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In Kang the Conqueror #2, Nathaniel Richards, who is fated to become Kang, just got very close to Marvel’s doomed Moon Knight.
WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Kang the Conqueror #2, on sale now from Marvel.
The saga of Kang the Conqueror has been told almost as many times as Marvel’s time-traveling tyrant has lived it. Throughout the millennia, Nathaniel Richards has been both hero and villain, and his latest variant has set out to foil the machinations of his future self. Not only has this version of the boy who would be Kang eschewed everything that his villainous future self tried to impart on him, but he has even attempted to embrace a life full of love rather than strife, and of all the people he could hope to share it with it’s an ancient Moon Knight that has captured his heart.
After being subjected to the unthinkable cruelty of his future self, it was easy for Nathaniel Richards to make the decision to undo all the damage that Kang had wrought throughout time. Nathaniel stole away with Kang’s armor into the timestream, leaving the villain to die with the rest of the prehistoric era while journeying to a different time and place.
Unfortunately, the trip landed Nathaniel in the middle of ancient Egypt at the height of Rama-Tut’s reign. This other villainous version of himself had cut a bloody swathe throughout the land and held an iron grip over it with his technologically advanced army. That alone wasn’t enough to keep war at bay, however, and in the middle of a brutal battlefield Nathaniel was only narrowly saved by the era’s ancient version of Moon Knight in Kang the Conqueror #2, by Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly, Carlos Magno, Espen Grundetjern, and VC’s Joe Carmagna. This iteration of Moon Knight isn’t so far removed from the current holder of the mantle, Marc Spector, but it doesn’t take long for the differences between the two to be made readily apparent.
While traversing the desert back to Khonshu’s temple, Nathaniel is wary of his new ally’s unyielding dedication to her mission, as well as her god. Once they have reached the safety of the temple’s walls and she reveals herself to him, his opinion quickly changes. Not only is he struck by the young warrior’s beauty, but her name being Ravonna evokes memories of his first love. Despite having never met the Ravonna Renslayer who would capture his heart as Kang, Nathaniel already knew about the place she would hold in his life thanks to Kang’s influence, and where his elder self had violently dissuaded him from pursuing happiness with another, Nathaniel embraced the idea.
Much like the love that he found in the prehistoric era, Ravonna becomes a source of unbridled joy in the face of the war they are fighting against Rama-Tut. The battles they face leave no doubt that Ravonna is as much of a fighter as her modern day counterpart, yet the stark contrast between them is one that cannot be ignored. Where Marc Spector has historically been a broken man with an equally broken mind, Ravonna seems to have only been gifted with compassion and empathy along with the more visceral attributes that come with being a champion of Khonshu.
Nathaniel and Ravonna’s story isn’t an especially long one once Rama-Tut steps back into the picture, although there is still some small glimmer of hope that the two might find each other again. Even if that doesn’t prove to be the case, the relationship between them and the ways in which it highlighted show how vastly different the weight of being Moon Knight can weigh on people.
The relationship between Nathaniel and the Egyptian Moon Knight is indicative of just how badly this Nathaniel Richards wants to escape his destiny as well as how receptive he is to those around him who would help him do just that.
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