WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Kang the Conqueror #4, available now from Marvel.
From his very first introduction to the Marvel Universe, Kang the Conqueror has been one of its most menacing figures. The journey from teen genius to Master of Time wasn't an easy one, nor has it ever been in the countless iterations that have played out across the Multiverse. The latest variant of Nathaniel Richards, however, has somehow managed to suffer the most of any, despite being given every possible advantage. In spite of his best efforts to avoid it, Nathaniel's destiny always finds its way towards the tragedy of Kang.
When Nathaniel Richards met his future self while scouring the ancient ruins of his 31st century home, he never could have imagined the chance to learn from someone as powerful as Kang would cost him everything. Kang taught Nathaniel to be resilient, self-sufficient, and unwavering in his conquests, while the primordial world they trained in taught him love. This was the one thing that Kang could not abide by, and so his unrelenting cruelty came down on everything Nathaniel held dear.
In doing so, Kang had sealed both their fates, as the young time traveler left his elder self for dead on that ancient world. Nathaniel stole away with Kang's armor into the future but for all of his struggles, he was still not able to overcome his future self's fate, nor was he able to be with his beloved. At least, not until he finally embraced his fate, transforming into an all-new yet immediately recognizable version of himself in the pages of Kang the Conqueror #4 by Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly, Carlos Magno, Espen Grundetjern, and VC's Joe Caramagna.
Finding rejection in the brutal wasteland of the faraway future was just what Nathaniel needed to realize his potential as a conqueror. He sought out the machines built by the one who had trained him and put them to use in the creation of a new time ship and suit of neurokinetic armor. Finally, Kang would come to know the life his future self had warned him of, getting to experience for the first time all over again his classic battles against the likes of King Arthur and Immortus.
What once seemed like such major moments in Kang's life were now relegated to little more than footnotes, and even as he successfully inserted himself into such grand conflicts as the Skrull/Shi'ar War, he found no glory in his victories. For Kang, the only conquest that really mattered was the one that had always escaped him. He returned to the time which had so maddeningly haunted his future self to find Ravonna Renslayer. She was the woman who had captured Kang's heart time and time again, throughout every iteration of both their lives.
Unfortunately, she would once more be indifferent to Kang's aggressive advances, only finding affection for him once his heroic mercy had its own chance to shine. And, as had happened so many times before, this would be Ravonna's downfall, damning the latest version of Kang to living out the worst part of his life yet again. Unlike every other variant of himself, this Kang is more dedicated to his pursuits of love, so much so that he's ready to shatter the universe as we know it to bring Ravonna back. How he plans to do that is still unknown, though there is little doubt that Kang is capable, and there might not be anyone left who can stop him.
Nathaniel Richards finally making the transition to Kang the Conqueror wasn't an unexpected turn for the series to take, though the end result of that transformation couldn't be farther from what readers were anticipating.
Whether this version of Kang is better or just more desperate than his other variants is up for debate, but there isn't any question that he has gone through more only to end up with less than any Master of Time before him. Assuming he really can bring Ravonna back, that might not be the case for very long, at least if he can save her without obliterating all of time itself.