Atlantis might be getting a new ruler, but it isn’t who you think.
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Spoilers incoming for Aquaman #32, so if you haven’t read the issue yet you’ve been warned.
Aquaman and Mera are finally reunited in issue #32, but the reunion isn’t what either had hoped for, as Mera needs to get to the surface to survive. Aquaman buys her some time, but then the couple is hit with another bombshell: The widowhood wants Mera to be Queen of Atlantis.
At the moment, Corum Rath is the current king, but everyone’s pretty much on the same page that his coronation was a major misfire. The Widowhood tells Aquaman they have been helping his resistance behind the scenes, and reveal to him their plan for the next ruler.
“He has proven to be a bad choice,” the page reads. “We did not predict his unhealthy obsession with magic. He must be removed, and quickly. We aim to place a new ruler in his stead. Someone who is worthy of the throne. Mera.”
Cetea reveals that the previous trials Mera went through to become Arthur’s Queen yielded something else. “What we found was that you were not fit to be her King,” the comic continues. “Mera is the perfect queen. She is strong and wise. She is regal. She could bring peace between Xebel and Atlantis.”
Arthur later tells Mera about the Widowhood’s choice of ruler, and while it isn’t what she necessarily wants to do, she does feel a responsibility to serve Atlantis if it needs her to.
“No, I want to marry you, and love you, and live in the lighthouse until we are old and gray,” Mera says. “But I was raised as royalty. I understand duty. It always comes first for people like us.”
In that way, she and Arthur are similar. He never wanted to take the throne, but he did so because he needed to. “I don’t want to be Queen,” Mera says, “but I’m terrified I may have to be.”
You can find the spoiler images above.
Aquaman #32 is written by Dan Abnett with art by Riccardo Federici, Rick Leonardi, Sunny Gho, and Steve Wands. Covers were provided by Stjepan Sejic and Joshua Middleton. The official description is included below:
“The Crown Comes Down part two! As Aquaman’s resistance against King Rath gains momentum, a new kingpin of crime emerges from the Atlantean underworld—King Shark! But whose side is he on? He could be a powerful ally to the Undercurrent…or a dangerous new agent of evil!”
Aquaman #32 is in comic stores now.
