Why The Song At The Beginning Of Loki Episode 3 Means More Than You Think
Contains spoilers for "Loki" Episode 3
"Loki" Episode 3 doesn't open the way that Marvel fans might expect it to. The episode picks up just a few moments before Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Mobius (Owen Wilson) arrive in the Roxxcart store where "Loki" Episode 2 ended, but it doesn't immediately reveal that. Instead, the latest installment of the "Loki" series on Disney+ technically begins in a margarita bar, where Hunter C-20 (Sasha Lane) is having drinks with Lady Loki a.k.a. Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino), the same person who "enchanted" and kidnapped her at the start of "Loki" Episode 2. The scene begins as if the two characters are longtime friends, with Sylvie telling the captured TVA agent a fun fact about the nature of brain freezes and, in particular, how they can (allegedly) affect our memories.
It becomes quickly apparent from there on that the margarita bar is nothing more than an illusion, as Sylvie begins to press C-20 for information about the TVA's founders, the Time Keepers. While the latter does her best to avoid answering Sylvie's questions, "Loki" Episode 3's opening prologue ultimately concludes with Hunter C-20 telling her how to find a set of elevators at the TVA base that could very well lead her to the Time Keepers themselves. It's an unexpected and interesting opening for the episode — one made all the weirder by the song that's playing in the background for most of the scene.
Loki Episode 3 opens with a very specific Hayley Kiyoko song
Before it even reveals the imaginary margarita bar where its opening scene takes place, "Loki" Episode 3 manages to throw all expectations out the window with its unique song choice. That is to say that, as an Electropop song plays over its opening credits, the episode immediately separates itself from most other Marvel TV shows and films. But the song doesn't just work as a way to kick "Loki" Episode 3 off on an interesting note, it also ties in thematically with both the scene it plays over and the Disney+ series as a whole.
The song in question is "Demons" by Hayley Kiyoko, and its lyrics add an interesting layer to the opening scene of "Loki" Episode 3. The song opens with the line "Please forgive me, I've got demons in my head," which is then repeated several times in its chorus. The lyrics in the song's verses and bridge go on to tie back into that line, as Kiyoko details what it feels like for a person to constantly battle with their personal demons ("Don't bother me, my misery / It's holding me, won't let me speak"). With that in mind, it's fitting that the song is used in an episode of "Loki," a show that is already so much about what happens when a character (Tom Hiddleston's Loki) is forced to come to terms with their own flaws and mistakes.
On a more surface level, the song's lyrics also work as a fun nod to the literal circumstances of the "Loki" Episode 3 opening scene, in which a being with a horned crown infiltrates another person's mind. Demons in the head, indeed.