Nathaniel Richards (He Who Remains)

He Who Remains was a scientist from the 31st century who discovered the Multiverse and tamed Alioth to erase the alternate versions of himself. He created the Time Variance Authority to help him prune branches of the timeline.

Biography[]

Loki[]

"For All Time. Always."[]

To be added

"Ouroboros"[]

Encountering time slipping after He Who Remains' death, Loki visited a past version of the TVA where he listened to a recording by He Who Remains in the War Room. In the recording, He Who Remains thanked Ravonna Renslayer for the difference that she had made in his war, telling Ravonna that he will be proud to lead with her.

After returning to the present, Loki revealed a hidden statue of He Who Remains in the War Room to the judge's council, one that he had seen in the past and informed Mobius of the events at the Citadel at the End of Time and what he had learned from He Who Remains.

"1893"[]

"I should've known."
"I had him under control until you sabatoaged me and made fools of us."
"Well, it was foolish of him to make an enemy out of someone who knows all his secrets. I know a really big one about you. I can tell you, but..."
"But what?"
"It's gonna make you real angry."

―Miss Minutes and Ravonna Renslayer^[src]

Miss Minutes revealed to Victor Timely, one of He Who Remains' variants, that He Who Remains had created her long before the TVA or the Multiversal War. Miss Minutes started out as a simple AI to play chess with, but He Who Remains knew that she could be more for him, so he gave her autonomy to write her own programing which allowed Miss Minutes to have wants, and have whims, and become who she was. Miss Minutes continued to play chess with He Who Remains every night and, according to her, was the only one by his side through the war, the TVA and the eons after. However, He Who Remains refused to allow the AI a real body. Miss Minutes became bitter, feeling that He Who Remains kept her as a toy instead of what she really wanted to be: his girl.

After recognizing that Ravonna Renslayer wanted power and a seat at the End of Time, Sylvie kicked her through a Time Door to the Citadel at the End of Time which now lay in ruins, having presumably been destroyed by Sylvie. Renslayer found He Who Remains' desiccated corpse still sitting in his chair and summoned Miss Minutes who commented that she should've known upon seeing He Who Remains. Renslayer protested that she had him under control until Miss Minutes sabotaged her and made fools out of them. Miss Minutes states that it was foolish of He Who Remains to make an enemy out of someone who knew all of his secrets. Miss Minutes offered to tell Renslayer one about her, but warned Renslayer that it was going to make her really angry.

"Heart of the TVA"[]

"Pull up Protocol 42."
"Is it time?"
"Erase her memories."
"Are you sure?"
"Erase all their memories."
"If you say so."
"I'm sorry."

―He Who Remains betrays Renslayer.^[src]

In the Citadel at the End of Time, Miss Minutes showed Renslayer a projection of Renslayer and He Who Remains, revealing that Renslayer had once been He Who Remains' partner. The two held the discussion that Loki had previously found a recording of before Renslayer left. Once she was gone, He Who Remains ordered Miss Minutes to activate Protocol 42 and erase everyone's memories, including Renslayer's. Miss Minutes explained that Renslayer had been the commander of He Who Remains' army during the Multiversal War, enraging Renslayer that He Who Remains built the Citadel and left her to do all of the work to keep him there.

"Glorious Purpose"[]

"Okay, let's try it this way, every... every moment of peace you've ever experienced was yours because I was here. Alone, at the End of Time, keeping watch."
"I understand."
"I made the tough choices. That's why I get the big chair. I keep us safe. Can't you see what I'm offering here... is mercy?"
"For me, or for you? No. I'll find another way.
"Okay. And around and around and around we go. Let's see it. Make the hard choice. Break the Loom and you cause a war that kills us all. Game over. Or, kill her, and we protect what we can."

―He Who Remains and Loki.^[src]

Loki time slipped back to the Citadel at the End of Time as Sylvie attempted to kill He Who Remains and tried to stop Sylvie from killing him as everything would end if Sylvie did. However, Sylvie accused Loki of being seduced by a throne and warned him that Loki would have to kill Sylvie in order to stop her. Loki repeatedly tried and failed to stop Sylvie from killing an amused He Who Remains who simply watched the fight each time.

Finally, Loki asked why He Who Remains never tried to do anything to stop Sylvie. Much to Loki's surprise, He Who Remains paused time around them using his TemPad. He Who Remains asked how many times Loki had been at this and was amused that Loki hadn't figured out how to pause time yet, having figured that Loki would be way past that. He Who Remains made Sylvie disappear and revealed that he not only knew about the time slipping, but he had paved that road for Loki too, just like He Who Remains had paved the road that had led Loki and Sylvie to meet him in the first place. He Who Remains asked if Loki had really thought that he was just going to sit back and let Sylvie kill him before bringing Sylvie back and telling Loki to go through this a couple of thousand more times and then come back to have a conversation. Freezing time himself, Loki asked why He Who Remains thought that this was the first time that they'd had this conversation.

Impressed, He Who Remains called Loki his favorite and sent Sylvie away again. He Who Remains revealed that he was aware of both Victor Timely and the problems with the Temporal Loom. He Who Remains explained that the Temporal Loom was a failsafe intended to delete all of the branches except for the Sacred Timeline when it was overloaded and his variants were already out there. Loki insisted that he'd find and stop them, but He Who Remains stated that there were too many. Even though Loki would try, the outcome to this equation would remain the same: Loki would lose which Loki acknowledged. After a moment, Loki declared that he would change the equation and break the Loom, but He Who Remains reminded Loki that the Loom prevented a brutal war where nothing survived, not even the Sacred Timeline. The Sacred Timeline could only survive with He Who Remains keeping watch at the End of Time and he asked Loki if Loki could see what he was offering was mercy. After a moment, Loki decided once again to find another way, and He Who Remains summoned Sylvie back to kill him and repeat the cycle. He Who Remains challenged Loki to make the hard choice of either breaking the Temporal Loom and causing a war that would kill them all, or killing Sylvie so that they could protect what they could.

While Loki initially decided to kill Sylvie and save He Who Remains, Loki instead found another solution by destroying the Temporal Loom himself and using his powers as a god to weave the Multiverse into a tree in the shape of Yggdrasil with Loki at its heart. In the aftermath, the TVA shifted their mission to monitoring and protecting the Multiverse as well as looking for He Who Remains' variants, one of whom had caused a bit of a ruckus in an adjacant realm.