What’s the Relationship Between Kang & Ravonna Renslayer? (Comics & MCU)
One of the things that we learned in season 1 of ‘Loki’ was that not all of the people in the TVA were innocent about the fact that there was something wrong with the things that were happening within the organization. Of course, Ravonna Renslayer was tops among them, as it was clear that she was aware of the truth the entire time. Season 2, of course, sheds some light on how she is involved with He Who Remains. So, what’s the relationship between Kang/He Who Remains and Ravonna Renslayer?
Ravonna and Kang were romantically involved in the comics
There is no doubt that Ravonna Renslayer has become one of the most intriguing ‘Loki’ villains because she was the only one who knew the fact that there was something wrong happening in the TVA and that the Time-Keepers whom everyone thought were gods were nothing more than just fake robots designed to make everyone believe that they were doing their job for the sake of something great.
Of course, near the end of season 1, Mobius confronted Ravonna as she revealed to him that he already knew that they needed to keep the Sacred Timeline intact for the sake of everyone because death and destruction were going to happen. And it became clear that she had knowledge of He Who Remains’ purpose and was likely allied with him.
The thing is that Ravonna isn’t a stranger to Kang in the comics. That’s because they were involved romantically in their own comic book storylines. And this is where the inspiration of the MCU’s Ravonna’s relationship with He Who Remains was adapted from.
In the comics, Kang the Conqueror conquered every civilization during the 40th century but ended up sparing the kingdom of Carelius. Ravonna was the daughter of the kingdom of Carelius, and her kingdom was the last bastion of civilization at that time. And there was no reason for Kang to conquer and destroy Carelius because Ravonna’s beauty and fiery personality smote him.
However, Kang couldn’t win Ravonna’s heart because she rejected him because he wasn’t born a noble. As such, he decided to try to do everything possible to win Ravonna’s heart, so he summoned the Avengers to his timeline to showcase his might and impress Ravonna.
Kang eventually grew tired of the games that Ravonna was playing, so he ordered an invasion of her kingdom. Ravonna had no choice but to work together with the Avengers. Nevertheless, Kang conquered both the Avengers and Ravonna’s kingdom. After that, he forced Ravonna into marrying him as he demanded a wedding ceremony for them.
Baltag, one of Kang’s loyal generals, decided to betray him because he saw that Kang had betrayed his own code of killing the rulers of all the nations he conquered. Kang had to work together with Ravonna and the Avengers to defeat Baltag. But when Baltag tried to kill Kang with an attack, Ravonna hurled herself in the blast’s path to save Kang’s life. Ravonna confessed that she had fallen for Kang before she died.
Kang, of course, tried to find a way to bring Ravonna back from the dead. In fact, numerous divergent versions of Kang tried to do so, and some of them succeeded in reviving her. And Ravonna ended up getting romantically involved with Kang after her revival.
Ravonna and He Who Remains have a partnership in the MCU
So, as the comics show, Kang and Ravonna were actually romantically linked with one another. This wasn’t made clear in season 1 of ‘Loki’ as Renslayer fled the TVA before Mobius and the other hunters could apprehend and ask her questions. But the first episode of season 2 kind of sheds some light on their relationship.
Loki suffered from time slipping as he constantly slipped between the present and the past. At one point in the past, he entered the war room of the Council of Judges in the TVA. He played a recording wherein he could hear He Who Remains telling someone how remarkable they were and how they were able to help him win the war. Loki played the recording from the beginning and realized that He Who Remains was speaking to Ravonna Renslayer.
This opens up the possibility that Ravonna and He Who Remains had been working together for the longest time possible. That explains why Ravonna was the only one in the TVA who knew they were all variants and that stopping He Who Remains could bring death and destruction.
It is possible that, at one point in the past, Ravonna helped He Who Remains against the other Kang variants to win the war. That was probably the start of their alliance, as it is possible that this partnership blossomed into something romantic. And there’s a good chance that they were the ones who erased everyone’s (except Ouroboros) memories around 400 years ago.
Both He Who Remains and Ravonna Renslayer likely cooked up the entire lie about them serving the Time-Keepers and that they had to preserve the Sacred Timeline. And there’s a good chance we will see more of this relationship and dynamic in the next episodes of season 2 of ‘Loki,’ especially because we know that Ravonna is still at large somewhere out there in the multiverse.
Have something to add? Let us know in the comments below!
