Loki & Sylvie Touching Isn't What Caused The Nexus Event (Here's What Did)

Warning: Spoilers for Loki episode 4, "The Nexus Event"

In moon of Lamentis-1 that caused a new nexus event, but that's not what really caused it. In the previous episode, the pair were trapped on the moon in the future on the precise day it was fated to be annihilated by its planet breaking apart. After a failed attempt to escape Lamentis-1, it seemed all but certain they were doomed, but then the TVA showed up to apprehend them and haul them through a time door just before they were obliterated by planetary debris.

It was more than a little perplexing as to how the TVA found them. After all, Sylvie and Loki had been hiding out in an apocalypse and Loki had previously successfully deduced that a variant's energy wouldn't show up in an apocalyptic event. However, they apparently created a nexus event powerful enough for the TVA to lock onto their signature. The scene was designed to make it appear as though the moment Sylvie and Loki touched and then clasped hands, it triggered the TVA's alarms. Mobius even confirms as much when he says, "Two variants of the same being, especially you, forming this kind of sick, twisted romantic relationship? That's pure chaos! That could break reality."

Yet, it's not Loki and Sylvie touching, nor even them developing potential feelings for one another that triggered the nexus event, but what it means: they are no longer alone. The MCU's Loki is, in theory, the only Loki that is supposed to exist as he's the Sacred Timeline Loki; all other Lokis are merely variants. And Loki is meant to fulfill one specific role in the timeline: to cause pain, death, and destruction in order to serve as a catalyst for the heroism of others. As such, he believes he is a villain who deserves to be–and has kept himself–alone his entire life, because that's the role the Time-Keepers have designated for Loki. Sylvie asked Loki if he believed that what makes a Loki a Loki is that they're destined to lose. Loki answered it's that they don't die. But in reality, a running theme of the show is that the fundamental truth of a Loki is that they're always alone, forever. In finding Sylvie, Loki changed his entire reason for existence without warning.

That wrecks the plans of the Time-Keepers (or whoever is behind them). In order to be the villain that the Time-Keepers had designated him to be, Loki has to feel completely isolated, alone, and, what's more, to believe he deserves it. He can't see there might be a different path for him, and for a millennium, he hasn't. But meeting Sylvie has, for the first time in his life, offered Loki a genuine connection with someone. At the moment of Loki's impending death on Lamentis-1, he knew he was no longer alone. Neither was Sylvie, who had been on the run her entire life, never allowed to form a close bond with anyone. From all indications, Loki will no longer want to play the part of the callous and cruel villain now that he has a glimmer of hope.

That certainly foils the TVA's plans. No matter what timeline Lokis are in, they are still Gods and Goddesses of Mischief. "The universe wants to break free, so it manifests chaos," Sylvie explains to him. In a multitude of ways, Lokis are the universe's chaos. A Loki alone may be a villain, even evil, but they follow that set path because they are ultimately isolated from any real connection with someone, good and bad. But a Lokis with a life that no longer seems so empty, particularly the Sacred Timeline Loki, is truly unpredictable. Chaos is a tool if controlled, but once it breaks free, it rebounds. It's why the Sacred Timeline's personification of chaos no longer feeling alone is a nexus event that could very well bring the entire multiverse crashing down in the final two episodes of Loki.

More: Why Loki Really Fell For Sylvie (It's Not Because He Loves Himself)

Loki releases new episodes every Wednesday on Disney+.