Loki Episode 4 Synopsis

The following article contains spoilers for Loki episode 4: The Nexus Event.

Having been left on a cliffhanger last week, this episode of Loki gave us action, suspense and some much-needed answers. There are some shocking twists and a post-credit scene which changes everything.

Flashback

The episode opens with a flashback to Asgard. Where we may have expected to see Loki, we see a young Sylvie playing with toys. But, the TVA appear behind her and she’s arrested by a young Ravonna, who was still a Hunter at the time.

Sylvie is taken to the TVA and processed in the same way we saw Loki processed in episode 1. But, during her trial, she escapes death by stealing a TemPad and opening a time portal. The episode’s intro ends with Ravonna in the present-day, walking up to address the Time Keepers, who we get a glimpse of for the first time.

*Young Sylvie is processed at the TVA (source: Disney*)

Hunt for the Variants

After her meeting with the Time Keepers, Ravonna talks to Mobius. She tells him that Hunter-C20 (who Sylvie kidnapped in episode 2) died. When he questions this, Ravonna tells him that Sylvie’s enchantment of her mind drove her insane and eventually to death.

Mobius is then tasked with locating and bringing in the two Loki variants, which takes the episode back to where we left them on Lamentis-1.

The Nexus Event

Having lost all hope of survival on Lamentis-1, Sylvie shares what little memories of Asgard she has. She says that the universe manifests chaos, and her being born The Goddess of Mischief was part of that. The TVA apparently came for her when she detoured too much from the Sacred Timeline. After escaping from the TVA she created Nexus events wherever she went and soon learned to hide in apocalypses. Having grown up at the ends of worlds, she now expects to die there too.

As the destruction of the planet reaches its peak, Loki and Sylvie hold hands. This creates a Nexus event back at the TVA and gives Mobius a way to track them down. The longer the pair of them are touching, the larger the event becomes. At the eleventh hour, the TVA intervene and arrest both Loki variants.

*Sylvie and Loki watch the destruction of Lamentis-1 and cause a Nexus event in the process (source: Disney)*

A Familiar Face

Loki and Mobius are reunited at the TVA and back in the interrogation room where they first met. A red time portal opens, but before Loki can be pushed in he tells Mobius that the TVA is lying to him. He doesn’t believe Loki and he gets thrown into the portal.

He lands on Asgard and an angry Lady Sif approaches him, missing a chunk of hair. After she insults him and punches him, he realises that he’s in a bad memory prison. But, when the same interaction repeats itself it dawns on him that it’s a time loop of the same bad memory.

Mobius talks to Ravonna again and she wants him to find out what Loki and Sylvie did to cause such a huge Nexus event. But, she refuses to let him talk to Sylvie.

*Lady Sif makes a cameo in Loki’s memory loop (source: Disney)*

Home Truths

Mobius takes Loki out of the time cell and they sit down to talk. Loki refuses to tell him anything but says that he’s the mastermind behind his and Sylvie’s partnership. Only when Mobius mentions in passing that Sylvie’s been pruned does Loki drop his act. His face gives his feelings away and Mobius realises that he has feelings for Sylvie, something he considers to be pure chaos and capable of breaking reality.

He then comes clean and tells Loki that Sylvie is still alive. Loki then tells him that everyone who works for the TVA is a variant, kidnapped from the timeline and repurposed. Sylvie is able to access and unlock the repressed memories of TVA staff.

Mobius leaves Loki back in the time cell, seemingly not believing him.

Rising Suspicions

Hunter B-15, who was briefly enchanted by Sylvie in episode 2, takes her back to the apocalypse where they met and asks her about the memories she’s seeing. Sylvie shows her the truth, that she had a life before the TVA, one in which she was happy.

Meanwhile, Mobius goes to Ravonna’s office to enjoy a celebratory drink for capturing the variants. She tells him that the Time Keepers want to oversee the termination of both Loki variants. But, his mind is playing on what Loki told him. When her back is turned, he swaps their TemPads. When he leaves her office he’s able to access the files regarding Hunter-C20’s death. It’s revealed that she didn’t lose her mind as Ravonna had led him to believe. Sylvie had actually unlocked her memories and she was aware that she was a variant. Therefore, the TVA were the ones who had her killed.

With this revelation, Mobius goes into Loki’s time cell and tells him that whatever Nexus event him and Sylvie created should be enough to bring the whole TVA down.

*Mobius discovers the truth about the TVA (source: Disney)*

A Dark Twist

Mobius and Loki leave the time cell, but Ravonna is waiting for them with a squad of Hunters. Mobius tells her that he knows the truth and before anybody can react, Ravonna has him pruned. She orders a furious Loki to be taken to the Time Keepers. He’s reunited with Sylvie en-route and together with Ravonna they meet the Time Keepers.

After a chilling introduction, the Time Keepers order the two variants to be pruned. But, before they can meet their demise, a newly self-aware Hunter B-15 steps in. She throws Sylvie her weapon and breaks the two of them free from their collars. A fight ensues, with Loki and Sylvie sharing a weapon against the Hunters and Ravonna. Emerging victorious, Sylvie kills one of the Time Keepers, but they make a shocking discovery.

The Time Keepers are mindless androids and they have no idea who is really pulling the strings at the TVA.

*Sylvie and Loki are brought before The Time Keepers (source: Disney)*

A Confession Interrupted

Loki reassures Sylvie that they’ll get to the bottom of who’s really in control of the TVA. He begins to confess his feelings for her, but Ravonna prunes him before he has a chance. Sylvie gets the upper hand on her and vows to make Ravonna tell her the truth about the TVA.

Whilst we’re left wondering how Loki just killed off its protagonist, we got (some) answers very quickly.

*Ravonna after pruning Loki (source: Disney)*

Post-Credits

In a shocking twist, Loki wakes up somewhere unrecognisable and asks if he’s dead. A mysterious voices tells him that he’s not yet, but will be if he doesn’t go with them. We’re then introduced to three new faces, but fans of the comics will recognise the appearances of both Classic Loki and Kid Loki.

What this means for the remainder of the series, we don’t know. But, the mystery is half of the fun. If Loki is alive in what looks to be a pocket dimension within the Multiverse, it stands to reason that he’ll find Mobius along the way, as well as anyone else who the TVA have pruned.