WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Wonder Woman#74, from G. Willow Wilson, Xermanico, Jesus Merino, Romulo Fajardo Jr. and Pat Brosseau, on sale now.
When DC changed the mythos of Themyscira so that Diana never went back home, fans were left dumbfounded over what really happened to Paradise Island. Since that bombshell revelation, Wonder Woman's been fighting tooth and nail to find a gateway to her people, and while she's run into many obstacles such as a revived Ares, she's finally found the answer in Dimension Chi.
However, as she explores this dark version of Themyscira hoping to reach the proper version of her home, Wonder Woman proceeds to discover one of the most gut-wrenching truths she could ever ask for -- the island is now under the command of one of the Justice League's most brutal enemies: Grail, Darkseid's daughter.
As Diana navigates Chi, she, Atlantiades and Maggie have to fend off Empress Hippolyta, Chi's dark version of Diana's mom. But as they fight the bitter queen -- something that's all the more shocking since Diana made peace with her years ago -- they realize a mysterious entity is poisoning the mirror world. Nonetheless, in the heat of battle, as they all fall off a cliff, Maggie's sword, which once belonged to Diana's aunt Antiope, pierces the realm and they land in Antiope's camp. However, this Antiope is actually the one from the real Themyscira and not the Chi version. While Wonder Woman is overjoyed, she's taken aback as she sees that this faction is a small resistance movement.
These rebels fled Themyscira and came to Chi when Grail took over and imprisoned Hippolyta. Wonder Woman is stunned at how such a coup could happen, but Antiope reveals that in Wonder Woman #58, when Grail was tricked into 'killing Ares,' she liberated him with the Godkiller sword, and seismic activity made the island crumble. Grail was freed and she took Hippolyta prisoner, and Grail's takeover was complete when some Amazons sided with the villain. Antiope and her crew fled to Chi to protect themselves and plan their counter-attack, and Wonder Woman stumbled across them with good timing.
Grail's history begins on Themyscira, since Justice League: Darkseid War revealed that she's half-Amazonian, born to Darkseid and Myrinna Black. The latter gave birth to Grail the same night Diana and her twin, Jason, were born, but Myrinna fled, even killing some Amazons along the way. That's because she wanted to turn Grail into a weapon to destroy her father which led to Darkseid War.
Ultimately, Myrinna had a change of heart and died, sacrificing herself to save Grail, but the villain would remain steeped in darkness and go on to try to raise baby Darkseid. In the wake of bringing the vicious Anti-Monitor to Earth to kill her dad and the League, Grail went a step further by murdering the Greek gods and imbuing the baby with their essences, all so she could have a fully-grown Darkseid under her thumb.
Clearly, Grail's caused a lot of havoc since entering the DC Universe in 2015 as part of the New 52 era. Luckily, the Amazons stopped her with help from Jason and Wonder Woman in Wonder Woman #48, where they helped Hippolyta imprison Grail with Ares in Themyscira's mystical tree. Sadly, this would be the source of her rise to glory because that gave someone the opportunity to slip her the Godkiller and kick off the chain of events that led to the present situation.
It remains to be seen who helped Grail tear the island apart and why some Amazons decided to align with a traitor. Nevertheless, Antiope is getting ready to strike back, and now she'll have Wonder Woman on her side too. Grail has hated their people for a long time, but now's the time to settle this feud once and for all, so that Diana might finally have a home to return to.
1 Links