The above is an old quote (3 years ago) from Greg Rucka about pathos in comics heroes, referring to his decision during Rebirth to make it impossible for Diana to return to Themyscira, and I was curious to see how folks feel about the topic."The heroism of these characters starts from a place where they have decided not to do the other thing. They have taken up a responsibility that wasn't necessarily incumbent upon them to do. They decided 'I am going to do these things, I am going to use my abilities and powers to protect people. I am going to try to right wrongs. That is a choice I have made'. And then they have committed to the choice.
This is why it's so important to me that Diana not be able to go back to Themyscira, because if she can go home she hasn't sacrificed anything. There's no element of sacrifice if she's going "Oh I'm just in Man's World for a little while, but I'm gonna go home". She has to give it up.
She leaves with Steve, she has to leave willing, and believing that she will never see her mother again. She will never see her sisters again. She will never ever be able to go home. She will be a stranger in a strange land forever.
You grant her that, her heroism becomes very different. As opposed to "Well I'll be back next Tuesday, want anything from the mall?"
Should Diana be able to return to Themyscira freely, should it be impossible, or is there a third option where there are parameters or limitations?
On the one hand I can see what Rucka is getting at. Diana's sacrifice of paradise in order to change Man's World / Patriarch's World adds a lot of pathos as well as depth to her conviction. It shows that she's willing to give up her home, her family, a perfect paradise, for what she believes in. To follow her purpose or destiny.
(It occurs to me that this idea only really lands with Rucka's characterisation of Diana. It wouldn't work with a more adventurous, restless Diana who left because she wanted to see the world, or simply because she fell in love.)
The problem with Diana giving up Themyscira is that we lose Hippolyta and the Amazons as characters, and for storytelling. We wouldn't necessarily have to lose Nubia because there are versions where she left anyway too. And Artemis is a character who doesn't even come from Themyscira, and we have two whole other Amazon tribes to fill that gap.
But in a more symbolic sense, we do lose some of that sisterhood, and the opportunity that comes with showing Diana's strong relationship with Hippolyta navigate Diana's absences. We also lose a lot of the cultural tension between Themyscira and the outside world, something Rucka himself actually used in his first run.
So what do you folks think? Should Diana giving up Themyscira be a necessary part of her story? What are the pros, and cons of possible approaches?