As a child, Sylvie was playing alone in Asgard when agents from the Time Variance Authority (TVA) suddenly appeared and captured her. The hunter who arrested her was none other than the current Judge Ravonna Renslayer , who at the time went by the designation A-23. Sylvie was taken to TVA headquarters for trial, but she managed to steal a time controller from Renslayer during the process and escaped through a time portal.
In the present, Renslayer takes an elevator to meet the Time-Keepers. Under immense pressure, she denies Mobius's request to speak with Hunter C-20, stating that C-20 has been enchanted by Sylvie and that the Time-Keepers have ordered her elimination.
On the doomed moon Lamentis-1, Sylvie and Loki watch as the Ark is destroyed before their eyes. Sylvie becomes disheartened and accepts her impending death. She recalls her childhood and shares these memories with Loki. She asks Loki if they are named "Loki" because they are destined to fail. Loki believes that while they may face failure, they will ultimately always survive.
The emotional connection between Sylvie and Loki creates a Nexus event, causing a branch in the timeline. The TVA, though puzzled by this phenomenon, uses the branch to locate and capture both Sylvie and Loki. Mobius opens a red time door and sends Loki to a time prison, where he is trapped in a loop, repeatedly being attacked by Sif for cutting her hair. The cycle only breaks when Loki admits his loneliness and confesses to being a pathetic narcissist.
Mobius approaches Renslayer with a request to interrogate Sylvie but is denied. After Loki's breakthrough in the time prison, Mobius releases him, and the two resume their negotiations. Mobius deceitfully claims that Sylvie has been killed by Hunter B-15. Loki's heartbroken reaction reveals his feelings for Sylvie and demonstrates that two variants can form an emotional connection, which disrupts the timeline and causes Nexus events. Using psychological tactics, Mobius pressures Loki into revealing everything he knows, though he remains skeptical of Loki's claims. After the interrogation, Loki is sent back to the time prison.
Hunter B-15 takes Sylvie to the entrance of the Roxxcart supermarket. It is revealed that during their first encounter, Sylvie showed B-15 her memories from before she was taken by the TVA. Now, Sylvie shares these memories with B-15 again. After witnessing her own happy past, B-15 decides to ally with Sylvie.
Mobius confronts Renslayer, questioning why he was barred from interrogating Sylvie and expressing his growing curiosity about the TVA's origins. Their perspectives clash—Mobius is focused on the past, while Renslayer is concerned with the future. Renslayer claims she is protecting Mobius, which only deepens his suspicion. Mobius distracts Renslayer with Sylvie's weapon and swaps their time controllers.
Using Renslayer's time controller, Mobius confirms C-20's death and sees footage of her confessing during interrogation that she was a time variant. Mobius finds Loki, seeking verification of the truth he witnessed, and decides to switch sides and join him. Mobius tells Loki that the TVA can shape him into whatever they want, leading him to suspect that the TVA manipulated Loki into becoming a villain. When they return from the time prison to TVA headquarters, Renslayer has already stationed troops to ambush them. As Mobius attempts to answer Renslayer's earlier question, she orders his elimination right before Loki's eyes, shocking him.
Renslayer takes Loki and Sylvie to the Time-Keepers. Just as the Time-Keepers are about to pass judgment, Hunter B-15 bursts out of the elevator, removes the controllers from Loki and Sylvie's necks, and a fight ensues. Loki and Sylvie overpower the guards, and Sylvie beheads one of the Time-Keepers after it claims she is a child of the Time-Keepers. They then discover that the Time-Keepers are androids, leaving Sylvie disillusioned. At that moment, Renslayer gets up and "prunes" Loki with her weapon.
Loki suddenly wakes up in a desolate wasteland, where he encounters four different variants of himself: Classic Loki, Kid Loki, Boastful Loki, and Alligator Loki.