My daughter... you always make me proud... 
Wonder Woman (Volume 5) #23 is an issue of the series Wonder Woman (Volume 5) with a cover date of July, 2017. It was published on May 24, 2017.
Synopsis for "The Truth, Conclusion"
The God of War, Ares, was full of madness, a thirst for blood and violence like the never-extinguished fire of Prometheus. To stop him, the Gods of Olympus made Hephaestus create a chain and then sent Aphrodite, Ares' lover, to bound him. Free from his madness but now prisoners, the gods then created a guard for him, that would stand for absolute peace: they were the Amazons. Setting them in the Island of Themyscira, they then put Ares in his prison, never to be free again. But two deities, the sons of Ares, Phobos and Deimos, wanted their father back, either to release him and his madness or to kill him and harness his power themselves.
Diana, now completely aware of the truth, tells Ares she was worthy of knowing it since the start, but the god of war explains to her what led the gods to lie to her: before leaving together with Steve Trevor, Diana made an oath to her mother, Queen Hippolyta, about coming back. Knowing her resolve and her determination in finding the truth, the gods fabricated one for her to avoid the possibility of Diana coming back to the Island, leading there Phobos and Deimos. In truth, the Ares she remembers battling wasn't the real one, but the two twins disguised as him. They tried to strip the way to access Themyscira first from Trevor and then from Diana herself, but without success. And so, they turned to Veronica Cale: once again the gods made the mistake to undervalue the power of mortals, as after all Veronica was successful in bringing them there.
Still, Veronica does not care much about Ares and Diana: Izzy displays a form of love for Ares, and Veronica does not like the way the two interact. But Izzy, who in the meantime grew up to be a woman, tells her mother that what she thinks never happened: Ares simply saved her from life inside the limbo she was put into by Phobos and Deimos, a place full of nightmares and without light. Ares kept her with him, giving her an happier existence, even if limited. But more pressing matters soon play out: the twins reached the island and are battling with the Amazons, and they are winning. Ares explains to Diana that he was the snake that bit her arm back when she was still in Themyscira, because this bite would gave her the ability to bypass the Island and arrive directly in Ares' prison, so that he could explain her that it is the love of Aphrodite, and not the chains of Hephaestus, that bounded him. Understanding what she has to do, Diana tells Ares to let Phobos and Deimos in.
Just like Aphrodite, the gods gave her the mean to bound a deity in the Lasso of Truth. Now, she has to use her love to bound Phobos and Deimos, taking their madness away just like Aphrodite did with their father. She is an Amazon and she is of pure heart, she loves everyone and everything, and so she can truthfully love also the evil twins who, approaching, are both wrapped in the Lasso with Diana telling them they are loved. The two first react with anger, but then surrender to sadness and realize they need the love the Amazon is offering. As the twins are bound and not dangerous anymore, Veronica wants to take Izzy away, but the girl doesn't want to come. Again, Veronica thinks Ares made the young girl fall in love with him, but that's not the truth: if Izzy gets back to Earth, she will be once again split in two, her spirit and her shell living separately. To remain one and the same, Izzy must stay in the dimension she is in right now: the prison or, if she wants, the Island of Themyscira, where she will never grow up but she will live her life, a life that was taken from her. Veronica struggles to let her go, but accepts the fact that it is the only thing she can do. She just tell Izzy to never forget her mother, a thing Isadore promises she will never do.
As the door to Themyscira is closing and both Veronica and Diana are coming back to Earth, Queen Hippolyta and her daughter meet in the distance, both with tears running down their faces: Hippolyta tells Diana that she always makes her proud, knowing that this could really be the last time they will see one another.
Appearing in "The Truth, Conclusion"
Featured Characters:
- Wonder Woman (Flashback and main story)
Supporting Characters:
- Amazons of Themyscira
- Castalia
- Queen Hippolyta (Flashback and main story)
- Io
- Philippus
- Sophia
- Ares (Flashback and main story)
- Gods of Olympus
- Izzy Cale
- Veronica Cale
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Steve Trevor (Cameo)
Locations:
- Earth 0
- Themyscira
- Ares' Prison/"Tree of Darkness"
- Themyscira
- Sphere of the Gods
Items:
- Ares' Axe (Flashback only)
- Ares' Chains (Flashback and main story) (Origin)
- Ares' Helmet (Flashback only)
- Bracelets of Submission
- Lasso of Truth
- Wonder Woman's Tiara
Concepts:
Notes
- Sophia's name is mispelled as "Sofia".
See Also