Heavy Is the Hand That Holds the Trident
Paul Pelletier just about fully earns his spot as Ivan Reis' replacement on this series with his gorgeous underwater sequences, most notably a BEAUTIFUL two-page spread towards the end as Aquaman psychically bellows out his remorse across the oceans of the world. My only complaint is that some of the character work is a little off, Aquaman's face especially tends to be a it awkward fairly frequently. But overall I'm ok with Pelletier's art here. He excelled at the underwater scenes, and no series is going to have more underwater scenes than Aquaman.
The only problem with this issue is that, after such an intense and explosive crossover as Throne of Atlantis, the epilogue is rather relaxed and low-key, and lot more contemplative than action-heavy. And yet, this issue goes by incredibly fast, despite being the same page length it feels very short. Ironically the other quickest issue in this series was the Throne of Atlantis Prologue. The whole story is bookended by very quick reads. I just didn't feel totally satisfied at the end of this issue, it felt like it was missing some bits to make it complete.
Geoff Johns has been the closest to writing Amanda Waller properly in the New 52, doing a surprisingly amazing job with her in Justice League of America #1. Here he does a better job than Adam Glass on Suicide Squad, but she still has too much compassion, even if it is a false front. Yes, her ulterior motives and darker true self are well expressed, but the Amanda Waller I know wouldn't even display a facade of compassion, she's a stone cold badass who's greatest power is manipulation and intimidation. She doesn't need to hide behind a wall of sympathy, it takes away from her 'WALL.'
Regardless of my complaints, this was a really strong issue. It had a lot of the strong character work many other issues have been lacking. Aquaman is in such a painful spot right now, in order to keep the peace for the better of both worlds, he has to hold a position in the spotlight where he's hated by both. He rules Atlantis, but the Atlanteans certainly aren't happy about that, and the surface world is extremely distrustful of him, even the freaking eco-terrorists who would totally be on the side of the Atlanteans. The obligations of the king have rarely been heavier, especially when you consider the forced separation from Mera. As much as the Atlanteans don't like Aquaman, they must begrudgingly accept him, at least for the time being. Mera, on the other hand, is completely forbidden to Atlantis, lacking the ties to it that Arthur has. Arthur is truly lonely, and you can feel how much pain he's internalizing, leading up to him bellowing a psychic promise across the seven seas, a promise to be better, for everyone.
Honestly, despite being an epilogue story, this issue itself would be a great jumping on point. This is the first major change in Aquaman's status quo since the beginning, after Throne of Atlantis' conclusion tied together the main plot of the first two arcs all together and setting up deeper corners of the mythology to explore. The end of the issue sets off the next arc with a very intriguing twist, one that allows a lot of speculation based on the clues we've been given over the first few arcs. This really is a representation of the current direction of the story. I am kind of wondering what Aquaman's going to do with the Dead King's Scepter and Orm's King Scepter; in a way it'd be kind of super badass for him to triple wield them with his trident somehow; but that's pretty much impossible. It'd be nice to know where they are though, they're weapons too powerful to just be left somewhere.
In Conclusion: 4/5
As I said, this would be a great jumping on point for new readers, as an epilogue to the most important climactic arc of the first segment of the series, it essentially funnels the major events into a streamlined direction, skipping over a lot of details, but filling you in on the most important things to know in the current status quo. Things are moving in a new direction that uses the previous issues as a platform to leap forward. This may be one of the least action-y issue, but the more intense emotional and psychological depth it has that most of the series has been missing helps raise the quality of the series.