Wonder Woman Vol. 3 # 10 - Love and Murder, Part 5

Overview

Jodi Picoult's sensational run reaches its gut-wrenching finale! Amid a war between the United States and the Amazons on American soil, Wonder Woman must race to save Paradise Island from total ruin! But the traumatic repercussions of her decision to slay Max Lord bring the Amazon princess full circle, as she realizes there's only one way to stop the war. Can Wonder Woman cross that line once more, or will lives continue to be lost?

Wonder Woman continues to ponder over who she is now. The war on humans by the Amazons continues in Washington, D.C. They press their attack against Diana (and Nemesis). During the battle, Diana sees an billboard ad for a soda that says to "Live Life." She finds this odd yet now questions her actions her entire life. She has always done what her mother taught her, what she believed was right. She wonders if that makes her a hero or a robot.

Wonder Woman now has a new resolve. She begins to fight as she hasn't fought before. She now feels alive for the first time. She easily repels the attacks of spears aimed towards them and takes out the attackers. She faces her mother, Hippolyta and tells her they need to talk. Hippolyta says the humans will lose the war. Diana says that since her mother started it, the only way she can end it is by taking the throne away from her. Outraged, Hippolyta strikes Diana for speaking to her so.

Nemesis is left falling off a building and Wonder Woman must save him. She flies him over to where Batman and Black Canary are. Nemesis tells her about Everyman impersonating Sarge Steel and how a nuke is aimed at the portal to Themyscira. There is also another weapon the Amazons have.

Hippolyta and the Amazons attack and they are forced to fight once again. Hippolyta is about to use the weapon so Nemesis suggests that Wonder Woman throw him at her. He manages to grab a key off Hippolyta's belt before they go crashing through a window. Hippolyta is handed the weapon, which is in a box and sticks the key into the slot on top. The real Hippolyta comes up and orders the "impostor" to be stopped. Nemesis uses the box to strike an Amazon but the box is opened as a result. Giant killer hornets, native to Themyscira emerge. Wonder Woman tells Nemesis that one sting can kill you in hours.

Wonder Woman grabs her mother and tells Nemesis to jump away. He grabs a banner and plans to capture the hornets. For his bravery, he is stung a couple times. Superman and Hal Jordan arrive to incinerate the bugs. Nemesis lies dying as Wonder Woman goes to his side. He reveals to her that he figured out she and Agent Prince were the same. As he fades away, Wonder Woman is filled with anger. She turns to face her mother once more.

Hippolyta asks who is she that she would weep over a human and fight her own mother. Thinking this over and her time with Nemesis, she punches her mother. She continues her blows saying she'll tell her who she is.

The Justice League try to fight off the rest of the Amazons but are finding themselves becoming outnumbered. Superman says he can hear a very faint heartbeat in Nemesis but it is fading. Batman tries to tend to him when he is attacked from behind. He manages to get the advantage over his attacker and demands that she save him or she will suffer as she never has before. The Amazon tells Batman to go ahead and kill her. The only antidote grows on Themyscira and he only has a few hours to live.

Away from the others, Wonder Woman says she'll tell her mother exactly who she is. She is the person she raised her to be and more. She asks why she cannot accept who she is and who she's become. Wonder Woman ends up holding a knife to Hippolyta's throat. She can easily kill her with one twitch of her wrist and end her reign and the war. She says it won't be that easy. When she took the life of Max Lord in order to save millions of others, taking one life is too many. She turns the knife around and offers it to Hippolyta. She asks if she remembers asking if she would die for the humans she was sent to protect. She says that she would. The real question is, will Hippolyta kill her in order to win her war?