Loki and Sylvie (the female Loki Variant) find themselves trapped together.

Spoilers Below

In Loki Season One Episode 3, ” Lamentis,” directed by Kate Herron, Loki transports himself and Sylvie to the settled moon Lamentis-1 in 2077. They find themselves on Lameti-1 right before the planet crashes into it, killing the moon’s whole population. The TemPad loses power the minute the two Gods of Mischief land in the most dangerous apocalypse on Sylvie’s list. ” Lamentis” centers around Loki and Sylvie trying to find a way off Lamentis-1 before the moon explodes, killing everybody, including themselves. Sylvie wants a way back to the TVA headquarters to wipe out the Time-Keepers while he wants an audience with them.

Frigga’s motherly love for Loki built up his confidence. The MCU usually features manipulative scenes full of anger or pain as events that form Loki’s personality or actions. For example, in the movie, Thor Loki learns that the Ice Giant King Laufey is his biological father. Odin falls into a deep “Odinsleep” when his adopted son confronts him about why he stole him as an infant. The God of Mischief uses the ” Odinsleep” as an opportunity to take over the throne. Loki offers Laufey a chance to murder his adopted father. Figuring out his whole life is a lie led to manipulative villainous behavior. Though in ” Lamentis,” the audience learns that Frigga adored Loki and taught him magic. She used to conjure fireworks over the water or turn flowers into a frog for him. The young Loki didn’t believe he would ever create magic, but Frigga thought he could do anything. The God of Mischief’s confidence comes from having a parent who valued his uniqueness. Loki has a heartbroken expression when he talks to Sylvie about how his mother was a good decent person. Loki can’t believe he accidentally caused the death of the one person who unconditionally loved him. He sees Frigga as a good person verse how evil he is. Loki’s grief is expressed visually when he accidentally conjures fireworks instead of train tickets to fool the guards on the train to the Ark (spaceship).

Sylvie’s birth may be the reason she is a variant. When drunk Loki sings in the train car without holding onto the guard uniform illusion, she comments how people are staring suspiciously at him. He asks Sylvie when she became so paranoid. Sylvie retorts since the TVA has been chasing her for her whole life. Earlier, Sylvie comments that she barely remembers her mother though she states that her Asgardian family told her that she was adopted.

Sylvie trained herself in magic, like how to enters people’s minds. In the Time-Keeper’s sacred timeline, Loki is supposed to be a boy. So perhaps Sylvie’s very existence and gender make her a variant. The TVA has been chasing her since infancy. Frigga didn’t teach her magic because she was killed protecting her daughter, or Sylvie was constantly on the move as a child. Though Sylvie saying she knew about the adoption implies the former. Odin must have been around to inform her about the adoption. But who knows if she taught magic to herself since “Lokis” lie? Sylvie is so severe and violent because she has had to be her whole life to survive the TVA.

” Lamentis” reveals that the Time-Keepers did not create all the employees at TVA headquarters. The first clue is at the start of the episode when Sylvie is manipulating Hunter C-20 into telling her the Time-Keepers’ location. In Hunter C-20’s mind, she is drinking with the Goddess of Mischief at a Tiki style bar. Later, Sylvie reveals that she took the memory of the bar from Hunter C-20’s “human life” hundreds of years ago. All the recent memories are faded and strange. The Time-Keepers took Variants from Earth, altered their memories, and made them into TVA agents or Minutemen. It’s interesting how both the Time-Keepers and the “Lokis” are master illusionists with a world built upon lies.

Perhaps Variants are not inherently horrible or dangerous. They don’t need to be destroyed. Suppose TVA employees who are Variants can walk around both in the “Scared Timeline” and their headquarters without creating Nexus points or ending reality. In that case, these “inconsistencies” don’t automatically need to be disintegrated. The Time-Keepers are like writers who need their words to be followed to the letter. They don’t leave room for their creations to veer off into something extraordinary. Maybe the Multiverse will not cause apocalyptic events? The Multiverse could only be a negative thing for the Time-Keepers. Who knows if the Time-Keepers even build the Sacred Timeline, or if they did, was it vital? Nobody can trust the Time-Keeper since they are lying to their employees.

How will Loki and Sylvie find a way of Lamentis 1 before the moon explodes? What will happen when Loki hooks back up with Mobius? Will Mobius learn he is a Variant? Or will Loki keep his knowledge close to the chest to leverage an audience with the mysterious Time-Keepers?

Watch Loki Season One on Disney Plus!