After two weeks of Loki being a reluctant employee of the Time Variant Authority, and having a pesky yet entertaining relationship with one of the staff, this week’s episode was different as he had to deal with a female version of herself…or so we thought.

The Variant, who calls herself Sylvie (Sophie DiMartino), may be sort of like Loki but is not him. Most of this episode is mainly them trying to get out of a major apocalypse 50 years from now. The banter is decent, but isn’t as good as Loki and Mobius. However, some interesting facts are revealed. It still seems like partial filler to set up the second half.

SPOILERS BELOW

The episode starts with Sylvie talking to someone over margaritas, as if they were at a bar. Then she asks where the Timekeepers are. It’s clear this is how Sylvie found out from Hunter C-20 last week where to find them. She gets close but Loki finds her. They get into a scrap until Judge Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) sends them somewhere else.

Loki and Sylvie discover they are on a doomed planet named Lamentis, in 2077. The planet is about to get destroyed by a massive moon, and they don’t have much time.
She wants to get the TemPat to get back to the TVA, and also get it recharged. For much of the episode, she and Loki argue and fight each other, but they are both aware they have got to leave, and fast.

Their encounters with other people trapped with the impending apocalypse are interesting, especially one with a homesteader who has a mean weapon.
Still, it’s a chance for both Loki and Sylvie to try to understand each other while hoping they don’t betray each other. Not all of it works, but it’s revealed Sylvie learned her power herself, while Loki says being him takes authority and style. He’s also pretty good with drinking songs.
We also hear some very personal information about them (and this article from TV Line has more on that). Maybe they would be quite the couple, but their basic needs makes it unlikely…at least for long. While Loki just likes to upset the apple cart for his own amusement, Sylvie says she has to fulfill her mission, which seems to be confronting the Timekeepers. At least we know she is not a Variant of Loki. She is her own Variant.

Again, though, they don’t have much time. They have to get to the Ark to escape, but also recharge the TemPat. Unfortunately, the item has shorted out, and the Ark was destroyed by a large meteor. So, it means Sylvie and Loki are doomed.
Since the season has three episodes left, it’s very likely someone will pull them out, maybe Mobius.

There is one twist that emerged: Sylvie explains how she got Hunter C-20 to reveal where the Timekeepers were. She had to go deep into C-20’s memories back to before she joined the TVA.
This surprises Loki. Mobius told him the Timekeepers made everyone at the TVA, and that they had always been there.
No, she says, everyone at the TVA is a Variant.
Even Mobius, Loki wonders, and does he know this?

It’s just too bad the episode didn’t end with Mobius in big trouble with Renslayer over what Loki did, even though she sent him to Lamentis.
This will likely come up next week, but several stories about the judge have hinted her story may wind up being the central plot for the second half.
After all, there’s still all those alternate timelines Sylvie created thanks to those Reset Bombs she set off along the Sacred Timeline. Will the judge be told by the TK’s they still need Loki and Sylvie, like it or not?

Loki airs new episodes every Wednesday on Disney Plus