There is a dance in all mythologies. A hero, traditionally a man goes through a set of trials and comes out on the other side of his journey with a wealth of experience and usually ends up a martyr. Well Gilad, the Eternal Warrior is fed up with the dance. He needs to get back to the land of the living and the demon Humongous is in the way. What was once a tango has become a bureaucratic nightmare.
Artfully drawn you see the frustration on Gilad’s face as he leaves a paradise behind to return to his purpose. As he says his oath the reader is reminded of “The Song of Roland†where just at the moment his army is nearly decimated he blows his horn. In Roland’s case, his forces are overtaken and he is killed in the battle, however, his act as the legend goes helps Emperor Charlemagne to ultimately win the war. But Roland still dies. Gilad needs to return to the living and the path gets more arduous. What’s more, there is a questioning of why go back? Does the world really deserve Gilad and his saving effort? And how effective is he since he constantly keeps dying? Humongous makes good many points to delay our hero, yet Gilad like Roland must do his part of the dance.
Undercurrents of epic tragedy surround this narrative, particularly Gilad’s tete-a-tete with Humongous. Hope is the one driving force where anything can be overcome. Perhaps that is why Gilad is the moral center of the Valiant Universe. Consider a world filled with the likes of Master Darque and Toyo Harada, a sphere where hubris goes unchecked. Without him, their world has no hope. There’s also the fact that Gilad accepts his destiny. He doesn’t try to siphon it off on anyone else. In a recent episode of “Arrow,†Oliver Queen believes that he finds the best solution to save his sister Thea from dying and taking Malcolm (the current leader of the League of Assassins) off the playing board. By handing over the leadership of the league to Nyssa (daughter of Ra’s al Ghul), Oliver feels he has made the right decision. Instead, his actions create a catastrophic vacuum where a massive power struggle is inevitable, the death of his son is closer to becoming a reality and the further maturation of Vandal Savage will go unchecked. After all, the League doesn’t just kill people. As Malcolm informs Oliver, they manipulate power struggles and world events. This is what happens when you don’t embrace your role.
Your world unravels to the point where you lose everything you love.
Don’t get it twisted, there is a considerable amount of action and funny moments throughout the fourth installment of “Wrath of the Eternal Warrior.†Still, those moments are subverted by Robert Venditti’s dialogue. This isn’t just a romp through an evil land going into the light. Something greater is at play here. And as it becomes harder for Gilad to return you have to wonder what he will meet on the other side of the iron door.
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