Parking brake is loose at the start

So about a week ago I got in my '02 mustang gt and I released my parking brake and everything worked like normal. Then as I went to drive I felt a little bit of resistance, an audible clunk and the resistance was gone. I tried to pull my parking brake afterwards and now the first half of it is completely loose, like it can easily jiggle up and down. After about half way there it starts to engage like normal.

So I thought maybe I sheared some of the teeth on the ratchet, and took apart the center console. The parking brake itself looks and operates completely fine. So then I went under my car and took a look at the steel cables. Looks like they are loose where they attach to the brake itself. I attached some videos of the T joint where you can see it and how loose it is.

My question is what happened and how can I fix it? I have no experience with e brakes so I don't know what to check on the wheels and brakes themselves.