I'm not sure if he will have a hand in saving Steve. I just read issue 3 of Captain America's book, and first of all, it was really good, and also, it seems to be setting up Steve breaking himself free. He's defying the Red Skull in some kinda small but important ways (mostly, he's being far more compassionate than Skull wants, and is hiding things from him), so they seem to be playing it as is 'true' personality is resurfacing even through the reality warping. or something. Also, Bucky is caretaking Kobik, so... BUT, if Steve does wreak havoc on SHIELD and the US government, someone will need to deal with that, yes, and Loki would be ideally situated to deal with that.
I don't think it's detracting from her agency too much, she still tells it what to do and it obeys. More that it's kinda making up for her lack of experience by guiding her and doing more for her than it did with Odinson. I think it does have a sentience of sorts, and is sort of guiding her down a certain path, possibly altering her thinking a bit when in Thor mode (that is less clear, but she does seem to have a personality shift) but she is still in control.I think he's actually being pretty heroic right now. Not enough to lift Mjolnir, because that weapon is super, super picky, but I would probably judge his actions and intents thus far in TMT to be good instead of neutral (not enough info about what he's doing in Vote Loki, so I'm not taking that into account). He did use bad methods, but he was backed into a corner and he's trying to undo what harm he caused. With that said, you do raise a good point about an antidote. I'll shrug about that one, since I don't have a good answer. As far as the rest is concerned so far he's (somewhat ironically, considering all the backstabbing) been pretty self-less. His actions have been more to his detriment than his benefit, and he realized that and still chose to do them. That said, it could just come down to how we prefer to see the character.
I agree that it was probably him speaking with Nissa, which I hadn't thought of until you pointed it out.
This issue of TMT, coupled with the last mentioning strange energy signatures, definitely indicate that there's something up with Mjolnir. I hope this is resolved and Jane is able to take point, I think having it be the hammer detracts from her agency. (The other Thor-related speculation I have is whether or not Loki helps find his brother, but this mostly comes from hope and the likely coincidental launch of that new series with all the stuff I talked about in my other post).
Have you ever read Preacher? Not the TV show, which is very different, the original books. Anyway, in it Genesis is this being of immense power, but it lacks a true consciousness, and it seeks out a host, Jesse Custer, to merge with it. Genesis kind of influences Jesse, it gives him power, it provides memories and an understanding of... things. But Jesse is, ultimately, still in control. I kinda see the relationship between Mjolnir and it's wielder as sorta-kinda similar to that. It's just that Odinson wasn't quite aware of how much it was capable of, because he didn't really need as much help as Jane does because he has thousands of years of experience and has innate power separate from the hammer.
actually, yeah, you're probably right about that, with the tubes.
and yes, very tragic. Such is the way with Loki, i guess. Judging the solicits, it seems like Jane will be moving on to a new story in Octoberish with the Shi'ar wars, which doesn't seem to have any real connection to the War of the Realms. (the Lords of Midgard at least features characters on Malekith's Dark Council, most notably Dario) so either the War of the Realms is resolved by then, or it's a very long running overarching plot that runs in the background of several arcs. If the War of the Realms is over by then, it could be that Loki's true motivations will be revealed to Asgard, and he can begin to try and regain their trust, specifically that of his family. But I suspect it's more like the latter, where it runs in the background of several arcs, so we may be in for a long wait. But, that doesn't mean they can't learn before the end what he's actually up to. If that is Loki posing as Jane, and helping her, as Riimi said it could be a foot in the door towards gaining her trust. And while Asgard is rushing off to fight a war in space, Odinson looks to be making his way back home, so i think that if Loki shows up anywhere, it will likely be in Unworthy. And yeah, Thor probably will not be happy to see him at first, but i hope they can work things out. They need to reach an understanding that's not built on a big lie, (that this Loki is Kid Loki all grown up) and it will be painful but better in the end.
Oh, but speaking of the War of the Realms, you all noticed that one of Agger's Roxxon henchmen wants to activate the 'Berserkers' as in Loki's hulked out super soldiers? If that happens next issue, it will me a massive clusterfuck, which, if we are right, could tear Roxxon apart from the inside.
As mentioned above me, that this is Ikol in Kid Loki's skin is addressed, and yes, Loki feels very guilty about what happened, but is trying to make the best of it. Once Thor learned what the real situation was, he was furious with Loki, beat him to a pulp and basically disowned him. So now Loki and Thor are enemies again, but this time it is Thor that is the one that's angry at Loki, so it's kind of backwards from before. with some good cause, granted, but... at the same time Loki just wants them to be friends now, and really is trying to be better.
And, while i get the need to put labels on Loki's incarnations for the purpose of discussion, and Kid Loki in particular really is a character separate from the others, generally, those are fan constructs to help keep the story straight, and in the books he is just 'Loki', I can't recall any of the characters make a distinction except when it came to Kid Loki. I think the fact that he is a copy and paste is kind of irrelevant to them. He has all the thoughts and memories as the Loki they've known for thousands of years, so to them it doesn't really matter since mentally and personality wise at least he is the same. i mean he's changed, but in the same way any person changes over time.