The following article contains spoilers for Episode 3 ofLoki.
The third episode ofLokiproves that this new series is truly unpredictable. It’s an adventurous, action-packed episode, but also an intimate one for Loki and Sylvie, the female Variant, who have an open conversation on a train about their past histories.After facing off against one another in the previous episode, which ended with Sylvie messing up the sacred timeline, and Loki following her, both characters end up stuck in 2077, on a place called Lamentis-1, another apocalyptic site that has a futuristicBlade Runnerappearance.
Since Loki got himself and Sylvie stuck in the future, they try to set aside their differences and work together to find a power source for Sylvie’s TemPad, her personal device that helps her travel through time. They need the TemPad to be recharged so that they can get off Lamentis-1 and return to the Time Variance Authority.
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As Loki and Sylvie take a train ride together, they have a personal conversation about their past lives, including their families. Loki mentions his adoptive mother Frigga, who taught him magic, and how to use that magic in order to be capable of doing anything. After Loki talks about his mother, he asks Sylvie about her mom, and like Loki, she was also raised by adoptive parents, but Sylvie only remembers bits and pieces about her mother. Both of them also briefly discuss their magic powers, and how they learned to use them to their advantage.
While Loki’s mom taught him how to use his powers, Sylvie states that she taught herself magic, such as the ability to enchant people by touching them and grabbing control of their minds. This includes her enchantment towards Hunter C-20, the female TVA officer who revealed the location of the Time Keepers in the end of the second episode. Along with magic,Loki and Sylvie also acknowledge that they each fell in loveat some point in their lives.
The theme of love is also evident in their conversation. While Loki admits that he has had relationships with men and women, he has never really found true love with another person. That also appears to be the case for Sylvie, who tells Loki thatlove can be hateful and mischievous, signifying that her relationships have also been complicated and short-lived, although she says she’s currently with a postman in a long-distance relationship. Also, when Loki tries to explain what love is, he pauses, and says he has to take another drink to think about it, which shows that his experience with love has been conflicted, especially the love for his own family in Asgard.
This conversation between Loki and Sylvie is revealing because both characters manage to be open, to a certain extent, in terms ofdiscussing their families and relationships in the past. While Sylvie tries to deflect as Loki talks about his mother and his magic, she can’t help but smile. Both characters still don’t entirely trust each other (which is evident in their funny back and forth banter over trying to take the TemPad and escape), but they each realize that they are people with gifted abilities. They have been fighting for their own cause their entire lives, and have gone through massive obstacles to reach their goals, but still haven’t reached their full potential.
Their talk also reveals how lonely Loki and Sylvie both are. No matter how gifted they are, they have hurt others in their quest for power. They want to reach an end goal and a meaningful purpose, but are uncertain in how to accomplish that feat, and are always going to be looked at as villains and major threats to the world.
Along with the conversation on the train, Sylvie also reveals to Loki the possible corruption behind the TVA. While Loki was told thatevery member of the TVA was formed by the Time Keepers, Sylvie completely denies that claim and states that every TVA agent, like Hunter C-20, are variants who’ve had previous lives from hundreds of years ago. This appears true since Sylvie was able to enchant C-20 and enter a memory of hers, having margaritas at an outdoor venue. This revelation completely changes the game, raising questions about whether or not the TVA can be trusted, or if they have been fed lies from the Time Keepers about how their perception of time works.
After the third episode, there are still more questions than answers about what’s really going on with Sylvie, the TVA, and the Time-Keepers. However, after the intimate conversation between Loki and Sylvie on the train, and her perspective throughout their journey on Lamentis-1, it’s safe to say that Sylvie is more of an ally for Loki than an enemy. They both have more in common than they realized, and can work together touncover the conspiracy behind the Time Keepers and the TVA, if they can get off Lamentis-1.
Catch new episodes ofLokievery Wednesday on Disney+
