WARNING: This issue contains spoilers for Wonder Woman #42 by James Robinson and Jesus Merino, in stores now.
Ever since the start of writer James Robinson's run on the Wonder Woman title, Greek and New God mythologies have been clashing. The world of Diana Prince has been increasingly tangled with Apokolips, as she has been locked in a heated battle with Grail and her father Darkseid. The Lord of Apokolips has recently returned to his full power (and age), yet he has chosen to remain on Earth for some mysterious but clearly devious reason.
Now, in the most recent issue of the series, Darkseid's ultimate plan stands revealed. He isn't after Earth itself, but rather a specific era from its past. Darkseid's goal is to reach Themyscira, at a time when it was still on Earth. But why? It all started back in Wonder Woman #31.
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In issue #31, a brief scene sees Diana take Giganta down with a single punch. Thanks to the following dialogue with Steve Trevor, we come to learn that Wonder Woman had to get involved after the giant villain attempted to steal an ancient artifact. What's more, this is apparently the latest in a string of museum robberies orchestrated by Giganta.
While this seemed like a filler adventure with little to no consequence, we later learned, in Wonder Woman #34, that there was a lot more than met the eye to Giganta's mission. With the help of A.R.G.U.S. scientists, Steve discovered that the last artifact the giant had attempted to steal had trace amounts of a metal from Apokolips.
This retroactively tied Giganta's mission to the bigger picture of Wonder Woman's ongoing battle with Grail and Darkseid. Later, in issue #36, Trevor would interrogate Giganta in a scene that would reveal that all the artifacts she had stolen originated from ancient civilizations: Egyptian, Mayan, Mesopotamian, Atlantean. Asked who had hired her to perform these heists, Giganta gave the answer we now all suspected: Darkseid.
The plot would then thicken when, after returning to his fully powered adult self, Darkseid would not depart for Apokolips. Instead, the New God found a temporary home inside an ancient temple in the Amazon Jungle. This temple, we also came to learn in Wonder Woman #36, was once constructed by the New Gods, back when they walked the Earth thousands of years ago (tying the events of this story back to Jack Kirby's original New Gods stories, and their origins on Urgrund).
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Whatever Darkseid's plan was, it involved this temple, and its ancient energies that mixed the magic of the old gods with the science of the New Gods. All of the artifacts that Giganta had previously stolen were now in this temple. Their purpose, to somehow power the temple. But Grail and Darkseid needed the rest of the artifacts for that. Four more, in fact.
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The next few issues issues featured brief vignettes involving Darkseid's Furies storming an antiquities vault in Turkey to steal one of the remaining artifacts. In Wonder Woman #40, they stormed the vault, only to find that Steve Trevor and his Oddfellows were waiting for them. In order to prevent Darkseid from getting the rest of these relics, A.R.G.U.S. had moved to acquire and secure them first. Then, in issue #41, when Darkseid learned of the Furies' failure to retrieve the Turkish artifact, he divulged a little bit more of his plan. As he walked into the temple, we saw that there was a mysterious crystal inside, which seemed to be what the various artifacts were meant to power.
This is where we learned that Darkseid's end goal was not Earth itself, but Themyscira. As readers of Wonder Woman Rebirth know, Diana's home, Paradise Island, is no longer on Earth. Its location is a mystery, a destination impossible to travel to. Therefore, Darkseid cannot reach it. Well, not in the present at least.
This is what brings us to Wonder Woman #42 where, during a battle between Diana and Grail, the Amazon Princess manages to trap the daughter of Darkseid in her golden lasso. Compelled to tell the truth, Grail divulges the full scope of her father's ultimate plan.
What Darkseid wants is an army -- an army to storm his home of Apokolips and retake the throne that was once his. But since Apokolips is a treacherous place where no one can be trusted, the New God wishes to have a new force that would answer only to him -- one even stronger than his Parademons. A force that can only be found in Themyscira: the Amazons. In retrospect, such a revelation gives the storyline's title, "Amazons Attacked," a whole new meaning. It didn't refer to just Diana and Jason, as we suspected, but truthfully all of the Amazons.
But how does Darkseid plan to do that exactly? Well, it turns out that all of the relics he has been collecting ever since issue #31 all vibrate at a very specific frequency, one attuned to the past, during the era when the New Gods and the old gods of various pantheons both shared the Earth. By connecting these frequencies to the temple in the Amazon Jungle, Darkseid will then be able to generate a boom tube that will connect him to the past of the Greek Gods -- Themyscira included. There, he will move to storm Paradise Island, and presumably takes its armies for himself to lead back to Apokolips.
Darkseid's grand plan now stands revealed, but it has not been accomplished -- yet. With A.R.G.U.S. in possession of the last artifacts he needs to fulfill his goals, the Lord of Apokolips has now set his sights on the organization's headquarters. What happens next is anyone's guess, but we imagine a very big fight is in store for Wonder Woman, her brother Jason, Steve Trevor and the Oddfellows. Darkseid's forces are not what they once were, but he is still one of the biggest threats in the DC Universe. Chances are, his plan will come to fruition, and he will get exactly what he wants. Then, we just might be looking at a war between Apokolips and Themyscira.
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