Wonder War: What We Need to Know About DC’s Bloody New Feud

Warning! Spoilers ahead for Wonder Woman #19!A war is coming to the DC Universe, and it threatens to permanently end everything fans know and love about Wonder Woman. It seemed like Wonder Woman's conflict with the Sovereign was finally coming to an end, but things are actually just getting started.

The Sovereign was America's secret king, whose family ruled the country in the shadows for generations. However, after making an enemy of Wonder Woman, the villain was deposed and his empire destroyed. Unfortunately for Diana, the Sovereign reveals he's playing the long game, and he's not going to rest until he's taken everything from the Amazing Amazon.

The Wonder War: The Amazons' Heaviest War Yet

The Sovereign is Already Masterminding His Revenge on Wonder Woman

In Wonder Woman #19 by Tom King, Daniel Sampere, Tomeu Morey, and Clayton Cowles, the Sovereign winds down telling the story of how Wonder Woman defeated him, but Diana's daughter, Trinity, isn't convinced. She insists that the Sovereign continue telling his tale, but as Trinity urges him on with the Lasso of Truth, he reveals that he knows about the Wonder War. He knows that the Amazons have been slaughtered, and that everyone that Trinity cares about has been killed, including Wonder Woman, killed by a dagger that had been plunged into her chest.

The Sovereign attempts to goad Trinity, asking if she wonders why the dagger bore the Sovereign’s family colors or how Lyssa, the threat behind the Wonder War, came to have it. But Trinity just wants to hear the end of the story. Sovereign reveals that on his final day of freedom, Wonder Woman came for him at the White House. But before taking him to Themyscira for trial and judgment, Wonder Woman summoned a dagger made from her own fury and forced the king to carve the word ‘liar’ into his chest.

Trinity tries to make sense of the Sovereign’s story, but the king notes that Trinity hasn’t been paying attention, particularly to one person who slipped from his narrative. Emelie, Wonder Woman’s former rival, is in an undisclosed location and under heavy guard as she finally gives birth to her child. Etta Candy assists with the process and asks Emelie what she wants to name her new daughter. Emelie christens her daughter Lyssa, the same Amazon who will grow up to one day slaughter the Amazons and Wonder Woman in revenge for the Sovereign.

The Seeds of the Wonder War Have Already Been Planted

How Wonder Woman and the Sovereign's Battle Began

The Sovereign, aka Henry Charles, is the latest in a long line of monarchs who have been secretly ruling America for nearly three centuries using the Lasso of Lies. While America’s secret rulers were all kings, Charles’ father chose Henry’s sister Claire as next in line for the throne. However, Henry killed his father and seized the throne, using the Lasso of Lies to cement his rule. The Sovereign spent years stewing over his father’s decision and eventually decided to act against Wonder Woman, a hero who represented everything the Sovereign despised.

After Emelie killed a pool hall full of men, the Sovereign used all his powers to have Amazons removed from America. He had congress create the Amazon Extradition Entity and any Amazon residents forcefully removed or imprisoned. Wonder Woman stood against A.X.E. and eventually discovered that the Sovereign was behind the frenzy of paranoia and hatred. She began fighting back against the mad king, who only grew more furious at her unwillingness to submit. After numerous failed attempts, the Sovereign finally hit Wonder Woman where it hurt by killing her longtime love interest, Steve Trevor.

As Wonder Woman took time to recover from Steve’s death and raise their daughter, Elizabeth, Diana had her allies go scorched Earth on the Sovereign. She had several of her closest friends plunder the secret king’s riches and also got Detective Chimp to dig up everything he could about the Sovereign (information that was later broadcast in an exclusive by Jimmy Olsen). Stripped of his wealth and his ability to hide in the shadows, the Sovereign made a last stand at the White House with an army of villains (foes that Wonder Woman easily vanquished).

The Wonder War Will Be a Devastating Next-Gen Battle for the Fate of the Amazons

Wonder Woman and the Sovereign's Respective Legacies Will Finish Their Feud

There's a lot to unpack in Wonder Woman #19, so it makes sense to walk through everything chronologically. The Sovereign was humiliated by Wonder Woman, who took his money, stripped him of his power and literally marked him with a dagger. Speaking of the dagger, it's important to note that the one that later ends up in Diana's chest looks similar, but the colors of the handles are different. The one Wonder Woman gives Sovereign has her colors, yellow and red, but the one that kills Diana in the future has a red, white and blue hilt (the Sovereign's colors).

While the Sovereign will indeed be going to prison for the next several years (where he presumably remains until Trinity comes to visit him), a part of him is being left behind. Emelie, the Amazon who seemingly started this chain of events, appears to have had the Sovereign's child. Granted, that's just speculation at this point. But the Sovereign does call the infant his "own dear Lyssa" and it would make sense why the dagger she used to kill Wonder Woman had the Sovereign's family colors on it.

So what is the Wonder War? It appears to be a confrontation led by Lyssa, Emelie and the Sovereign's possible child, who is out to seek revenge on the Amazons in the name of her father. Not only will Lyssa kill Amazons like Donna Troy, Cassie Sandsmark, and Yara Flor, but Wonder Woman as well. The only Amazon left alive to defeat Lyssa and end the Wonder War in the name of good is Trinity, Wonder Woman's daughter, who is finally putting the pieces of how the awful war began.

Can Trinity Put an End to the Wonder War?

Or is the Fate of DC's Amazons Sealed for Good?

With how malleable it is, anything could happen in the future. But what's certain is that the Wonder War is going to be a brutal, bloody, and surprisingly lethal conflict. It's a fight with history that stretches back decades, to the first time the Sovereign decided to challenge Wonder Woman. It's hard to say who will come out of the Wonder War the victor, but if Trinity's half the Wonder Woman her mother is, things may just come out alright in the end.

Wonder Woman #19 is available now from DC Comics.