Loki: What’s hidden in plain sight in episode 4

For the fourth episode of Loki, we look at how a haircut ties in with Thor’s hammer, the truth behind the TVA, and that mid-credit stinger.

Now that is how you pull off a second act twist. Anyone who felt disappointed with by the third episode of Loki – and you weren’t alone – bolted upright in their chairs during this one. There were lies exposed, variants shockingly pruned, questions that were answered, backstories revealed, and weird romances starting to blossom. A very, very weird and, to paraphrase Mobius (Owen Wilson), narcissistic romance.

But were getting a little ahead of ourselves here, as this is all about finding and interpreting those hidden clues and potential Easter Eggs planted throughout the episode of the Disney Plus series. And like we did with WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, we do have to reevaluate those clues – and what we thought were clues – when the series gives us new information. That’s where we’ll be starting first, as we then work our way into what we may have gotten right. So be warned, there are some SPOILERS ahead, so be sure to watch “The Nexus Point” first before reading ahead. For those who have seen the episode, we’re going to start with a look at Loki’s (Tom Hiddleston) one true love… himself. Or is it herself?

Loki and Sylvie’s Nexus Point

Right the very start, “the Nexus Point” clarified a number of lingering questions while also confirming and debunking some theories. Yes, Sylvie is indeed a genuine Loki variant who was born a girl instead of a boy. Yes, Sylvie was abducted by the TVA when she was a little girl (Cailey Fleming) by none other than Ravonna Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw). However, unlike yours truly previously believed, Sylvie wasn’t raised at the TVA but managed to escape right after her trial and has been on the run for years, if not centuries.

But if you were wondering why there was such strange chemistry between Loki and Sylvie in the last episode, that’s because it turns out they’ve fallen in love with one another… or rather, they literally fell in love with themselves? Just in case this series didn’t get weird and strange enough, I guess. This may also be the reason why Loki and Sylvie holding hands somehow created a Nexus Point so powerful that it even showed up during an apocalyptic event. But what exactly does this mean? Is Mobius right in saying that whatever happened between Loki and Sylvie is key to taking down the TVA?

Well, if you recall, the last time we saw a “Nexus Event” was WandaVision, in which Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) used her chaos magic to recreate Westview, New Jersey into her own sitcom. So what if the type of magic Loki has been using all this time is another form of chaos magic? Not as powerful as Wanda’s, but which can be amplified…in the presence of another Loki? And its magic that has become powerful enough to change the “sacred timeline?” That would certainly explain the real reason why the TVA is tasked with hunting down Loki variants, even if the TVA employees don’t know the real reason.