Judge Ravonna Renslayer is more than just the highest TVA authority.
Ravonna Renslayer came to us as the judge presiding over the TVA. However, after Loki season 1 we know she is up to something. Where did she go through that time portal after all…?
Watch: Marvel Studios’ LOKI | EPISODE 4 – 6 PROMO TRAILER | Disney+
“…[when she is in the field] we get to see a whole other side of her. So there’s a lot of secrets. There’s betrayal. There’s lots of layers of Renslayer to come.”- Gugu Mbatha-Raw to The Hollywood Reporter
TVA and Its Variants
During the series a highly probable clue, if we consider the TVA a hoax, is Ravonna Renslayer. She is the head of the TVA as it seems. And Sylvie told Loki that all the people working at the TVA are variants. So Ravonna’s name falls on this list too and we see that unfolding in.
She, being the head, does point towards the fact that the one pulling strings in all this (He Who Remains) has put her in charge of controlling all the variants who work under her. This, however, does not disregard the possibility that she too, like all those working under her, has had her memories erased. This we deduce from the revelation provided by Sylvie when she “enchanted” Hunter C-20. And as well as Mobius’ statement about his love for jet-skis. Both these instances are proof that variants have lingering memories from their past lives that were erased before they were turned into workers for the TVA.
All this allows us to safely say that she knows the most about the one who is responsible for this “Sacred Timeline” thing, be it the Time-Keepers or someone else. This is because she is the only one at the TVA who is answerable to V, taking for granted that V needs all the info about the workings at the TVA.
The Renslayer-Mobius Conversation
The conversation between Judge Renslayer and Mobius in episode 2 is of vital importance in this case. It proves how Renslayer knows more about Mobius than he himself does. And this reflects her character arc in a much clearer manner, the one that we are discussing here.
There are multiple times when Mobius tells things that prove that he is unable to remember things. These include:
– “Is it just me, or does this office keep getting better and better?”
He points out several items that are displayed and that he doesn’t recognize them.
– “Where’d you get that one, the snow globe?”
He also mutters “I love those” to himself as if trying to remember something.
– “those rings were already there,” to which Renslayer replies that it was he who gave them to her.
Renslayer also proves through her words that she knows more about Mobius than he himself knows. She tells him that he has a “soft spot for broken things” which he denies. It’s as if she knew that Mobius will get attached to Loki. That’s why she put him in charge of Loki.
Watch: Mobius Find Out Truth About TVA
The Other Analyst
During the same conversation, the Renslayer mentions another analyst. This is when Mobius tells her that he hasn’t seen the snow globe before. She replies, “You’re not the only analyst working for me.” There are two possible explanations for this:
- Either other analysts are working for her, which makes sense because the TVA is a huge place
- Or, she says it in order to prevent Mobius from asking any further questions about the things he isn’t able to remember. Changing the topic as we call it.
Both can be true too, in which case the second explanation seems more probable as Renslayer will try to block Mobius’ mind from even thinking about his past. Strangely, Mobius doesn’t know who the other analysts are. What if Sylvie was one of them and she escaped from the TVA using her powers. And V erased her identity from the minds of all other TVA staff, including Mobius but not Renslayer, to make her look like an evil variant.
Ravonna Renslayer in the Comics
Being the head of the TVA, it might be that V has let him in on the big secret. Again, she may know about the TVA variants but does she know everything? We previously mentioned that she too might be a variant. But then who made her the head of the TVA? It could also be that Renslayer is the only one in the TVA who has met with the Time-Keepers or V whom we can, at this point, assume to be Kang the Conqueror.
In the comics, Kang likes to collect trophies. We see this same affinity in Ravonna Renslayer when Mobius mentions “trophies” in her office. She might have borrowed this taste from Kang, who is also her lover in the comics. Kang brought her back to life from her last breath, in a timeline where she was meant to die. This made her a variant. However, she was forced into stasis. Kang would search for a solution to save her from her fate. If this is true in Loki then the question is does she know about this past of hers?
If Kang is the lover of Ravonna Renslayer in Loki, then the words she said to Loki stand clear and true: “It’s not your story, Mr. Laufeyson. It never was.” It’s theirs.
