Warning! Contains spoilers for Wonder Woman #790!After being murdered by Darkseid, some of DC’s most powerful characters appear to have been corrupted by the Great Darkness. Currently in Dark Crisis, the Quintessence, a group of supremely powerful God-level entities seem to be firmly under Pariah’s control, but it is unclear how this will affect them going forward after this major event. The most recent issue of Wonder Woman seems to provide a worrying answer to this question.

The Quintessence is a group made up of the Greek Goddess Hera, the guardian Ganthet, Highfather, the Wizard Shazam, the Phantom Stranger, and the Spectre. Each of these entities is incredibly powerful on their own, but as a group, they are near-omnipotent and were a major factor in the Justice League’s victory over the omniversal threat of Perpetua. Despite their power, they were all killed by a newly reborn Darkseid aided by the Great Darkness in Infinite Frontier. After that, their fate largely fell into mystery, appearing briefly under the control of Pariah and contributing to the apparent Death of the Justice League that kick-started the Dark Crisis. However, it is unclear what this Dark possession entails and if it will affect them even after the Crisis ends. This is especially complicated by confusion surrounding when exactly the events of Dark Crisis occur with respect to the events of other currently running series. But the latest issue of Wonder Woman is providing some hints as to the Quintessence’s ultimate fate.

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Wonder Woman #790 written by Becky Cloonan and Michael Conrad with pencils by Emanuela Lupacchino, Jose Luis, and Eduardo Pansica features the defeat of Dr. Psycho’s Villainy Inc. However, it is soon revealed that the mastermind of Dr. Psycho’s milk scheme is actually Hera. Notably, the goddess is covered in shadows and speaks in ominous red text. This implies that her time under the Great Darkness’ control has permanently affected her both physically and mentally, twisting her towards evil.

Hera lurks evilly in the shadows

As Pariah would likely not give up control of Hera until after the end of Dark Crisis, it is likely that this Wonder Woman issue takes place after she has been freed from the Great Darkness’ direct control. While Hera has occasionally acted as an antagonist for Wonder Woman, her insidious dairy plans and her ominous presentation implies that she has become an unabashed villain, which in turn suggests that the other members of the Quintessence will also turn evil after the end of Dark Crisis.

Given the power levels of each of the other Quintessence members, if they also become evil it could have major negative and fascinating consequences for the DC Universe. For instance, Darkseid being responsible for his antithesis Highfather becoming evil would have incredibly interesting ramifications. And a corrupted Wizard Shazam would be an incredibly compelling villain for the new Mary Marvel series. If Darkseid truly has caused the Quintessence to become permanently corrupted then the DC Universe may be in for a rough time even after Dark Crisis ends.

Wonder Woman #790 is now available from DC Comics.