loki. But these are not important, the important thing is that "Rocky" at least tells the story smoothly. For viewers who have watched too many time-space mutation films and TV works, the ending of "Rocky" will not be too surprising. A routine has been formed.
Do yourself a favor, chase and kill yourself, this kind of routine doesn't seem to make much sense for character development. Maybe "Loki" will be like "Deadly ID"? Also formed a routine. A story similar to the fourth season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is also good. There are also all kinds of character battles: aliens, androids, mages or demigods (Ghost Rider barely counts)…
Loki in "Avengers 1" said it well: the desire to pursue freedom robs you of the joy of life. Similarly, the desire to guess where the story is going robs you of the pleasure of watching a show. In your pursuit of "God's prediction", you fantasize about the power to control the plot. We should obey the screenwriter's arrangement and be enslaved by routines.
3) NEXUS events and the universe structure of the MCU
The title of Loki's fourth episode is "A Nexus Incident". This isn't the first time the MCU has spoken about nexus-like events, but it should be the first vaguely mention of such a thing in the MCU. A Nexus event is a relational event and an intersection event, an event in which domains with different boundaries are connected.
In "Rocky", the bifurcation of the timeline is due to the Nexus point on the timeline. Earlier, in "Wanda Vision", it was mentioned that Wanda is a Nexus being (nexus being). Because she is marked by the ancient demon king, she can connect beings of different dimensions. Wanda will appear in "Doctor Strange 2", in fact, the Dormammu invasion event in "Doctor Strange 1" is also a Nexus event.
These are two different NEXUS events, those related to the timeline are the NEXUS events of the timeline, and those related to the dimension are the NEXUS events of the dimension. In the MCU story, the earliest Nexus event seems to be the nine-domain convergence event of "Thor 2". At that time, when the dark elves wanted to gather in the nine realms, they used the Reality Gem (Ether) to return the world to darkness.
Each NEXUS corresponds to a feature of the MCU's universe structure. The MCU's cosmic structure includes the regular space-time realms (parallel universes, timelines, quantum realms), dimensional realms derived from Christian culture and its variants (where time loses meaning), and realms derived from polytheistic cultures (currently What appears is the "world tree" of Norse mythology). The MCU's cosmic structure is a mixed bag due to the synthesis of modern science fiction and different mythological fantasies.
4] Nujia, what are you resisting?
"Rocky" has built TVA into an authoritarian organization from the start. Many people saw the shadow of "1984" in it. The Time Keepers are made to resemble Big Brother. TVA has become a repressive organization that uses lies to create truth. Some people also think of "The Wizard of Oz", the time guardian is like the great magician of Oz, he is a liar.
Americans reading "1984" seems to be like our Chinese students reading Lu Xun's literary works, which is a part of "compulsory education" and a part of civic fantasy. Can you shape an organization according to the atmosphere of "1984", and you can acquiesce that it should be overthrown? Can people really gain a sense of dominance by reading those literary works? Of course it's not enough.
So, in the fourth episode of "Rocky", the female Loki says this strange thing: the universe wants to be free, so it creates chaos.
Could it be that order has become the default crime? Then let the chaos and freedom come more violently, the timeline is divided at will, so the destruction is good, and no maintenance is required. However, the MCU's S.H.I.E.L.D. is also a bureaucratic organization, and it is also opaque, hierarchical, and requires lies.
In "Rocky", the female Loki who was inexplicably taken away from her childhood, said such words, in line with her experience. She has been in chaos and has been in the process of resisting.
Of course, from a viewing standpoint, we can't expect to be judged by right or wrong, but by "interesting". That seems to be the case for Loki. People often find common ground in the actions and motivations of villains. People are likely to applaud it with the knowledge that it won't work, or even absurd. In other words, many people actually like to lie to make themselves happy.
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