Power Rangers’ New Villain Unveiled as Daughter of Lord Zedd & Rita Repulsa (Power & Origin Explained)

Warning: Spoilers for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Return #3!Rita Repulsa and Lord Zedd continue to haunt the Power Rangers from beyond the grave in the form of their long-lost daughter. An argument can be made that Rita Repulsa remains the most iconic villain in the Power Rangers’ rogues’ gallery. Years after debuting as their first main antagonist, she continues to terrorize the Rangers, including in her recent Robo-Rita upgrade from the Once & Always Netflix special.

Now, she and her husband still pose a threat without even lifting a finger as Rita and Zedd’s secret daughter, Selena Repulsa, sets her sights on the team in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Return #3 by Amy Jo Johnson, Matt Hotson, Nico Leon, Dono Sanchez-Almara, and Ed Dukeshire. At a time when Rita Repulsa is presumed dead, it’s the daughter that no one knew about who keeps her legacy alive.

Selena Repulsa immediately poses an even bigger threat than her parents. Unfortunately for Selena, she’s also falling into the same mistakes that caused her mother to be defeated by the Rangers week after week.

Who is Selena Repulsa?

Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa’s Daughter, Explained

In an alternate universe where the Power Rangers never disbanded until evil was officially defeated, they manage to kill Rita Repulsa moments before Tommy Oliver sacrifices his life to eradicate evil from her Moon Palace. Before that sacrifice, though, Tommy is alone to fight off Putties himself before a mysterious child emerges. That little girl is Selena, and to ensure the child is safe from the explosion the Blue Ranger’s Benevolator is about to cause, the Green Ranger gives her his teleporter device. The girl travels to Earth, where she’s found and presumably raised by Officers Bulk and Skull.

Once she’s older, she starts hunting down the Rangers for revenge. Initially, she grows close to Kimberly by impersonating a relative of the late Trini Kwan, hoping to become a Power Ranger. It isn’t long before Selena’s true colors are revealed, along with her true desire for “no more Power Rangers.” One by one, she manages to capture all of the Rangers, even stopping Kimberly in mid-morph to do so. She succeeds and reveals the bigger layers of her grand scheme.

Why Selena Repulsa is a Bigger Threat than Rita Repulsa

She Has a Greater Shot at Defeating the Power Rangers than Her Mother Ever Did

In a short amount of time, Selena Repulsa manages to make a bigger impact on the Power Rangers’ lives than even her mother, proving she has a better chance at defeating them on a first try as well. For starters, she is able to outsmart the Rangers in ways that Rita simply couldn’t. Selena has Kimberly fooled completely that a family member of her late friend has arrived on her doorstep, allowing Selena to learn several secrets about the Rangers from the Pink Ranger’s mouth almost instantly. Even capturing all the Rangers at once, including a vigilante Jason, is something Rita struggled to do in the past.

Meanwhile, Selena’s plan deserves props for being so well-thought-out on its own merit. She soon reveals that Rita never actually died, but instead transferred her soul into the Morphin Grid. To retrieve her mother, Selena plans to power a Morphin-Matic created by Finster, using his last batch of magic clay powered by all the Rangers’ morphers. With the Rangers trapped inside a containment bubble, they are forced to sit back as Selena’s seemingly foolproof plan for a dastardly mother-daughter reunion comes to fruition. By comparison, it was always rare to see Rita’s schemes go so perfectly according to plan.

Selena Repulsa Has One Major Thing in Common With Rita

Selena is Equally as Flawed

While Selena Repulsa does a lot of things better than Rita did, she still suffers from some of the same pitfalls that led to Rita’s downfall against the Power Rangers time and time again. One of her biggest flaws is overlooking something major right in front of her. In this case, she can’t complete the Morphin-Matic ritual to bring her mother back among the living because she’s forgotten one small, but crucial detail: there are six Power Coins. She only has five and needs all six to complete the ritual.

It’s odd that she’d make such a simple mistake like this, especially considering her mother was the one who created that sixth Power Coin. One tiny mistake manages to ruin Selena’s foolproof plan. It’s also easy for Selena to overlook the Rangers, something Rita often did whenever she would send a monster after them or make that monster grow with her magic. Rita always expected her monsters to make quick work of the Rangers, and was wrong every time. Selena continues to underestimate the Rangers who defeated her mother, even as she’s about to face down the new Green Ranger.

Can Selena Handle the New Green Ranger?

This Will Prove Just How Powerful Selena Repulsa is

With one massive misdirect, Selena Repulsa’s plan is on the verge of collapse as Olivia Hart, the secret daughter of Tommy and Kimberly, steps onto the scene as the new Green Ranger. Selena has failed to do her due diligence and, thus, failed to prepare for the Green Ranger. However, just as easily as this Green Ranger’s introduction could hurt her plan, it also could provide an opportunity to showcase just exactly how powerful and threatening Selena Repulsa’s power really is.

Selena’s been able to dispose of the core members of the team with ease, but keep in mind that she scooped up a crop of significantly older Rangers who are past their prime. Most of them have been retired for decades, save for Jason. Impressive nonetheless, but beating up retirees won’t assert her dominance as easily as beating a younger Ranger in their prime could. Selena Repulsa may end up doing what her parents, Rita Repulsa and Lord Zedd, never could – destroy the Power Rangers’ legacy forever, starting by killing the last Ranger.