thanks to my rewatch of Loki I’ve just been reminded how much I’m annoyed by (mostly) fellow Lokius shippers that insist Sylvie is problematic, abusive, toxic, rude to Loki and that she only used Loki for her own gain.
(And that’s coming from a person who also enjoys Lokius and I’m tired of fellow shippers pretending it’s not misogyny when it actually clearly is)
Are we really in any position to claim any of that when Mobius did the exact same if not even worse things to Loki?
Whether you want to acknowledge it or not, Loki was indeed used by him. The sole reason why Loki is alive, the sole reason why Mobius recruited Loki was for his own benefit. He needed to apprehend the variant that posed a threat to the stability of the multiverse and was eliminating their forces. Coming across Loki was a happy accident and in it, he saw the opportunity to finally capture that variant. Sure, he might have been fascinated by Loki’s nature and perhaps even harbored hopes that this partnership might work out for him even better than anticipated, but the main and primary reason why he even recruited him was to use him.
In fact, he explicitly stated in subsequent episodes that if Loki refused to cooperate, he wouldn't hesitate to prune him. He warned Loki that his survival hinged upon his willingness to comply.
He can be ruthless and manipulative to get what he wants and will not hesitate to take any means necessary to reach his goal. Mobius was not reluctant to strike at Loki's most vulnerable areas.
He’s smart enough to identify Loki’s weaknesses, and one of them is his affection for his mother. When he told him Loki killed his mother, while not entirely incorrect since Frigga’s death was an unintentional consequence of Loki’s actions, he aimed to shatter Loki emotionally and provoke a reaction. It's a classic tactic of emotional manipulation designed to coerce Loki into compliance.
He used a similar strategy in episode 4 where he deceived Loki, manipulated him into thinking that Sylvie, someone Mobius suspected Loki had grown close to, had been killed. Then, he proceeded to taunt Loki, who was visibly distressed by his lies, all in an effort to provoke a response from him.
The finale made it evident that Mobius lacks physical combat skills, rendering him incapable of directly engaging in fights. Therefore, to gain an advantage over Loki, Mobius relies on identifying his vulnerabilities and exploiting them.
He can use the TimeTwister for when Loki misbehaves and controls him like a dog, or, he can throw him in a memory loop cell, subjecting him to both verbal and physical abuse for an indeterminate period, so basically someone else does that job for him.
That action in particular is something I noticed a lot of you tend to ignore. At this point, Mobius and Loki had already formed a camaraderie. It might not have been a full-fledged friendship just yet, but they were clearly on their way to becoming friends. Mobius was hurt that Loki decided to stab him in the back and destroy his trust in him by doing the exact thing he shouldn’t - running off with the Variant, even if that was for a good cause.
For Loki, Mobius risked a great deal: his own job, the friendship and trust of Ravonna, the trust placed in him and even Ravonna by the Time Keepers, and possibly even his own life. He had enough faith in Loki to believe that Loki wouldn't betray him and run off at the first opportunity. And Loki betrayed that trust when he went after the mysterious Variant.
When Loki and Sylvie were captured by the TVA, it wasn’t jealousy that Loki had feelings for Sylvie that drove him (even though we like to headcanon that, we have to keep in mind Loki and Mobius’ relationship wasn’t written as romantic). Instead, it was his anger and resentment that stemmed from placing so much trust in Loki, only to have him do the very thing Mobius had believed he wouldn't.
Then, despite the fact that there was already some camaraderie between them, and despite the fact that Loki genuinely meant well, Mobius in his anger, completely dismissed the possibility of Loki being honest with him. He outright declared that he no longer needed Loki and, to make matters worse, he threw him into the Time Loop cell where he knew Loki would endure repeated instances of physical assault.
I know that some of you like to argue, “oh, well at least he didn’t choose a worse memory! He clearly cares about him then!” but honestly, that’s just very questionable and just....uh?
The reason Mobius selected that memory was because he knew Lady Sif would inflict repeated physical pain upon Loki and because of what Lady Sif says to him during that loop. She hurls insults at him, calling him a "conniving, craven, pathetic worm" and that he deserves to be alone for the rest of eternity.
Mobius made the conscious decision to throw Loki into the Time Loop cell, despite the budding friendship between them, despite the budding trust, despite everything that happened and was perfectly fine with that.
It wasn't because Mobius was manipulated by the TVA or forced to do this; he did it of his own accord. He chose to punish Loki and because he wanted to use him, break him to extract info out of him. Because he refused to believe Loki’s words.
I’m shocked that so many of you overlook that and pretend it didn’t happen, because as much as I love Mobius and their dynamic, what Mobius did in that particular episode alone was more severe than anything Sylvie did to Loki throughout the entire season.
In the span of a few minutes, Mobius:
- insulted Loki, called him an asshole, bad friend and compared him to a cockroach
- mocked his feelings to provoke him
- lied to him that someone Loki cared about had been killed, manipulating his emotions for a reaction
- despite Loki’s genuine intentions, he refused to listen to him
- he bluntly stated that Loki was no longer of any use to him
- he threw Loki into a place where he would endure physical, verbal, and emotional abuse, intentionally subjecting him to suffering
- through his actions, Mobius reinforced the idea that Loki deserves to be alone, (just as Loki was in the process of forming actual, meaningful relationships with at least two people; Mobius and Sylvie, Mobius goes and punishes Loki by reminding him he deserves to be alone)
- and despite all of that, he still expected Loki to provide him with information, meaning he did all of that because he still intended to use him for his own benefit
Eventually, Mobius did go on a bit of a personal investigation and discovered that Loki had been telling the truth. However, by the time he discovered the truth, the damage had already been done, and Loki had already been hurt.
In short, he made a conscious decision to hurt Loki in every way imaginable to get what he wanted.
The series showed that Mobius was aware that there was a possibility that Loki might be telling the truth. However, his anger, stubbornness and unwavering certainty in his own righteousness blinded him from considering the possibility that Loki could be right.
Again, I like Mobius very much and I like Lokius as well, but jesus christ guys, some of you need to take a step back from solely blaming Sylvie as the worst person ever when Mobius did the exact same things. If not even worse, because unlike Mobius, Sylvie at least never manipulated Loki into thinking his feelings were invalid, never claimed that his mother had died because of him, never tricked him into believing that someone he cared about had been murdered.
Sylvie never subjected Loki to a memory loop filled with continuous verbal insults reminding him that he is oh, just the worst and that he deserves the life of loneliness for the rest of eternity, all the while he also suffered physical pain.
You’re free to have personal preferences and to dislike a ship or a character, but for the love of Lord stop claiming Sylvie is abusive and toxic and what not, when our own ship is just as flawed if not even more flawed.
Sylvie did this, she did that, but where’s that same vitriol for Mobius? Why are you only coming after the woman? They both did bad shit that hurt Loki, but some of you only see Sylvie’s actions and pretend Mobius was nothing but supportive of Loki the entire time, which is wrong and disgusting. No, Mobius and Lokius is not better than Sylvie and Sylki and it’s time for some of you to accept that.
I like Mobius and I like Lokius but I’m tired of being called a misogynist because of some of you who cannot accept the fact that Mobius has committed and inflicted just as many (if not more) morally questionable things as Sylvie.
And the worst thing is that those who call this misogyny are actually right.
Mobius is a good, compelling character and will likely prove to be a good friend to Loki in Season 2, but he’s not innocent either. He can be manipulative. He can be horrible. He can be brutal to get what he wants. Yes, even to Loki.
Even Loki acknowledged that, so why can’t you?