Loki: What’s hidden in plain sight in episode 3

Loki Laufeyson vs Sylvie Laufeydottir

To be clear, I’m not talking about any physical or verbal sparring between these two versions of the God of Mischief (although there is some of that which happens). Instead, this is about exploring the differences between the two, or at least as much as Loki is able to learn from Sylvie.

Yes, one big difference is that this Loki variant is, indeed, named Sylvie, a name which she chose for herself. And, of course, the other big difference is that they’re both different genders. Another significant difference is that Sylvie is dating a postman from another alternate reality – or so she claims. Loki, on the other hand, isn’t in a relationship, never has been depicted in a relationship in any of the MCU films, and yet, given the conversation about “princesses and princes,” he’s also bisexual.

Another major difference between Loki and Sylvie comes from what they learn about one another’s backgrounds, specifically their childhoods. Unlike Loki, Sylvie had been told that she was adopted at an early age. Loki also talks about how he learned magic from his adoptive mother, Frigga, and how she encouraged him in pursing the magical arts. Sylvie, on the other hand, implies she’s mostly self-taught, particularly when it comes to using mind control. What’s more, she has no recollection of Frigga, much less her biological mother. This feels more in-line with the Enchantress’ backstory from the comics, which lends credence to the idea that Sylvie is the MCU’s take on the Thor super villainess. She doesn’t, however, appear to have mastered telekinesis like Loki does.

There was one other, more subtle, difference between them, which occurred during Loki’s raucous Asgardian drinking song aboard the train. What’s particularly notable about this scene is that Loki’s sings most of it in Norwegian, which makes sense considering he’s a Norse god. There’s a particularly a slow moving portion of the song which, thanks to some intrepid YouTube detectives, translates as follows:

"On mountains darkened by storms, I’m wandering alone Over the glaciers, I’m pushing on The fair maiden is in the apple orchard And she’s singing: “When will you come home?”"

It’s evident that Loki directs this at Sylvie and that his word choices are deliberate. It’s also a very clever test on his part, because it’s questionable whether or not Sylvie even understands the language. If she doesn’t, then it’s evidence that Sylvie didn’t grow up in Asgard. This is backed up by one of Marvel Studio’s own “Meet Sylvie” featurette which reveals scenes of what appear to be a very young Sylvie being brought to the TVA. Not only does this suggest that Sylvie was raised by the TVA, but it also add to another key bit of information about the TVA we learn in this very episode.