WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Justice League: Last Ride #5, on sale now from DC Comics.
The Justice League's mission to keep Lobo safe while they await his trial took a turn for the worst when multiple forces converged on Apokolips where they were hiding Lobo. Batman and Green Lantern descended into the bowels of the planet to restart its defense systems, but in the process discovered a horrifying secret within the dead world: Darkseid had made an army of clones of himself. In Justice League: Last Ride #5 by Chip Zdarsky, Miguel Mendonica, Enrica Angiolini and AndWorld Design, This not only presents a new possible threat for the League but completely invalidates everything they did to stop Darkseid in the past.
For Darkseid to have made multiple clones of himself prior to his death could mean many things. He may have intended to continue his existence in some form or other, even if it was not the original him doing so. Darkseid has in the past used clones in his plans, such as how he cloned Batman in the "Final Crisis" storyline, a ploy to turn Batman into a weapon of mass destruction. But this time around, it is the lord of Apokolips who has been duplicated.
Schemes centered around cloning are not unprecedented for Darkseid. The question is how do these clones function? Were they intended to be exact copies of Darkseid or are they empty shells designed for Darkseid's mind to inhabit should the worst happen to his first body? The latter seems more plausible than the former due to Darkseid having been reincarnated in a human body at one point, so the possibility of his consciousness still existing in some form out there in the universe is entirely possible and completely horrifying.
The last time the Justice League went up against Darkseid they nearly lost everything. He was planning to send nuclear bombs to Earth via Boom Yube while also attacking Oa, intending to siphon off the Power Battery for himself. This left the League torn in two as they tried to stop both attacks. In the process, Martian Manhunter sacrificed himself to shut down Apokolips and stop the attack on Earth. This had the consequence of severing the relationship between Batman and Superman, who even now are still on rocky ground.
But with this revelation, everything they fought, everything they lost that tragic day is completely invalidated. The Earth was saved, but after Darkseid was seemingly killed in an explosion the rest of the universe heaved a collective sigh of relief. They all took comfort in the fact that if they had to lose a friend and so much more, then at least the monster responsible for all of it was gone forever.
Except he's not. They are not. The clones still seem inactive, but with Apokolips starting up again it seems likely they will wake up and start causing even more havoc. But that might also be a good thing for the League. The only thing bringing them together right now is one last mission. If a common threat rebuilds their lost bonds, then maybe a silver lining can be found in the storm ahead.