The Mystery Deepens: Who Really Is Judge Ravonna Renslayer?
The curtain rises on Season 2 of the Marvel Studios’ Disney+ series, Loki, and the story takes a turn towards the enigmatic. Even as we follow the trickster god Loki through the convoluted corridors of time, one character has managed to stay elusive—Judge Ravonna Renslayer, brought to life by Gugu Mbatha-Raw.
“Throughout the first season, audiences discovered Renslayer was originally the hunter who captured Sylvie, as well as a Variant of Rebecca Tourminet, a high school vice principal.”
But in this season, we are prompted to question everything we thought we knew about her. Is she really who she says she is? And what shadows lurk in the corners of her mysterious past?
The Time Door to the Past
In Season 1, the last time we laid eyes on Renslayer, she was exiting through a time door in pursuit of the elusive He Who Remains. Now, though absent from the initial episodes of Season 2, hints at her backstory are peppered throughout.
In a recent episode titled “Breaking Brad,” Tom Hiddleston‘s Loki drops a rather significant nugget of information. While timeslipping into the past, he stumbled upon a conversation between Renslayer and He Who Remains:
“Hang on… When I was in the past, I heard something. An old… a conversation between Renslayer and He Who Remains. It sounded like they were partners.”
The implications of this are staggering. Is it possible that Renslayer’s alliance with He Who Remains predates even the events of Season 1? The timing of this partnership, whatever it may entail, adds a fresh layer of complexity to her character.
What Was Said Behind Closed Doors?
The recorded conversation Loki heard isn’t just chit-chat; it’s laden with clues about Renslayer’s past and possibly her future.
He Who Remains: “For us. For All Time”
Renslayer: “Always.”
He Who Remains: “Ravonna Renslayer, you are quite a marvel. I will be proud to lead with you. You made a difference in this war. Thank you for being on my team.”
The dialogue implies Renslayer’s involvement in a “war,” although it is yet unclear which war this refers to. Considering her comic book roots where she was a princess and not a TVA judge, the possibilities are endless.
“Speaking of two different times, her comic book narrative resulted in two different Ravonnas with two different stories.”
The Road Ahead: What’s Next for Renslayer?
Producer Kevin Wright has hinted at the deeper involvement of Renslayer’s character in the ongoing plot.
“Sylvie wants to burn it down because the apple is rotten, as she says… Mobius and B-15, they’ve dedicated their whole life to it. They’re not quite ready to give it up. Renslayer feels like she’s been keeping it together, and you get a real understanding of why she thinks she should be the one to get this thing back on track.”
With the TVA labeling her as a villain, her role as it unfolds promises to be one of the key highlights of the season. Furthermore, Renslayer was teased in a historical era in the post-credits scene of Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, indicating her ties to the Multiversal War.
With new episodes of Loki landing every Thursday on Disney+, the mystery surrounding Ravonna Renslayer is one we can’t wait to solve. One thing’s for sure: the more we find out, the less we actually know.
