It follows alternate versions of the character who are arrested by the mysterious Time Variance Authority (TVA) and brought before the organization's creators, the Time-Keepers.

Tom Hiddleston reprises his role as Loki from the film series, while Sophia Di Martino stars as a female version of the character named Sylvie.

[3] Herron and head writer Michael Waldron executive produce alongside Hiddleston and Marvel Studios' Kevin Feige, Louis D'Esposito, Victoria Alonso, and Stephen Broussard.

The moment that the two characters share on Lamentis-1 in which they wonder if there is more to their friendship creates a "straight-up and down branch" on the Sacred Timeline, which Waldron said was "exactly the sort of thing that would terrify" the Time Variance Authority (TVA).

[8] Loki also sees a memory of his life on Asgard in the episode, being trapped in a time loop with Sif attacking him over stealing a lock of her hair; this was based on a Norse myth.

[19][12]: 46:58–47:18 Composer Natalie Holt felt it was "really hard to get the right tone" for the scene of Loki and Sylvie sharing their connection that creates the nexus event.

I tried a much more understated version of it and then I just did this bombastic, love-in-space, the world is ending sound, just this huge, sweeping love moment and it just seemed to work with whatever it is that they brought to the table.

[24] Marvel also released a promotional poster for "The Nexus Event" featuring the Time-Keepers and Miss Minutes, and encouraging fans not to spoil the episode's surprises.

[28] Nielsen Media Research, who measure the number of minutes watched by United States audiences on television sets, listed Loki as the most-watched original streaming series for the week of June 28 to July 4, 2021.

The site's critical consensus reads, "Tom Hiddleston and Sophia Di Martino's hard-won chemistry helps anchor "The Nexus Event", a shocking installment that reshuffles the board while teasing exciting new variables for the God of Mischief.

"[30] Alan Sepinwall of Rolling Stone stated the episode was "a thrilling, poignant hour of TV that offered that familiar, reassuring sensation of making everything that came before feel more important as a result of it".

She felt the episode featured "a lot of sitting around and waiting for characters to figure out stuff we already know", believing an additional disconnect was that the series "wants to be a show full of twists, turns, and shocking reveals, but the writing isn't clever enough to actually pull off that sense of mischievous fun".

Vary and Mónica Marie Zorrilla of Variety stated "The Nexus Event" "goes positively mad with game-changing plot twists".

He felt "The Nexus Event" was "composed of a few interesting moments and scenes, little character beats and negotiations that feel like they ought to add up to something more compelling" and believed the series was "jogging in place", losing "some of the urgency and excitement teased" in past episodes.

Adlakha took issue with the indication that the sacred timeline being thrown into chaos was reduced to "a mere distraction dealt with off-screen", which created "a strange deflation of the show's own mechanics and the way it presented this enormous cliffhanger".

[11] Eric Martin, Kate Herron, and Michael Waldron were nominated for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form at the 2022 Hugo Awards.