Warning: Spoilers for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #116!As the Power Rangers reach their Darkest Hour yet, an unexpected hero arrives in the form of the Ranger Slayer. The mantle refers to the future adult version of original Pink Ranger Kimberly Hart. In the World of the Coinless, she was mind-controlled by local dictator Lord Drakkon to become his Ranger Slayer.
Now that she’s back in her right mind, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #116 by Melissa Flores, Adam Gorham, Marco Renna, Joana Lafuente, and Ed Dukeshire sets her up to be exactly the hero the franchise needs. Right now, its universe is under attack by a Thanos-level threat in the form of Dark Specter, who is on a quest to dominate the universe using corrupted, zombified Rangers from across the multiverse.
The future Kimberly is among those corrupted, but in one final (and for him, fatal) encounter with Lord Drakkon, she’s gifted the power source she needs to defeat Dark Specter for good.
The OG Pink Ranger Can’t Be Corrupted
After watching Kimberly being taken by Dark Specter and his army, Lord Drakkon retreats into the Morphin Grid. Since it’s been established that the Grid looks different to everyone who enters it, the Grid takes the shape of the place where Rita Repulsa first found the former Tommy Oliver, turning him into the Green Ranger. It’s there where the zombified Ranger Slayer tries to corrupt Drakkon. Except, it doesn’t work. She’s then told that Drakkon is immune to corruption because the White Ranger Tiger Power Coin – half the source of his powers – was designed by Zordon to be incorruptible.
This leads to a duel to the death, where the opponents also make time to hash out their past together. Drakkon admits regret for turning her into his minion, and Kimberly expresses her hatred for being turned into a slave out of love. When Drakkon fails to get Kimberly to think rationally, he instead fires his Dragon Dagger through the residue of her spell-breaking arrow. The combination breaks Dark Specter’s control over her, but kills Drakkon in the process. In his dying breath, he gives her his Tiger Power Coin, begging her to use it to save the universe.
The Former Pink Ranger Meets Her True Power
When the main canon Tommy Oliver was mysteriously immune to Dark Specter’s zombification, it seemed to point to Tommy being the last hope for the universe, making him the ultimate hero for a final fight with Dark Specter. However, now readers know it was actually because of his power coin that he was immune, and Kimberly is on the board as the franchise’s ultimate hero. Not only does this potentially bring a second White Ranger into the mix who’s immune to Dark Specter’s tricks, but it puts even more responsibility on Kimberly’s shoulders as she searches for the Morphin Masters while Tommy is still captive.
As the first Pink Ranger, Kimberly has always been one of the most important characters in franchise history. Her run as the Ranger Slayer, both as a villain and a redeemed hero, reinvented her as one of the most skilled Rangers in the universe’s history. Now, she has the power upgrade and the journey ahead that could save the Rangers’ universe against its biggest threat during its Darkest Hour. The stakes could not be higher for Kimberly Ann Hart and time will tell how the Ranger Slayer rises to the challenge and, most importantly, how she can save the Power Rangers.
