RIFLE RANGE BOY: Sylvie

Loki (Season1, E1-E6; 2021)
Marvel Cinematic Universe

When Loki was apprehended and transported after Avengers: Endgame, in the confusion of Hulk creating a tantrum for needing to use the stairs and Iron Man faking a heart attack, Loki escapes captivity through a Tesseract and enter a different realm. He lands in the headquarters of Time Variance Authority (TVA).

Here, the narcissistic Norse God of Mischief Loki learns of variants of himself floating in the multiple timelines creating havoc. The Time-Keepers had set a Scared Timeline for events to happen, but somehow variants have made branches from the main timeline. The TVA's job is to ensure that the correct path of the Sacred Timeline is followed. Some of the variants are evil alter-egos and are hellbent on creating chaos. As he is charged against the 'Sacred Timeline', Loki's plea bargain is to hunt down another Loki variant who had killed TVA officers and stolen the time resetting devices.

Time, as we perceive, is a one-way single linear motion. In reality, it is a composite of multiple minor diversions which, from someone from a different dimension, sees it as one, much like we see a slithering snake past us by part by part in a twisting motion but on a straight path, with the present, past and future.

Since a Sacred Timeline is being followed, does it not mean that the characters in the timeline have no free will but have their path determined? No amount of willpower can change anything if everything is predetermined. If the variants have a free hand in doing things, then the whole balance would collapse.

That brings us to the philosophical dilemma about battles and battleships in the context of free will and determinism. Who decides whether the war starts tomorrow? If it is predetermined that there is a battle tomorrow, what is the commander's decision-making role? If he chose not to go to war, is it his decision, or can we say that not having a battle was predetermined?

Loki and alter ego

Loki soon discovers a few disturbing revelations. The Time Keepers are mere androids but are controlled by someone else.

The rogue variant of himself that Loki was hunting for turned out to be a female, Sylvie. This must be a comforting story plot for those who look at gender as something quite fluid, yoyoing from one end to another and changing with time. The thing that takes the cake is that Loki, the narcissist, is so in love that he develops feelings for Sylvie! What do you call that? Love thyself?

TVA itself, the Lokis realised, is made up of variants. It turned out that it is not an authority to kerb variants after all. The need to find the real person who controls TVA becomes a necessity. This leads them to a new villain comparable to Thanos, 'He who remains' who is created in the mould of Kang the Conqueror.

The tenet of the storyline, which we will learn, is that branches from the Timeline would create variants. Some of them are evil and may overpower another variant on another timeline and exert their authority on the turn of subsequent events. It gets more complicated than in the final finale. A decision has to be made at the Citadel at the End of Time - whether 'He who remains' is the good variant trying to bring stability to the timeline or not.

A wrong move... and a segue to the next season and the opening of a bag of worms where the evil 'He-who-remains' takes control of TVA, as Loki soon discovers...