Following the season finale of Loki, director Kate Herron has offered her take on one of the biggest lingering questions fans have regarding the series.
*Loki finale spoilers below, so don’t say you haven’t been warned.*
In the final episode of the inaugural season of the show, Tom Hiddleston’s titular character kisses his alternate-universe counterpart Sylvie, played by Sophia Di Martino. Some have suggested that the scene is incest, although if anything it’s selfcest because Loki is, at heart, a narcissist. Regardless, series director Kate Herron clarified in an interview with Polygon that Sylvie and Loki are not quite the same person, anyway.
“My interpretation of it is that they’re both Lokis, but they aren’t the same person,” she said. “I don’t see them as being like brother and sister. They have completely different backgrounds … and I think that’s really important to her character. They sort of have the same role in terms of the universe and destiny, but they won’t make the same decisions.”
She described the two’s budding romance as an exploration of “self-love,” and that the multiple Lokis across the show aren’t “interchangeable.” She continued, “Emotionally, from Sylvie’s perspective, I think it’s a goodbye. But it’s still a buildup of all these feelings. They’ve both grown through each other over the last few episodes. It was important to me that it didn’t feel like a trick, like she was deceiving him. She is obviously doing that, on one hand, but I don’t feel the kiss is any less genuine. I think she’s in a bad place, but her feelings are true."
Herron also added that the moment reflects Loki’s growth, from a selfish wannabe ruler to someone who genuinely cares for others. Still, the moment between them at the end of the first season confused some fans, but who wasn’t confused by Loki at some point with all the time-hopping and elaborate sci-fi conceits going on? Plus, this isn’t Game of Thrones.
