Ravonna Renslayer Is Loki’s Secret Villain (Comics History Explained)

Warning! Contains spoilers for Loki episode 4.

Loki episode 4 has finally revealed the show’s secret villain, and it’s none other than TVA judge Ravonna Renslayer. Ravonna has been something of a mystery since the MCU series began, but her closeness with the Time-Keepers and her significant power within the TVA have certainly been suspicious. For those familiar with Ravonna’s history in Marvel Comics, her villainous turn in Loki may not have come as too much of a surprise.

In the first episode of Loki, the TVA and the Time-Keepers were set up as the omniscient guardians of the Sacred Timeline, whose work was credited with keeping the universe in balance. As the show has continued, that story has unraveled bit by bit, leading to Sylvie’s reveal in episode 3 that the TVA’s agents are all actually brainwashed variants. That secret starts to get out in Loki episode 4, “The Nexus Event,” leading to a confrontation with the Time-Keepers themselves. However, the all-powerful beings ended up being nothing more than robotic puppets, suggesting that Ravonna has been pulling the strings all along.

There are still a lot of details about Ravonna Renslayer and the TVA that have yet to be revealed. Who created the organization and why, for instance, and how long it’s actually been running, are now unclear. One thing is certain, however - Renslayer has known far more than anyone else the whole time, and her motivations seem less than virtuous. There's a lot from Ravonna Renslayer’s comic storyline that can reveal details about her role in Loki, and what the MCU series could be setting up with her villainous twist.

Ravonna Renslayer's History In Marvel Comics

The comics version of Ravonna Renslayer is a good deal different from her counterpart in Loki, but a look at the character’s history can help shed some light on her potential future in the MCU. Ravonna Renslayer was first introduced by Marvel in the 1960s as a princess on 40th-century Earth. The daughter of King Carelius, Ravonna was a fierce and driven woman who quickly earned the attention of time-travelling warlord Kang the Conqueror when he came to take over Carelius’ kingdom. Kang and Ravonna embarked on a complicated love affair that ultimately ended with her death and eventual resurrection.

Renslayer’s comic stories are all tied to Kang. She has at different times been his lover, his ally, and his sworn enemy (after he chose revenge on the Avengers over bringing her back to life). In addition to her birth name, she has also fought under the title of the Terminatrix while ruling Kang’s empire. Over the years, Kang and Renslayer have fought and made up numerous times – a plot device aided by their shared ability to traverse the timeline. And while Ravonna has not always been an absolute villain, her stories mostly revolve around her striving for power and revenge.

Loki's Ravonna Renslayer Villain Twist Explained

At first, it seemed like the MCU’s version of Ravonna Renslayer would be quite different from the comics. Rather than a 40th-century princess, Ravonna was introduced as a judge and high-ranking official of the TVA. She’s one of the only people to have actually met the Time-Keepers, but that initially seemed to be because of her high station. Now, after the events of episode 4, it appears that Renslayer’s true nature and motivations are much more sinister.

Related: Loki: Is Mobius Really Dead?

Loki episode 4 reveals a number of big details about Renslayer. To start, she seems to know that the TVA agents are all captured and brainwashed variants. When Mobius and Hunter B-15 both bring up the subject, Renslayer’s calculated response indicates she’s known all along. She also seems to have known that the Time-Keepers were fake, as she is completely unfazed when Sylvie decapitates one and reveals its mechanical innards. That means one of two things – either Renslayer is the mastermind of the entire TVA, or she’s working for some unseen greater force that’s been pulling the strings through her.

Either way, Renslayer’s villain twist explains a lot. Her room full of trinkets from across the Sacred Timeline makes a lot more sense now, as does her apparent closeness with the Time-Keepers. For every answer, however, there’s a new mystery opened up by Ravonna’s turn. If the Time-Keepers were a ruse the whole time, how much of the TVA’s story was a lie? Was there actually a multiverse war between different timelines? And what actually happens at the end of time?

What Loki's Ravonna Renslayer Twist Is Setting Up

Loki Time Keepers, Renslayer, and Kang the Conqueror

With two episodes left, Loki has many interesting possibilities after the Ravonna Renslayer twist. The TVA are now clearly the villains of the show, though most of them are unwitting in that role. That means that Loki and Sylvie will almost surely be taking them down – or at least trying to – by the end of the series, possibly restoring the multiverse in the process. The upcoming MCU film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is written by Michael Waldron, who also created Loki, so it would make sense for the current show to restore the multiverse and thereby lead into the plot of Doctor Strange.

On a larger, franchise-level scale, Renslayer’s villain turn could be part of the setup for Kang the Conqueror to join the MCU. It hasn’t been revealed yet if she’s the mastermind of the TVA’s ruse or if she’s working for someone else, but there’s a high probability that Kang is somehow involved. The villain isn’t supposed to enter the franchise until Ant-man and the Wasp: Quantumania, but an early appearance in Loki wouldn’t be out of character for the MCU. Imprisoning the entire multiverse into a single, controlled timeline seems like exactly the kind of plan a time-travelling ruler would be behind, and its’s entirely plausible that Kang is the one responsible for the creation of the TVA.

Whether or not Kang is involved, Renslayer’s evil twist opens up a ton of possibilities for the rest of the show and the MCU at large. An organization as powerful as the TVA makes for a great villain, and it should be interesting to see if they survive through the end of Loki. Again, given the impending release of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, it seems more likely that Loki and Sylvie will successfully free the timeline by the end of the show. But to get that done in the next two episodes, they’ll likely have to face off against Renslayer once again.

Next: Loki Episode 4 Post-Credits Scene: 4 New Variants Explained

New Loki episodes stream every Wednesday on Disney+.