The latest episode of Loki on Disney+ delved into the backstory of the antagonistic Variant, the newest supervillain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But so far we still don’t know much about Sylvie Laufeydottir, other than that she had an entirely different upbringing than the Loki Odinson we know and love, and that she’s focused on her mission to eliminate the Time Lords and the Time Variance Authority. But while our Loki Variant, played by Tom Hiddleston, opens up to her about his own history and intentions, the Sylvie variant played by Sophia Di Martino keeps her cards close to her vest. So we have to ask, is she actually a Loki variant?
In Loki Episode 3 “Lamentis,” the God of Mischief teams up with the fugitive variant after an attempted assault on the TVA headquarters goes off the rails. The two end up stranded in an obscure apocalypse in the year 2077, where they traverse the moon of Lamentis-1 in hopes of escaping before its dying planet destroys all life on the satellite body.
During their travels, the duo attempts to kill each other at first then try to work together then try to kill each other again, and finally, they realize they will have to work together in order to survive. It is on their long sojourn across a desolate wasteland in search of escape where they finally attempt to get to know one another. Our Loki is upfront about his past, revealing details about how he found out he was adopted in secret and sharing love for his mother Frigga.
But Sylvie is much more guarded. She makes it clear that she has been on the run for much of her life and that she relies on no one but herself to achieve her goals. And now her latest goal is to wipe out the TVA — and our own Loki just screwed that all up.
There are some key differences between the two. Our Loki learned about his true origins as a Frost Giant many years later after some self-discovery, while Sylvie says her parents told her when she was a child. Our Loki has many fond memories of his mother; Sylvie can barely recall her.
Fan theories have insisted that this version of Loki might actually be the Enchantress, and “Lamentis” doesn’t do much to dispel this notion with all the talk of Sylvie’s powers to enchant. So is she actually a variant of Loki or is she something else entirely?
We’ll just have to keep watching new episodes of Loki on Disney+ every Wednesday to find out.