Loki has had various references to other characters and events from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, some more noticeable than others. Some of these are as subtle as a detail in the background of a scene or related to certain themes and past tricks used by the MCU, as is the case of the Loki and Sylvie team-up, which repeats a trick used in Guardians of the Galaxy. Now that the Infinity Saga is over, the MCU is moving forward with its Phase 4, which covers both TV shows and movies, further expanding this connected universe. Fans have already reunited with Wanda Maximoff (WandaVision) and Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier), and now it’s the God of Mischief’s turn.

Although Loki died in the first minutes of Avengers: Infinity War, the time heist in Avengers: Endgame allowed his 2012 version to escape, and now he’s back with his own TV show. Simply titled Loki, the series sees the character being brought to the Time Variance Authority (TVA), an organization that oversees the timeline and makes sure everything happens as planned. The TVA took advantage of Loki’s talents and recruited him to catch another Loki variant, but as this is a past version of the God of Mischief, he can’t be fully trusted, and he ended up joining forces with the variant, Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino). Together they have been trying to uncover the truth about the TVA, and in the process, they repeated a Guardians of the Galaxy trick.

Related: Every Loki Variant In Episode 5 (& Their Nexus Event)

As both are Lokis, Sylvie and the God of Mischief share some personality traits that at first made them clash and didn’t allow them to fully work together, leading to their arrest by the TVA and possible deletion. However, with time and some twists and turns in the story, such as the reveal of the Time Keepers not being real, Loki and Sylvie ended up caring for each other and learning to work together. They even created another nexus event while on the apocalypse of Lamentis-1 when they touched hands, as this meant they were not alone in this universe anymore – and it’s this connection and the themes that come with it that mirror an important theme that was the moving force of Guardians of the Galaxy.

Loki Sylvie Blanket

The Guardians of the Galaxy are a group of outcasts who managed to leave all their differences aside to team up and bring down Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace) and have since been involved in other missions and battles, including the Battle of Earth in Avengers: Endgame. At the core of Guardians of the Galaxy are the themes of family and love and friendship being stronger than darkness and evil, as it wasn’t until they worked together that they were able to defeat Ronan. The same is happening with Loki and Sylvie, as together they are more powerful than when alone, which was clearly seen in how they managed to tame Alioth in episode 5 so they could reach whoever is behind the TVA, the Void, and more.

While this is not bad, it’s curious that a TV series starring a character like Loki would use these themes to push the story forward, but then again, the tragedy in Loki’s arc is that he’s alone, so it was about time that he learned that he can reach his full potential without having to be all by himself. It’s to be seen if the combined powers of Loki and Sylvie will be enough to bring the TVA down and get to whoever is behind all this or if they won’t repeat the Guardians’ success and instead unleash something bigger and more dangerous.

Next: Loki Secretly Revealed Sylvie’s Nexus Event - Theory Explained

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