WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Wonder Woman #776, on sale now from DC Comics.
Ever since Diana sacrificed herself at the end of Dark Nights: Death Metal, she's been on a cosmic journey that's kept her beyond the mortal world. While other heroes have been exploring the Infinite Frontier she brought about, she's only managed to see glimpses of it in Infinite Frontier #0 before being flung into the Godsphere, a seemingly inescapable space that contains mythological realms such as Olympus and Valhalla. In her latest issue though, it looks like Wonder Woman may have found her way back to Earth and with a serious new power.
After saving Valhalla and Olympus from certain doom, Wonder Woman #776 by Michael W. Conrad, Becky Cloonan, Jill Thompson, Jordie Bellaire and Pat Brosseau sees Diana enter the fairy world of Elfhame. After being mistaken for the villain Janus, who took her form on Olympus, the Amazonian princess clears her name and sets things right. When it comes time to grill the self-imposed king of the fairies, Gwyn, Diana finds something strange happening with her new lasso.
Previous issues saw Wonder Woman, no longer in possession of her regular Lasso of Truth, make do with regular bindings to get the information she needs. She did it with Dr. Psycho in Valhalla and she decides to do again here with Gwyn. However, the lasso she now possesses proves to be more than she expected.
As she asks Gwyn for information, something very unusual happens -- the lasso speaks. It asks Diana to use it against the former king of Elfhame and she appears to obey its request. When she binds the stubborn king and asks him again how she can get to back Earth, the lasso shows its true powers and forces him to obey her.
The lasso Wonder Woman now possesses came from the Valkyries in Valhalla, glowing purple instead of the Lasso of Truth's iconic golden hue. The Valkyries originally used it to bind Diana when she made her way into their fortress. She eventually broke free when she rediscovered her strength from her mortal life on Earth. It appears the Valkyries may have admired this, considering that the lasso mysteriously appeared among Diana's possessions prior to her departure to Olympus. Though she used it again there, it didn't display any of the mind-controlling abilities it does now.
When Gwyn brings Wonder Woman and her friends Ratatosk and Sigfried to the portal leading to Earth, the lasso ominously asks if she wants more information from their captive. She indirectly refuses, not letting anyone know that her new weapon has a mind of its own or that she's conversing with it. This begs the question of not only how Diana came to possess her new lasso, but also whether or not the mystical item is somehow influencing her.
Regardless, this new tool seems to have taken Wonder Woman and her companions where they wanted to be. As they fall out of a subway entrance, their outfits change once again. Diana's outfits have changed to match whatever world of the Godsphere she was in throughout the series and now it appears to be something similar to her Golden Age costume.
Although Wonder Woman may wish to make up for lost time on Earth, that's something she simply can't do right now. With her murderous doppelganger Janus on the loose and still in possession of the deadly God Scraper weapon, Diana will have to deal with that before reclaiming her life on Earth.