WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Power Rangers Unlimited: Heir to Darkness #1 by L.L. McKinney, Simone Ragazzoni, Igor Monti, Sabrina Del Grosso, Ed Dukeshire and Scott Newman, on sale now.
The latest entry into the Power Rangers saga has just arrived, and with it comes a glimpse into one of the darkest corners of the universe that fans have ever seen. While in the present the Omega Rangers have just come face to face with two of their most fearsome villains, readers have been taken back to the past to see how they got to be where they are now.
The story of Astronema and Ecliptor is already one of the most tragic in Rangers history, but Heir to Darkness has just shed a light on exactly how close these two really are.
Much like her origin in Power Rangers in Space, this version of Astronema has beginnings far from where she would find herself down the road. In fact, she wasn't even Astronema yet. The girl who would become the Princess of Evil was born on an alien world as Karone, whose life was full of love until it was all destroyed by the monstrous Darkonda. The evil bounty hunter had come to claim new conscripts for the forces of Dark Specter, though they were usually younger than Karone. Her age and potential memories being a hindrance, Darkonda left the girl in the care of his rival, Ecliptor. These two would form a fast bond together, on much closer than Darkonda and his apprentice, Dee. Ecliptor didn't just teach and train Karone, then only referred to as Kay, he acted as a father figure to her in ways far removed from what is expected of a being such as himself. Kay quickly rose to the top of her class, or at least she would have if she weren't always outmatched by the cruel and callous Dee. Still, much like her devotion to Ecliptor, Kay never felt the sting of her adopted sister's words over her love for Dee. Still, never quite being good enough weighed heavily on the young soldier, so much so that it cascaded into a personal crisis that could only be healed by Ecliptor's intervention.
Not wanting to see his apprentice suffering so badly, Ecliptor gave to Kay the locket which was worn by her mother. Growing up under the purview of Dark Specter's lieutenants, Kay had been raised to believe that the Power Rangers were responsible for the murder of her family, the loss of them eating away at her soul until she lost all hope. Ecliptor had always been under the assumption that hiding every remaining piece of evidence of her family would be best for the child, but in her darkest moment he recognized that what she truly needed was to know that someone out there had genuine love for her at some point. Seeing her own face beside that of a brother she had never known, all contained in a locket worn by a mother she could not remember hit exactly the right chord that Kay needed to be brought out of her depression. Unfortunately, it was also the thing that finally tapped into the detached brutality inside of Kay which had been festering for so long.
In her final combat trial against Dee for Dark Specter's favor, Kay nearly killed her adopted sister in cold blood. When Dee begged for mercy as part of Kay's family, all Kay could do was say that her family was dead before leaving Dee broken both mentally and physically and taking her own place as the Princess of Evil. Astronema having been given a glimpse into her own past might have given her the push she needed to claim a proper name for herself, but that name has also come with a devastating price. Ecliptor is, of course, not a "good guy," but he isn't and uncaring monster, and he never has been. Even in his original appearances on the small screen, Ecliptor has always been fervently protective of his adopted daughter, even when she has been cold or indifferent to him.
Now that their comic book origins have been laid out, it seems as though that paternal nature is going to be the cause of a whole lot of trouble going forward considering Ecliptor has just gone to the Omega Rangers for help in the present, all while his daughter is hunting them down with murderous intent.
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