Loki season 2 has dropped, and the chaos of the multiverse has officially been unleashed. (Well, it was already unleashed in Doctor Strange 2 and Spider-Man: No Way Home before that, but everything in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is kind of timey-wimey right now.) True to Marvel tradition, the season 2 premiere comes with a post-credit scene—and the return of a fan-favorite character.
Here’s what happens in that post-credit scene, and why it’s so important.
This article contains spoilers for Loki season 2, episode 1!
The Loki season 2 premiere post-credit scene, explained
Last time we saw Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino), she had just killed He Who Remains in the Citadel at the End of Time. Judging from the way she crumpled up into a ball afterward, it didn’t bring her the catharsis she was hoping for. What would Sylvie do next?
In the post-credit scene, we finally find out. Sylvie opens a time door to 1982 Broxton, Oklahoma, and heads to a McDonalds for some food. In typical girl-who-grew-up-in-apocalypses fashion, she storms up to the counter and tells the cashier that she doesn’t want any possum or rat, anything with a face, or anything that’s still alive. As an afterthought, she remembers to say “please.”
Then, as the poor cashier is trying to process what she just said into some semblance of an actual order, she turns around and sees all the people eating at the restaurant. Everyone is talking, laughing, and having fun. When the cashier asks what she’d like to try, Sylvie’s answer is both simple and profound: “I want to try everything.”
Here’s why that line is so important.
Sylvie finally has a chance to live a life
Because the TVA kidnapped Sylvie as a child and erased her entire universe, Sylvie has spent literally every second of her life since then as a fugitive. She’s apparently been eating possums and rats to survive. Although we can understand what she’s been though intellectually, it’s hard to really grasp just what that kind of life would entail—especially since, as a Frost Giant, she’s at least a thousand years old.
What would you do if the monster that had chased you since childhood suddenly disappeared? What would you do if, for the first time ever, you had the choice to go anywhere you wanted, and do whatever you pleased? Sylvie’s decision to go to an ’80s era fast food joint might seem strange on the surface, but there’s a certain logic to it. In the face of that kind of enormity, a simple choice like getting a meal might make the most sense. The scene reminds me of The Handmaid’s Tale, when Moira finally escapes Gilead and reaches a refugee center in Canada. Some refugees, Moira’s case manager tells her, choose to kick off their new lives by simply curling up in the corner with a book. As Loki executive producer Kevin Wright explained in an interview, Di Martino figured that after taking out the TVA, Sylvie would be “pretty hungry.” First things first, right?
Of course, we know that Sylvie doesn’t stop with an order of McNuggets. From the trailers and McDonald’s tie-in, we know that before too long, she’ll be working at that very restaurant. When she says she wants to “try everything,” she doesn’t mean that she wants more adventure and mayhem in her life. She wants what she’s seeing in front of her right now. She wants a real, authentic life, filled with peace and loved ones. She wants all the good things she missed out on.
And I think we can all agree that she deserves it.
I originally felt ambivalent about Sylvie becoming a McDonald’s employee in season 2. Isn’t that an insulting occupation for a goddess? However, now that we’ve seen her motivation for ending up there, her decision makes more sense (even though the cross-promotion still leaves a bad taste in my mouth). It’s too bad that her newfound life doesn’t look like it’ll last very long, though. After all, if she spent the rest of her life blissing out in Oklahoma, why would she mysteriously appear in a Time Variance Authority elevator earlier in the episode? Both she and Loki will have their work cut out for them in season 2.
(featured image: Disney+)
