In Flash ActionScript, _level0 always refers to the main movie timeline at level 0 of the Flash Player, regardless of which SWF you're in. The _root property, however, is relative to each SWF's own main timeline. When 1.swf is loaded into 2.swf, _root in 1.swf refers to 1.swf's timeline, while _level0 remains the same global reference for both.