SylvieI remember Asgard. Not much, but I remember. My home, my people, my life. The universe wants to break free, so it manifests chaos. Like me being born the Goddess of Mischief. And as soon as that created a big enough detour from the Sacred Timeline, the TVA showed up, erased my reality, and took me prisoner. I was just a child. I escaped. Stole a TemPad and I ran for a long, long time, which really sucked. Everywhere and every-when I went, it caused a Nexus Event. Sent up a smoke flare. Because I'm not supposed to exist. Until, eventually, I figured out where to hide. And so that's where I grew up, the ends of a thousand worlds. Now... that's where I'll die.
Um, uh, look, I can't go backwards on a train.
Sylvie
Well, I never sit with my back to a door.
What? There are doors on both sides.
Sylvie
Oh, just sit down.
A pity the old woman chose to die, don't you think?
Sylvie
She was in love.
Sylvie
Maybe love is hate.
Should probably remember that. [materializes a quill pen and paper] What was that? [writing] "Love is... Love is hate."
Sylvie
Oh, piss off!
[Loki makes the quill pen and paper disappear again]
So, on the subject of love, is there a lucky beau waiting for you at the end of this crusade?
Sylvie
[sarcastically] Yeah, there is, actually. I managed to maintain quite a serious long-distance relationship with a postman whilst running across time from one apocalypse to another.
And with charm like that, who could resist you?
Sylvie
Well, people are quite willing in the face of certain doom.
Sylvie
It was only ever just to keep me going. How about you? You're a prince. Must've been would-be-princesses or perhaps, another prince.
A bit of both. I suspect the same as you. But, nothing ever...
Sylvie
...real.
[Loki nods]
Love is a dagger. [materializes a dagger] It's a weapon to be wielded far away or up close. You can see yourself in it. It's beautiful. [turns the dagger towards himself] Until it makes you bleed. But ultimately, when you reach for it,...
[Sylvie reaches for the dagger, only for it to disappear]
Sylvie
It isn't real.
Sylvie
Love is an imaginary dagger.
Doesn't make sense, does it?
Sylvie
No. Terrible metaphor.
Damn. I thought I had something there.
Sylvie
You're not a serious man.
Sylvie
You're a clown. You got drunk on the train.
I'm hedonistic. That's what I do.
Sylvie
I'm hedonistic. A lot more than you, I assure you. But never at the expense of the mission.
Oh, the mission? The mission? What, your glorious purpose? Give me a break. You can't beat them.
[frustrated, Sylvie walks off and screams in anger while causing a small energy blast in the ground]
Sylvie
How do I know that, in the final moments, you won't betray me?
Listen, Sylvie, I... I betrayed everyone who ever loved me. I betrayed my father, my brother, my home. I know what I did. And I know why I did it. And that's not who I am anymore. Okay? I won't let you down.
I understand your moral objections to what the TVA does. And my methods are deceptive. But the mission, it never was. Without the me, without the TVA, everything burns.
Then what are you so afraid of?
Sylvie
And just who are you?
Oh, I've been dubbed many names by many people. A ruler, a conqueror, He Who Remains, a jerk. But it's, it's not as simple as a name. Eons ago, before the TVA, a Variant of myself lived on Earth in the 31st Century. He was a scientist, and he discovered that there were universes stacked on top of his own. At the same time, other versions of us were learning the same thing. Naturally, they made contact, and for a while there was peace. Narcissistic, self-congratulatory peace. "I love your shoes." "I love your hair." "Oh, man, nice nose." "Thanks, man." Et cetera. They shared technology and knowledge, using the best of their universes to improve the others. However, not every version of me was so pure of heart. To some of us, new worlds meant only one thing: new lands to be conquered. The peace between realities erupted into all-out war, each variant fighting to preserve their universe and annihilate the others. This was almost the end of everything and everyone.
Sylvie
And then the Time-Keepers came along and saved us all.
Amen. No. No. Nope, this is where we diverge from the dogma. That first variant encountered a creature created from all the tears in reality, capable of consuming time and space itself. A creature you both know.
Bingo! I harnessed the beast's power and began experimenting on it. I weaponized Alioth and I ended, I ended the Multiversal War. Once I isolated our timeline, all I had to do was manage the flow of time and prevent any further branches. Hence, the TVA. Hence, the Time-Keepers and a highly efficient bureaucracy. Hence, ages and ages of cosmic harmony. Hence, you're welcome. You came to kill the devil, right? Well, guess what? I keep you safe. And if you think I'm evil, well, just wait 'til you meet my variants. And that's the gambit. Stifling order or cataclysmic chaos. You may hate the dictator, but something far worse is going to fill that void if you depose of him. I've lived a million lifetimes. I've gone through every scenario. This is the only way. The TVA, it works.
[Loki has just intercepted Sylvie before she can kill He Who Remains.]
[softly] Stop.... [softer] Stop.... I've been where you are. I've felt what you feel. Don't ask me how I know. All I know... is I don't want to hurt you. I don't want a throne. I just... [sighs] I just want you to be okay.
[Sylvie breaks down, drops her sword and kisses Loki, turning him away from He Who Remains.]
Sylvie
But I'm not you.
[Sylvie blasts Loki through a portal back to the TVA.]
[Sylvie has traveled to a McDonald's in the 1980s and has come up to the counter.]
Sylvie
How do I do this?
JJack
What would you like?
Sylvie
Not squirrel, not possum, not rats... something that's already dead, and nothing with a face. Please.
Loki · 102 quotes
