Who is Sylvie in Loki? The Loki variant explained

Of all the questions posed by the first three episodes of Loki – and there have been lots of them – the one that has perhaps captivated viewers the most regards the identity of the character played by Sophia Di Martino.

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Last week, fans thought the second episode had confirmed a long-held theory that Di Martino would be playing ‘Lady Loki’ but those claims came under question after a number of leaks revealed that the character was actually called Sylvie.

And that name was confirmed in episode three, which posed a new theory: could the character actually be the Enchantress?

Read on for everything we know so far.

Who is Sylvie in Loki?

So what do we know about Sylvie from her appearances in the show so far? And could she still be Lady Loki after all?

Well, in episode three, she revealed that she has been on the run from the TVA for her entire life – which certainly suggests that she could be a female version of Loki, given this seems to imply she was a variant from birth.

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The fact she’s constantly been on the run might also go some way to explaining how there are a few differences between her and the Loki we all know: she wasn’t raised as royalty and she’s not nearly as suave or trickster-y.

That said, at a certain point in the episode, Sylvie made it very clear that she does not wish to be referred to as Loki, warning, “Don’t ever call me that,” despite the fact that she continues to dress in very obvious Loki gear.

When Tom Hiddleston’s Loki says, “I’m not calling some faded photocopy of me ‘Loki’,” she replies “Good – ‘cause that’s not who I am anymore. I’m Sylvie now.”

She then goes on to reveal that Sylvie is an alias and, when she subsequently explains her plan and Tom Hiddleston tells her he’d “never have done that,” she responds, “Yeah? Well I’m not you.”

But does this mean that she really isn’t a Loki, or just that she understandably doesn’t have any desire to identify as such, given she’s seemingly been hunted as a bad Loki variant her entire life?

Perhaps the biggest hint as to her real identity comes later on, when Loki asks how she learnt to take over people’s bodies and she replies that she taught herself – referring to it as “enchanting” someone. Between her name and this reference, the series certainly appears to be setting her up as the Enchantress – although this could still be a red herring.

And then there’s the fact that, during the episode her case file names her as Sylvie Laufeydottir – in other words, a mixture of Lady Loki and the Enchantress.

So she could still be Lady Loki, or the Enchantress, or both! Presumably, the three remaining episodes will go some way to answering this.

Who is Sylvie in the comics?

In the comic books, Sylvie Lushton is introduced as a seemingly normal teenage girl living in Broxton, Oklahoma – which just happens to be the same place the Asgardians move to as a temporary home.

Not long after they show up, Sylvie suddenly finds herself developing superpowers, including all sorts of magic such as spells and teleportation, and takes on a new name,  Amora the Enchantress, before moving to New York to fight alongside the Young Avengers.

What Sylvie doesn’t realise, though, is that she’s actually been given the powers by Loki, and not only that but she was actually created by Loki from scratch – with the sole intention of causing chaos.

What’s particularly interesting is that, in the comics, Sylvie is created by Loki in Lady Loki form – who explains, “I liked the idea of creating a mortal who suspects she’s one of my kind. She’s infinitely susceptible to dashed hopes. Hence mischief.”

What this means for the show it’s still hard to tell – but fingers crossed we get answers soon.