Subscribe
Follow Us
Ravonna Renslayer has a storied history in Marvel Comics, as stated by CBR. If you'll indulge me in a brief history lesson.
Warning: Spoilers from Loki Season 2 ahead
Earth-6311 Ravonna
She was first seen in Earth-6311 as the daughter of 40th-century Earth ruler King Carelius. The kingdom of Carelius was the last remaining civilization untouched by Kang the Conqueror.
And then Kang fell in love with Ravonna. She refused him because she was royalty and he was not. But that didn't deter Kang. He vowed to win her heart anyway. He tried to prove his prowess in battle by summoning the Avengers. This proved to be a disaster to Kang because the Avengers joined forces with Ravonna.
Long story short, Kang ended up conquering Carelius, defeating Ravonna and the Avengers. He set aside his usual policy of killing rulers of conquered nations to prevent uprisings. However, his right-hand man Baltag wanted to proceed with said policy and betrayed Kang.
In a soap-opera worthy moment, Kang then joins forces with Ravonna and the Avengers to defeat Baltag. The defeated Baltag tried to kill Kang, but Ravonna saves him and declares her love for him with her dying breath.
Lokiverse Ravonna
However, in the MCU series Loki, Ravonna Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) is Rebecca Tourminet, loyal soldier of the Time Keepers. She was a former Hunter at the Time Variance Authority, codenamed Hunter A-23.
After serving on the far side of forever at the TVA, she was promoted as a judge. In season two, she is seen to have a close friendship with Agent Mobius (Luke Wilson) who she tasked to hunt down a Loki (Tom Hiddleston) variant who breached the Sacred Timeline. Mobius instead convinces her to hire him as a consultant to help in the hunting down Sylvie Laufeydottir (Sophia Di Martino), another Loki variant.
In the course of the season, Renslayer ends up pruning Mobius and Loki when it is revealed that the TVA workers are actually variants of people from Earth. When TVA mascot Miss Minutes (Tara Strong) gives her information regarding He Who Remains, the founder of the TVA, Renslayer leaves to find her free will.
Are you confused yet? (Spoiler Warning: Season 2 Episode 3)
Article Continues Below
In season two, we see Miss Minutes and Renslayer working together to find Victor Timely (Jonathan Majors), a variant of He Who Remains in 19th century Chicago. They try to get him to go with them back to the TVA to fix the Loom. Renslayer proposes a partnership, which the enamored Miss Minutes sabotages. Timely isn't interested in a partnership and sends Renslayer adrift on a lifeboat instead.
Miss Minutes tries to get Timely to share power, which Timely responds with, “I don't really know how to do that.” She starts peppering him with questions as to why he never indulged her the one whim she's wanted: a body of her own. In the end, Timely shuts her away using the Temp Pad.
Renslayer arrives at Timely's lab, minutes before Loki and Mobius. In a tense confrontation, Mobius tries to get her to see the big picture. But she bats him away, telling him, “I am the only one who can bring stability to the TVA because that's what I've been doing, thanklessly, for eons. When will you learn that none of your words mean a thing? All that matters is order versus chaos. I'm order.”
Sylvie then arrives, allowing Mobius and Loki to take Timely back to the TVA. When she and Renslayer are alone she tells her, “It's power for you, isn't it? A seat at the End of Time.” With that, she sends her to the Citadel at the End of Time, with Miss Minutes tagging along. We see the corpse of He Who Remains.
Miss Minutes sees him, and says, “It was foolish of him to make an enemy out of someone who knows all his secrets.” And before the episode ends, she tells Renslayer, “I know a really big one about you. I can tell you but it's going to make you real angry.”
So, who is Ravonna Renslayer?
In season one, she seems to be a very by-the-book person with hardly any empathy, especially towards Loki. However, she seems lighter and friendlier with Mobius. But by the end of the first season, we see her as a little bit delusional and hypocritical, blindly following the rules of the TVA.
In season two, we can see the resentment she has spent eons concealing. She seems to have ulterior motives she's still disguising as her need to restore order in the TVA.
But with that secret Miss Minutes is holding close to her clock face, it could mean the next episodes will reveal the real Ravonna Renslayer. The question remains: will she be the bigger villain than He Who Remains? Or is there still time for her redemption?
