‘Loki’: What Was Sylvie’s Nexus Event? Fan Theory Says the TVA Arrested Her Preemptively
Ravonna Renslayer says she doesn’t remember Sylvie’s Nexus event. Whether that’s true or not, she must have had one, otherwise the TVA wouldn’t have arrested her as a child. Fans have been creating their own theories about it since Loki Episode 4. And one theory is equally exciting and heartbreaking for fans of the Goddess and Mischief.
[Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers for Loki Episodes 4 and 5.]
Who is running the TVA?
Just before meeting the Time-Keepers, Sylvie asked Ravonna what her Nexus event was. She had been on the run from the TVA since childhood following her arrest (which Ravonna handled herself). But the child Sylvie was just playing with her toys in Asgard when the TVA took her. Compared to Kid Loki revealing in episode 5 his Nexus event was killing Thor, child Sylvie seemed innocent. What could she have done that was so bad?
Classic Loki’s Nexus event shed more light on the spectrum that is Nexus events. All Classic Loki did was miss his brother and decide to leave his self-imposed exile to see him. This highlights that no matter how harmless the action, the TVA will arrest variants for creating branch timelines.
One fan on Reddit has an in-depth theory about the series that has a clear stance on who’s running the TVA and Sylvie’s Nexus event. Per their theory, the King Loki variant that fans have seen in trailers is running the TVA. They said:
“Loki has conquered everything. His ascent to God King achieved. This is an inevitable eventuality in the infinite universes theory. His obsession with the throne has been fulfilled: conquering Midgard, Asgard, the Nine Realms, and.. Space. To ensure this rule, for all of time, a ‘Supreme Loki’ has also overthrown the TVA. Now a perverted illusion, in a cyclical time-after-time, the TVA serves to prune Supreme Loki’s most inevitable threat: Loki. We’re witnessing Laufeyson L1130 in the aftermath of this insidious loop: to break the cycle.”
According to this theory, Loki did overthrow the TVA. But rather than destroy it, he edited it for his own use. That’s why the agency hunts down and arrests Loki more than any other variant, like Mobius mentioned in episode 1.
What was Sylvie’s Nexus event?
Now, this theory argues every Loki variant is a threat to Supreme Loki because they could uproot his “glorious purpose.” But Sylvie poses a particular threat because, put simply, she’s the most emotionally intelligent of them all. Basically, this user argues Sylvie’s Nexus event hadn’t happened by the time of her arrest. But she posed a threat because she’s more of a hero than any of the other variants.
Hiddleston’s character and the others all share the same basic details about their lives: they were adopted, traumatized when they found out about their adoption, and generally spent life feeling like an outcast. Not Sylvie. As the Reddit user explains:
“Sylvie is not your classic Loki. Note the broken horns. Time-Keepers called her a ‘cosmic disappointment’ — likely the words of Supreme Loki. She knew she was adopted early, had a healthy self-worth, and doesn’t have a lust for the throne. A Chaotic Good. This allows Laufeyson to see there is an element of Choice.
Supreme Loki / TVA is aware of this Sylvie/Loki threat, based on an existence over several time cycles. As a greater threat, the TVA kidnaps her very early. This cycle is different though: Renslayer really messed up in letting her escape.”
The TVA does have access to every point in time, so it’s easy to see how it could look ahead in Sylvie’s future and use her adult actions to justify arresting her as a child. Of course, this is a justification for a Supreme Loki-led TVA. But it’s not hard to imagine the TVA doing this anyway regardless of who’s running it.
What is ‘Loki’ about?
So far, the Marvel TV shows have all featured themes of healing past trauma and learning to grow. WandaVision showed Wanda learning to live with her grief rather than let it consume her. The Falcon and The Winter Soldier showed Bucky learning to forgive his past and Sam learning to see his worth as the new Captain America. Loki has been teaching the Gods of Mischief self-love and choosing to create better lives for themselves.
This fan thinks Hiddleston’s character fully accepting himself will lead to unlocking more power than he realizes he possesses — the same with Sylvie. Classic Loki showed how powerful their sorcery can be when uninhibited and allowed to flourish in episode 5, so this holds up. Wanda had a similar arc. (Despite their powers being green vs. red, could they all be using chaos magic?) They said:
“Loki learning to love himself (Sylvie) will be his God of Thunder (and Lightning) type moment. After a lifetime of little self-worth, Loki simply needs to deem himself worthy. Upon declaring himself Worthy, he will become the God of Mischief (and Chaos). An apocalypse-escaping, nexus-creating, inter-dimensional, TVA-breaking level of power: Chaos Magic. A dark magic, inter-dimensional bifrost, that will allow a break in the prescribed cycle.”
The theory concluded by saying Loki will end Supreme Loki’s rule by breaking this cycle. To do that, he will “choose to love himself. His Worthy & Glorious Purpose will be: Choice over Control. Chaos over Rule.” And rather than love being a dagger or love being hate, like the main characters discussed in episode 3, this fan thinks the show will say love is chaos.
This theory, if true, would make for a thrilling final episode. The Loki season finale airs July 14 on Disney+.
