Before ‘Loki’ Season 2 Premieres, Let’s Discuss The Selfationship Elephant in the Room
Cast your mind back to 2021: We were fresh off our pandemic lockdown and tuned into Disney+ for their latest Marvel Cinematic Universe television show.
The show everyone happened to be obsessed with at the time was Loki, a spinoff series that followed everyone’s favorite Norse God of Mischief. Though he was a staple in the MCU thanks to being Thor’s devious adopted brother, Loki allowed Loki to explore his humanity and what it meant to be a hero. Throughout season 1, Loki was put through the ringer as he was confronted by the sins of his past while also avoiding being destroyed by the Time Variance Authority, also known as those in charge of “pruning” people who disrupt the “Sacred Timeline.”
It’s through the TVA that Loki is made aware of an alternate timeline variant of himself who goes by the name Sylvie. And, while you may have guessed it already, Loki comes to fall for her, which, on principle alone, is super weird and, if we’re being honest, a little romantic.
Loki is in love with the more chaotic version of himself
From their first meeting, it’s been abundantly clear that Loki is desperately in love with Sylvie, the variant of himself who is bent on the ultimate revenge quest against the TVA. Despite being enemies, Loki has an incredibly soft spot for her and will do anything to keep her from harm’s way, even if it means risking having a knife put to his own throat.
However, though this love story is incredibly touching, there’s one thing a lot of fans, myself included, tend to overlook: They’re literally the same person.
Though Sylvie claims to be, and very much is, different from Loki in many ways (a.k.a. she has even more disregard for everyday life than Loki does), she still shares a lot of traits with him, which makes sense as she’s basically the female version of him.
She’s stubborn, strong-willed, cunning, and will do whatever it takes to complete her quest for revenge, even if that means destroying her life and the lives of everyone around her. In a lot of ways, Sylvie is exactly like Loki when we met him in Thor and The Avengers. Back then, he was seen as a villain because he channeled his anger at his father and brother into trying to take over the universe using increasingly violent tactics.
Throughout season 1, Loki learns to become a more empathetic person, as meeting Sylvie and confronting his past sins makes him reconsider his motivations. His biggest turning point comes when he realizes that his actions led to the murder of his mother, the only person in his family he truly loved. After this point, we can see that Loki is trying to become good—or the version of good he can be as the God of Mischief.
Loki falling in love with Sylvie was inevitable because he loves himself too much not to, but it seems like their love story is also a way for Sylvie to go on the journey of self-discovery Loki went on. And, much like how Thor helped him see he was more than just the God of Mischief, Loki will use his love and affection towards his other version to set her on the right path.
Let’s hope Season 2 will strengthen their relationship instead of tearing it apart.
(featured image: Disney+)
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