So I can’t boost my boot time?
The most important thing is the smooth transition between plymouth and sddm till the system is completely up 
My boot times are consistent - and I think yours are too
kernel 5.9
➜ ~ inxi -S
System:
Host: ts Kernel: 5.9.11-2-MANJARO x86_64 bits: 64 Desktop: N/A
Distro: Manjaro Linux
kernel 5.4
➜ ~ inxi -Sxxx
System: Host: ts Kernel: 5.4.80-1-MANJARO x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 10.2.0 Desktop: N/A
wm: Compiz 0.9.14.1 dm: LXDM Distro: Manjaro Linux
using lighdm with webkit greeter
➜ ~ systemd-analyze
Startup finished in 10.054s (firmware) + 7.043s (loader) + 1.746s (kernel) + 9.469s (userspace) = 28.314s
graphical.target reached after 4.563s in userspace
using lxdm
➜ ~ systemd-analyze
Startup finished in 10.107s (firmware) + 7.047s (loader) + 1.711s (kernel) + 9.507s (userspace) = 28.374s
graphical.target reached after 4.236s in userspace
a few seconds by disabling some network mount units
➜ ~ systemd-analyze
Startup finished in 10.067s (firmware) + 6.958s (loader) + 2.242s (kernel) + 6.324s (userspace) = 25.592s
graphical.target reached after 6.238s in userspace
So I my case the greeter does nothing adding nor subtracting - not even switching to LTS kernel makes any difference - so my suggestion to you is - live with it and be happy 
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This what i see on my system, de is Plasma:
systemd-analyze
Startup finished in 1.761s (kernel) + 2.887s (userspace) = 4.648s
graphical.target reached after 1.953s in userspace
Fully usable desktop is up in ~10s
Why is it so different?
Wow…
Man what’s your specs?
No time for firmware?
i5 2500k@4.2GHz, 8MB RAM, SSD
@Avinash No, i have actually not seen that ever. That’s why i am a bit confused you all see that on your systems.
What’s your compositor?
Have you configured a certain setting to get that result?
Manjaro Plasma, kwin.
I masked lvm2, snapd and bluetooth. No splash screen, plain color background, most desktop effects disabled; that’s it.
The missing firmware time might be because i boot with refind, if trimoon is right about that.
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Still, I can’t achieve that 
TBH, it was just my educated guess 
But your lack of firmware time might also be related to the difference of systemd you use, or perhaps indeed something wrt REFInd.
(I personally boot using sd-boot)
The more i investigate…
sudo bootctl
systemd-boot not installed in ESP.
System:
Firmware: n/a (n/a)
Secure Boot: disabled
Setup Mode: user
Boot into FW: not supported
Not sure what firmware is, in the boot context. BIOS?
Yes it is the UEFI BIOS version, eg i get this:
trimoon@manjaro ~ sudo bootctl
System:
Firmware: UEFI 2.40 (American Megatrends 5.11)
Secure Boot: disabled
Setup Mode: user
Boot into FW: supported
Current Boot Loader:
Product: systemd-boot 246.6-1-manjaro
Features: ✓ Boot counting
✓ Menu timeout control
✓ One-shot menu timeout control
✓ Default entry control
✓ One-shot entry control
✓ Support for XBOOTLDR partition
✓ Support for passing random seed to OS
✓ Boot loader sets ESP partition information
ESP: /dev/disk/by-partuuid/649c2951-0c07-46bd-9e18-f79d65bd1def
File: └─/EFI/SYSTEMD/SYSTEMD-BOOTX64.EFI
Random Seed:
Passed to OS: no
System Token: set
Exists: yes
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Why doesn’t mine mention the boot loader?!
systemd-boot not installed in ESP.
System:
Firmware: n/a (n/a)
Secure Boot: disabled
Setup Mode: user
Boot into FW: supported
Current Boot Loader:
Product: n/a
Features: ✗ Boot counting
✗ Menu timeout control
✗ One-shot menu timeout control
✗ Default entry control
✗ One-shot entry control
✗ Support for XBOOTLDR partition
✗ Support for passing random seed to OS
✗ Boot loader sets ESP partition information
ESP: n/a
File: └─n/a
Random Seed:
Passed to OS: no
System Token: not set
Exists: no
It probably does, look further down in the output.
For me it looks like that
Boot Loaders Listed in EFI Variables:
Title: rEFInd boot manager
ID: 0x0004
Status: active, boot-order
Partition: /dev/disk/by-partuuid/221463ed-5259-4fae-8646-77a331ea60a4
File: └─/EFI/refind/refind_x64.efi
I looked but didn’t see that
Are you sure your BIOS is UEFI?