Warning — This article contains spoilers for Loki Episode 6, “For All Time. Always.”
Amongst the largely positive reception to Loki, the buddy romance between Tom Hiddleston's hero and Sophia Di Martino's Sylvie has been a key point of controversy amongst the fan base. While the two Asgardian Variants began their journey as rivals, it blossomed into a strong and caring relationship, built on the basis of trust, admiration, and a mutual goal to take down the TVA.
Given both Loki and Sylvie are technically Variants of the same person who likely shared the same family lineage, the concept of the romance is naturally a questionable one that has divided viewers. Despite this, those shipping the mischievous couple got their wish in the season finale as the couple shared a passionate kiss during the climax of the episode.
As the first season of Loki concludes, the actress behind Sylvie offered her own thoughts on the big moment.
SYLVIE ACTRESS BREAKS DOWN KISS SCENE
Sylvie actress Sophia Di Martino sat down with the official Marvel site to discuss the climactic moments of the Loki season finale in which she and Tom Hiddleston's God of Mischief shared a passionate kiss.
The actress described her character's mindset in the scene as she stands before the person “who robbed her life from her,” filled with anger that has been “growing her whole life.” At that moment, Sylvie believes “killing him is going to make her feel better,” and that belief is “stronger than any feelings she has for Loki:”
“She's been on her mission her whole life to get to whoever is behind the TVA, who robbed her life from her, and who took that little girl. The anger that she had as a little girl has just been growing and growing and growing her whole life, to this point, where the guy who caused it, in her eyes, is standing right in front of her. She thinks that killing him is going to make her feel better. That feeling in that moment is stronger than any feelings she has for Loki.”
As Loki and Sylvie shared their mutual feelings of trust for the other, the two are left wondering if this is true. Di Martino offered her thoughts on the situation, asking “if you can't trust someone, then can they trust you?” According to her, if two people can't trust each other, “it's just broken:”
“It's quite a problem. It works both ways as well. Maybe Loki can't trust and Sylvie can't be trusted. If you can't trust someone, then can they trust you? Nothing works, does it, if you don't trust each other? It's just broken.”
Just before the two Loki Variants kissed, Hiddleston's hero acknowledges that he is “a horrible person” but explains that she has changed him because he cares for her and just wants her “to be OK.”
According to the Sylvie actress, Loki's heartfelt words “[broke] her heart a little” because “she just wants herself to be OK” too, making it “so powerful” to hear “someone else... acknowledge that:”
“He says something really nice to her before they kiss. Loki basically says, ‘I've always hurt everyone I've always been close to. I'm a horrible person, but you've changed me because I care about you, and I want you to be OK.’ And for someone to say, ‘I want you to be OK,’ it’s such a nice thing to hear, especially for someone who's damaged as Sylvie. It sort of breaks her heart a little bit because she just wants herself to be OK as well. For someone else to acknowledge that, and to see her in that way and to just see her, is so powerful.”
Despite the brief moment of passion, Sylvie “still has to see her plan through to the end,” making the kiss “a final sort of thank you and goodbye” from the actress' perspective:
“She still has to see her plan through to the end. The kiss, for me, was like a final sort of thank you and goodbye. It's been fun, dude, but at the end of the day, I'm not you and I've got a mission, and I'm going to see this through, on my own, to the end. So see ya. That sounds so awful saying that!”
WHAT'S THE FUTURE FOR THE LOKI LOVEBIRDS?
With Hiddleston's Loki being sent back to an alternate timeline TVA while Sylvie was left at the end of time alongside the corpse of He Who Remains, it's hard to imagine how the two will reconnect. Whether it is in the newly-announced second season or another future MCU project, the British-acted lovebirds will find their way back to each other sooner rather than later.
Tom Hiddleston is reportedly set to reprise his role as Loki in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Given her role in creating the infinite realities, perhaps Sophia Di Martino may return as Sylvie alongside him.
The nature of the relationship between the Lokis is an odd one, leaving some viewers wondering it could have a deeper thematic meaning. Some have theorized that the ultimate goal behind the romance is to emphasize the importance of loving oneself, something Loki has never been able to do.
Based on the extreme controversy behind the relationship, writer Michael Waldron and director Kate Herron may opt to shift course going into the second season to avoid upsetting some viewers any further.
All six episodes of Loki are streaming now, exclusively on Disney+.
