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"Rebirth": On Olympus, Diana, the goddess of truth, is scolded by the gods, with them telling her that she has disobeyed their edict prohibiting her from having contact with her friends for one hundred years. Although Diana was forbidden fr

Quote1 Now that I am a goddess, with power and immortality beyond the measure of humanity...there has never been a better time for Diana of Themyscira to once more claim the name of...Wonder Woman. Quote2
Diana

Wonder Woman (Volume 2) #136 is an issue of the series Wonder Woman (Volume 2) with a cover date of August, 1998.

Synopsis for "Rebirth"

On Olympus, Diana, the goddess of truth, is scolded by the gods, with them telling her that she has disobeyed their edict prohibiting her from having contact with her friends for one hundred years. Although Diana was forbidden from communicating with her friends, she attempted to skirt the rules by providing them with inspiration. The gods are furious with her for this. Zeus proposes revoking her godhood. Ares appears and intercedes on Diana’s behalf. Ares reminds the other gods of the recent events where Hippolyta prayed to the gods to save Diana after she was severely injured by Neron. The gods had held a vote on whether to restore Diana, with the deciding vote surprisingly cast in Diana’s favor by Ares. Ares reveals his reason for casting his vote. Hippolyta had played a trump card by reminding him that Diana is Ares’ granddaughter, influencing his vote. It is revealed that in Hippolyta’s original incarnation, before she was killed and had her spirit consigned to the Well of Souls, she was the offspring of Ares, who had impregnated her mother. It is the soul of that original incarnation that resides within Hippolyta. Hippolyta’s first incarnation was pregnant when she was murdered. It was the soul of this child that had been used to animate Diana. Thus, Diana is the spiritual granddaughter of Ares and the great granddaughter of Zeus. Zeus balks then at his original plan to simply revoke Diana’s godhood, as it was her ascension that saved her from dying as a result of Neron’s attack. If she is returned to a mere mortal, she will die, and he is unwilling to consign his great granddaughter to death. Athena proposes a new punishment: Diana will again be banished to Earth. The gods agree and it is done. Diana returns to Themyscira. Hippolyta and the others there are overjoyed by her return. However, Donna Troy is still comatose. Diana reveals that she has recovered the Lasso of Truth from Hell and has a plan. Donna’s consciousness is gone but Diana believes that she can use the memories of Wally West to return Donna's memories. West fears that if they use only his memories of Donna to replace her memories, there will still be holes in her memory, because he does not know everything. Diana tells him that she believes the universe itself will fill in those gaps. Diana binds Wally and Donna together with the Lasso. Wally remembers his friend and through the Lasso, the powers of the gods, and the power of the universe itself, Donna is restored with the memories of her life and those she experienced at the hands of the Dark Angel. After a few days, Donna recovers fully. Diana and her friends have a party. There, Donna gives Cassie Sandsmark her old Wonder Girl costume. Further, Hippolyta steps down as Wonder Woman and Diana again becomes Wonder Woman.

Appearing in "Rebirth"

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Notes

  • When Diana again becomes Wonder Woman, she says "[n]ow that I am a goddess, with power and immortality beyond the measure of humanity...there has never been a better time for Diana of Themyscira to once more claim the name of...Wonder Woman." Despite this claim, subsequent appearances of the character to do not show her to have enhanced abilities, or even the different abilities she displayed as the goddess of truth, such as the ability to discern truth and prevent others from lying to her, which is mentioned in this issue.
  • This issue establishes that Diana and Hippolyta are technically spiritual descendants of the gods.



See Also


Links and References

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