Avengers: The Terminatrix Objective #4
Thy Kingdom Come
With the creature known as Alioth threatening to destroy Chronopolis, Ravonna Renslayer — aka the Terminatrix — has no choice but to revive Kang the Conqueror as he is the only with the key to stopping the monster.[1] The cure given to her by Revelation works and Kang is restored to full health.
While Ravonna gets him up to speed, six Avengers — Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, US Agent, Thunderstrike, and War Machine — have been caught in the tendrils of Alioth as the giant monster attacks Chronopolis. The heroes manage to get free thanks to three passing limbic infundibulas that are passing by.
By this time, Kang is brought up to speed about the threat posed by Alioth. Kang then tries to rally the Council of Cross-Time Kangs, only to discover that they have already been consumed by Alioth. Barely escaping alive thanks to Kang’s automatic recall function, Kang explains that should Alioth succeed here will continue to grow until he consumes all timelines. Kang insists that the residual energies of the Council are the key to stopping the monster. Ravonna has an idea how to stop them but first they’ll need to find the Avengers.
When the Terminatrix finds the six heroes they are unwilling to trust anything she says after they’ve been jerked around so much. That’s when a projection of Revelation appears before them and she confirms everything her past self has said, saying that she manipulated everyone to get to this point.[2] Agreeing to help, the Avengers are then taken to the armory where they are outfitted with armor and breathing apparatus that will allow them to literally venture into the belly of the beast. That’s when Kang arrives and the Avengers are about to fight him when he impresses upon them the dire nature of their mission ahead. He explains that the main reason he hasn’t focused all of his time conquering the Avengers era is because he has always had to come back to Chronopolis and keep Alioth at bay. Realizing how big a threat the monster poses, the Avengers agree to help. To destroy the monster, Kang hands them a staff he calls a Chrono-Key.
Teleporting to the chamber above where the Council of Cross-Time Kangs used to meet, the Avengers form a human chain and lower themselves into Alioth. While Iron Man and War Machine keep Alioth’s tendrils away from Thor, the thunder god pulls out the Chrono Key. The device suddenly starts glowing as it absorbs the life energies of the deceased Council members. Suddenly, the device transforms into the shape of Tempus. Suddenly, Tempus grows to gigantic size and drives Alioth back to its domain.
With the battle over, Kang thanks the Avengers for their help, gloating to them about how he can now focus all of his time on conquering their era now. When the heroes try to attack Kang, he is protected by his forcefield. He then quickly banishes them back to their proper place in the timestream.
With the Avengers gone, Kang removes his mask and tells Ravonna that is now time for them to finally speak man to woman. Observing this moment from the future Revelation and her son Marcus Immortus believe that this is the moment that will guarantee their future. Kang offers Ravonna a choice: Rule by his side and create a new future or make the one where she becomes Revelation a reality. However, rather than embrace Kang, the Terminatrix stabs him in the back. Kang can’t understand it, but Ravonna points out that Kang loves her for this very kind of wild unpredictability. She also feels that every destiny planned out for her wasn’t her own. In order to have control of her own destiny she will only save Kang if he agrees that they will rule his empire as equals.
“Later” in the year 1902, Kang — in his guise of Victor Timely — returns to the town of Timely, Wisconsin.[3] There he tells the citizens that he is awaiting a train carrying his bride to be. When the train arrives, Victor Timely welcomes Rebecca Tourment, aka Ravonna. As they walk off the platform Ravonna asks Kang if this is not much better than his original plan. However, Kang believes that only time will tell.[4] While in the amidst the oceans of time Tempus and Alioth continue their eternal struggle which will — if we’re lucky — last for all eternity.[5]
Recurring Characters
Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, US Agent, Thunderstrike, War Machine), Terminatrix, Kang, Revelation, Tempus, Alioth, Marcus Immortus
Continuity Notes
The relationship between Kang and Terminatrix is incredibly complicated, so I’m going to break it down here so we can get it all out of the way:
Ravonna Renslayer was a princess of a kingdom that was unconquered by Kang in the distant 40th century because Kang had fallen in love with her. She refused his advances until Kang and the Avengers defended her kingdom. In the aftermath, she took an assassins bullet meant for him, as seen in Avengers #23-24.
Kang kept her alive in stasis while he attempted to find a cure. One potential came when the Grandmaster challenged him to the so-called Game of Galaxies, offering the time master the power over life and death. Winning this power, Kang chose to try and kill the Avengers rather than use the power to restore Ravonna, as seen in Avengers #69-71.
As revealed in Avengers Annual #21, the Grandmaster took pity on Ravonna and used his power to restore her. She was furious that Kang didn’t restore her himself. She then went on a trail across time and space to get revenge against him as seen in Avengers #291-297, Fantastic Four #337-341, and Avengers Spotlight #37.
Reinventing herself as the Terminatrix, Ravonna attempted to get revenge against Kang only for the time master to be crippled by Mjolnir. See Captain America Annual #11, Thor Annual #17, Fantastic Four Annual #25, and Avengers Annual #21.
Since then, as seen in Avengers: The Terminatrix Objective #1, Ravonna has been ruling Kang’s empire in secret while keeping him in stasis. Her motivations were to find a cure so she could eliminate him herself. However, last issue, Revelation revealed that in order to save the timeline and ensure a future where Ravonna rules Kang’s empire alone, she needed to restore Kang to health to stop Alioth.
Per Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #5, Revelations future timeline exists as part of Reality-93091.
As explained in Avengers Annual #21, Kang set up Timely as his beachhead to the present following his first defeat at the hands of the Avengers circa Avengers #4.
From here, as seen in Avengers Forever #9, we’ll see that Ravonna will eventually return with Kang to Chronopolis and abandon her Terminatrix identity. Presumably she died when Immortus later destroyed Chronopolis in Avengers Forever #3. Kang will encounter another version of the Terminatrix, a reincarnation of Ravonna from the year 7634, as seen in Kang the Conqueror #5.
The eternal battle between Alioth and Tempus couldn’t last for eternity given how Tempus will be seen in the employ of Immortus starting in Thor #282. Alioth, to date, hasn’t been seen in comics since. In Avengers Forever #8, Kang states that he intentionall released Alioth to eliminate the Council of Cross-Time Kangs. That same story reported that Alioth was then unleashed upon the Time Variance Authority. Since the TVA has been seen since, Alioth was likely repelled again. Alioth appears in appears in Season 1, Episode 5, of Loki, which is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Although the creature is implied to be a unique entity in the multiverse, it has yet to be clarified if the Alioth seen in that episode is the same entity. I don’t see why it can’t be, however.
Topical References
References to the present day taking place in the 20th century should be considered topical. The Sliding Timescale has pushed the Modern Age of the Marvel Universe forward in time enough that it does not begin until after the start of the 21st century.
