Why Mobius Didn't Believe Loki's Con In Episode 2

Warning: SPOILERS for Loki episode 2, "The Variant."

Early on in Loki episode 2, the God of Mischief attempted to double-cross the TVA on his first field mission, but, unfortunately for him, Mobius M. Mobius didn't fall for his con. The premiere episode of the ongoing Marvel Studios series primarily established the premise of the show, and by its end, Loki agreed to partner up with the TVA in order to hunt down a more evil variant of himself who's been leaving dead Minutemen in her wake. But just because the Asgardian prince signed up for the job doesn't mean he'll cooperate easily.

The latest episode of Loki, titled "The Variant," officially put the titular character to work. With Mobius banking on his input regarding the case of his rogue variant, Loki joined the TVA team to inspect the latest incident caused by the variant, who was later revealed to be Lady Loki. Their investigation took them to a Renaissance fair in Oshkosh, Wisconsin in the year 1985. With several of their agents down and Hunter C-20 abducted, the squad attempted to investigate the situation until Loki offered his input. Hunter B-15 was dismissive, but given Mobius's faith in Loki, the TVA analyst let him speak. There, the God of Mischief held court with an elaborate read of the crime scene. For a moment, everyone was intent on listening to what he had to say until Mobius called his bluff and gave the go-ahead to reset the timeline.

Mobius being able to detect Loki's con was impressive, but how did he do it? As a master manipulator, Loki sold his lie effectively. Starting off with a saying they have on Asgard, he asserted the evil variant was setting them up for a trap. It was a believable false narrative, especially since the ruse he described is something he himself would pull off in a different situation. But, as established in the show, the TVA analyst is an expert on the trickster. Aside from being the lead analyst assigned to catch the Lady Loki variant, there has been a string of other Lokis who have deviated from the Sacred Timeline. As the analyst who specializes in handling dangerous variants, Mobius had investigated and caught most, if not all of them. Given this, he knows that it's always best to keep his guard up when dealing with the trickster, and he's become something of a psychological expert on Loki by now. As Mobius said after catching onto the God of Mischief's con, his ears are sharp, too.

However, Loki's failure to trick the TVA wasn't simply because of Mobius' expertise; the Asgardian is also partly to blame for this. When he began talking about the fake scheme of Lady Loki, his story was believable. It fits the M.O. of the character. But as he often does, he went too far and oversold the idea. He overplayed his hand when he started wheedling Mobius for a meeting with the Time-Keepers. Pushing it even further, Loki added it was necessary for him to meet the Time-Keepers because the cosmic manipulators were "in graver danger than they realize." This was the major red flag for Mobius and what gave Loki away. It's uncharacteristic for Loki to openly care this much about anyone, let alone the Time-Keepers, whom he had mocked repeatedly. If anything, this was a tell that Loki was merely scheming to gain something for himself.

Learning that his bluff got Mobius in trouble seemingly resulted in some remorse from Loki. From that point on, he started working in earnest, figuring out a way to track down Lady Loki. He succeeded, correctly predicting where she'd be hiding. Unfortunately, at the end of the Loki episode, it appeared the God of Mischief had betrayed Mobius and the TVA again after he followed his evil Lady Loki variant through the time portal.

More: Loki: Every MCU Easter Egg In Episode 2

Loki releases new episodes every Wednesday on Disney+