Wonder Woman #33: Weaving Fate

Wonder Woman #33 functions as a transitional chapter, using its quick pacing to highlight the rising stakes of the arc while reinforcing Diana’s steady, strategic resolve. The issue opens with Diana and Lizzie rescuing a resurrected Steve Trevor from the Matriarch’s captivity, a moment that might typically spark emotional reflection but instead serves as a narrative device, emphasizing Diana’s pursuit of the mission. The momentum continues as the trio descends into hell, where a short sequence of compressed trials functions less as conventional obstacles and more as symbolic markers of the story’s deepening moral and mythological dimensions. This relentless forward drive frames the issue’s structural role: to maneuver the characters into position for the arc’s impending conclusion.

Before addressing the cliffhanger ending, which will undoubtedly dominate online discussion, there is value in examining how the rest of the issue unfolds. Readers familiar with this run will recognize the continued use of its established narrative devices and motifs, yet the issue introduces early confusion due to the lack of explanation surrounding Steve’s return or his importance to Diana’s overarching plan. While the Trinity: Daughter of Wonder Woman miniseries provides context for his resurrection, this issue offers minimal explanation beyond a brief editorial note, effectively making that title required reading. This would be less of a concern if the narrative offered clearer justification for Steve’s immediate involvement. In theory, he might be needed to cross the River Styx due to prior experience, or perhaps his fate remains intertwined with the Matriarch’s machinations, making him essential to Diana’s endgame. However, none of this is stated or even meaningfully implied through subtext. Instead, his dramatic return is quickly overshadowed by Diana’s urgency to press on, making the moment feel more like a narrative obligation than an integrated story choice. Although future issues may clarify his role, the ambiguity here dulls the impact of his reappearance and makes the previous issue’s reveal feel somewhat unearned.

It is no secret that this arc reads like a culminating chapter for Tom King and Daniel Sampere’s run. The abrupt time jump leading into this storyline initially felt disorienting, but the developments in this issue begin to hint at the rationale behind it, particularly regarding how Lizzie might ultimately become woven into mainline continuity.

Spoilers to follow:

The issue concludes with the revelation that Diana’s plan has been to track down the Weavers of Fate to rewrite the timeline and prevent the Matriarch’s conquest from ever occurring. While not an entirely surprising direction, given the genre’s longstanding reliance on temporal resets, it aligns with the internal logic of the run. In the tradition of celebrated dystopian time travel comic storylines, such as X-Men: Days of Future Past by Chris Claremont and John Byrne or Flashpoint by Geoff Johns and Andy Kubert, the narrative leans on the trope of reshaping history to avert a dystopian future. Yet Wonder Woman #33 channels this familiar structure in a way that remains grounded in the lore of this run, building on mythological concepts introduced in earlier issues while setting the stage for a finale rooted in destiny, choice, and the power to reshape one’s world.