WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Wonder Woman #767, by Mariko Tamaki, Rafa Sandoval, Jordi Tarragona, Ariaf Prianto and Pat Brosseau, on sale now.
One of the most formidable telepaths in the DC Universe is Maxwell Lord, who once showcased mental abilities so that he was able to take control of Superman. Since then, Max has built a longstanding grudge against Wonder Woman after the Amazon superhero killed him to free the Man of Steel from his control. And while Diana Prince may have been forced into an unlikely alliance with Max, as the convicted criminal made a play at redemption, the two characters have turned on each other once again with Wonder Woman managing to emerge victorious from their rematch once again, even after facing the full brunt of Max's telepathic powers.
After Max's daughter Emma had decided to follow in her father's footsteps by creating the supervillain mantle Liar Liar, she stole his illegal technology and began selling on the black market. While Emma herself was defeated and imprisoned, much of Max's technology remained on the loose, forcing him to team up with Wonder Woman to track it down and recover it on behalf of the American government. This mission led them to the European nation of Vlatava, where Count Vertigo had acquired Max's tech to boost his powers and exert greater country over his homeland. As Wonder Woman focused on battling the upgraded Vertigo, Max revealed his true colors and seized his stolen tech back for himself.
Aware of Max's betrayal, Wonder Woman moves to take on Max after recovering from her showdown with Vertigo. Disorienting Diana with a vision of Liar Liar, Max quickly takes mental control of Wonder Woman no matter how hard she fights back. This telepathic showdown culminates in Max commanding Wonder Woman to stab herself with her own sword, seemingly ending the confrontation with Max victorious before Diana reveals herself alive having followed Max's command only to the letter: She did indeed stab herself but non-lethally. And try as Max might, Wonder Woman no shows that she is able to resist his telepathic attacks, no matter how much he exerts himself.
Knowing that if he was taken back into custody he would be remanded back in prison having deliberately blown his one chance at redemption. Rather than face the rest of his life in a cage, Max attempts to use his telepathic powers to command Wonder Woman to finish him off. And while Wonder Woman had certainly killed Maxwell Lord before when he forced her hand, this time the Amazon has the opportunity to show the villain mercy and spare his life before Max is arrested and imprisoned after being fitted with power dampeners to prevent him from tapping into his telepathic abilities.
Wonder Woman has crossed the line to use lethal force when she is faced with no other options, most notably against Maxwell Lord, but after outsmarting the villain at his own game, she has been given the chance to show just how compassionate and merciful she truly is. Max may be one of the most powerful telepaths in the DC Universe but the Amazon's cunning has allowed her to take advantage of loopholes left in Max's most unrelenting attacks. In many ways, a rematch was always in the cards between Wonder Woman and Maxwell Lord ever since he came back to life and even with his power-boosting tech at his disposal, the supervillain has still come up short against the Amazon.