Loki Season 2: What happened to Judge Renslayer? Comics reveal the answer
Where will Ravonna’s search for free will bring her?
Loki left plenty of characters in the lurch.
As the Disney+ series ends its first season this week, Loki is still in the Time Variance Authority headquarters with Mobius and Hunter B-15, while Sylvie is still in the Citadel at the End of Time, having freshly slain He Who Remains. Suddenly, the TVA is under new management: a variant of He Who Remains who (probably, definitely) is Kang the Conqueror.
One character was left out of the series’ epilogue: Judge Ravonna Renslayer. We saw the character researching, then in her former life as a high school teacher, but she most recently left the TVA “in search of free will.”
What does this mean? Marvel Comics reveal the most likely fate ahead for this pivotal character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Kang first meets Ravonna in Avengers #23, published in 1965.
One thing is abundantly clear: Ravonna Renslayer has made her allegiances clear going into Loki Season 2. After clashing with Agent Mobius over the “crisis of faith” that prompted him to throw away eons of friendship over the truth Loki uncovered, Renslayer is sticking with the TVA — which means she’s likely remain loyal to whoever’s running the bureaucracy. And yet, it’s unclear how Kang’s TVA takeover will impact Renslayer.
Could Renslayer now be working personally for Kang, or will she retain memories of the past like Loki?
This is a major question Loki Season 2 will need to answer, though clues may lie in whatever files He Who Remains sent to Renslayer’s TemPad at the beginning of the finale. These weren’t the files she was looking for, but based on her reaction they’re obviously the files she needed. Knowing his life was in danger, He Who Remains could have sent any amount of relevant information to Renslayer as a kind of failsafe.
Ravonna makes her debut as Terminatrix in Avengers Annual #21, published in 1992.
Looking back at Marvel Comics, Renslayer’s previous comic-book appearances could hold the key to this character’s next step. Ravonna Renslayer was first introduced in The Avengers #23 as the daughter of a king in 40th century Earth. In these issues, Kang became enamored with Renslayer, but she (rightly) saw him as nothing than a villain and was hesitant to be involved with him. However, Kang knew how to conquer, and that extended to conquering Renslayer’s heart. Eventually, she fell in love with him.
Over the course of Renslayer’s comics career, she was usually at Kang’s side, the Harley Quinn to his Joker. However, after a long and very complicated period of death and revival, Renslayer found herself pitted against Kang, and she sought to get revenge on the Conqueror. She took on the name Terminatrix and even assumed control of Kang’s empire for a time.
Renslayer’s storyline spans decades of comics, so her entire story won’t likely be used in future seasons of Loki, but becoming Kang’s sidekick would be an interesting progression for the character — espeically if she, like other TVA members, had her memories affected by Kang taking over. Given that Renslayer is in possession of sensitive information personally selected by He Who Remains, she could be getting a head start on villainy, even if it is villainy “in search of free will.”
Thus far, Renslayer has been a well-meaning peace keeper in the MCU, but Loki Season 2 may be the perfect opportunity for the character to take on a new role by Kang’s side. And if there happens to be a romance between the two? After six episodes dedicated to Loki falling for another version of himself, Season 2 could shift the focus to a time-honored trope: The Big Bad and his partner in crime, a no-nonsense Bonnie to Kang’s all-conquering Clyde.
Loki is now streaming on Disney+.
