When Loki debuted in 2021, fans were introduced to Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino), the variant whose exploits lead the God of Mischief (Tom Hiddleston) deeper into the depths of the Time Variance Authority (TVA) and the conspiracy behind its ruler.
As Season 1 unfolded, Sylvie sought to unleash free will, eliminating the forces that tear variants away from their timelines and loved ones as she had been when she was a child. When viewers pick back up with Sylvie in Season 2, she’s doing her best to move on, but even time and a new life set in 1980s Oklahoma isn’t enough to help her escape the past.
When Loki and Mobius (Owen Wilson) come crashing back into her life, Sylvie finds herself compelled to help them solve the TVA’s meltdown, which was seemingly sparked by her killing of He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors) in Season 1. Ultimately, by the end, Sylvie and the gang learn that the TVA and pruned timelines could be freed from deletion, but it meant Loki sacrificing himself by becoming a more powerful and static god who would oversee the branches for all time.
For Di Martino, approaching Sylvie in Season 2 was a bit different as the character experienced a larger passing of time between the Season 1 finale and Season 2 premiere than Loki did. “There’s the moment where you see her arriving in McDonald’s and being a real fish out of water and ordering everything off the menu. And then you see her a little time later where she’s working there, and she’s created this whole life for herself, and she’s trying to assimilate,” Di Martino tells TV Insider. “She’s playing at being normal and being happy. It was interesting to put Sylvie into a situation like that because I don’t think it comes naturally for her to trust or to make connections with other people that are meaningful in any way.”
(Credit: Gareth Gatrell / MARVEL )
As viewers will recall, Sylvie made a connection with Loki in Season 1. The pair even shared a kiss, but the moment was used as more of a distraction. “I don’t think it’s ever been fully romantic,” Di Martino says. “I know it’s been hinted at or there’s been some close calls, but I think they love each other but on a different level. And the first series was about self-acceptance and self-love, which is so difficult to do when you’ve got two characters playing variants of the same person.”
Still, Di Martino doesn’t shy away from what fans want to see in their dynamic, adding, “It’s an interesting take on it and I love hearing about all the different theories. It’s wild.”
In a more emotional moment during the second season’s fifth episode, Sylvie has an honest conversation with Loki in a bar about what he really wants. By that point, viewers understand Sylvie wants to have and give free will, but despite the front she’d been putting on, her carefree approach isn’t exactly true to her reality.
“She’s killed He Who Remains and now she’s been given her free will and she’s going to make a life for herself and she’s going to have a taste of normality… And I think it’s just very sad when she realizes that she’s never going to be allowed to have that and that it was all just a bit of a game really,” Di Martino notes.
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On whether she thinks Sylvie will ever be able to have close-knit relationships, “I think she can’t trust and she can’t be trusted, so there’s no way she’s ever going to get close to anyone.” Apart from Loki, Mobius, and the rest of the gang, Di Martino says, Sylvie did get “kind of close to Lyle in the record shop, but it’s such a transactionary relationship. He gives her records to listen to. She listened to the records. I think she’s devastated when she loses that though, because she almost had it. It’s like she was trying so hard to pretend to be normal, but it was just all pretend.”
Still, Sylvie has a bit of hope for the future by the season’s end after Loki’s sacrifice to remain at the end of time while holding the timelines together. As for what’s next when it comes to Sylvie, Di Martino isn’t certain. What she will look back on fondly is the finale episode, which she calls “incredible.”
“Just watching Tom do this incredible finale [scene with the] wind machines going, it was epic… It was a moment.” Relive the moment and more by catching Loki anytime on Disney+.
Loki, Seasons 1-2, Streaming now, Disney+
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