The Wicked + The Divine Volume 6: Imperial Phase II

by Kieron Gillen

[Quirky Cat]

I’m finally caught up with the Wicked + the Divine and I don’t really know how I feel about this. On the one hand I’m thrilled I was finally able to read the most recent volume of the series, but on the other that means I have so much longer to wait before I get to find out what happens next.
If you haven’t read any of this series I strongly recommend you go and read the first few volumes before reading this review. Unless you’re a fan of spoilers, which is cool.



Man. I don’t even know what to say after finishing this one. It was fantastic, like the others, and I’m finally getting a good idea of what is actually happening here – as opposed to what only appeared to be going on.
There have been moments in this series – mainly right after character deaths – where I found myself wondering how long they could sustainably go at the rate they were killing characters at. I felt that concern multiple times this volume…and yet at the end I feel both less and more concerned about that? If that makes any sense. You’d have to see the big reveal to get what I mean, I think. So please go look and tell me what you think.
Some events that occurred here I think we all saw coming. The Sakhmet plot was clearing coming to a head one way or the other. I didn’t expect it to occur the way it did though…I don’t want to say too much about it, for sake of spoilers. But that was way more than I was anticipating or ready for.
Other parts, like the Woden revelation I was simply not expecting. I knew something was going on with his character, we all did, but…not that. That is a whole new level of evil if you ask me. The more I think about what he did (intentionally being vague here) the angrier I get about it. I should probably stop thinking about it now.
I love how there’s so much going on right now, and yet there’s still a moment or two to remind us that these people, contrary to popular belief are in fact very much human. Persephone’s emotions are so raw and tainted by guilt it’s actually incredibly heartbreaking. It made me wish I could reach into the pages and tell her it wasn’t her fault and that it’ll all be okay. But we don’t actually know that, do we? The part where it’s all going to be okay, I mean.
There have been quite a few pieces of the puzzle moving around in the last few volumes, and now we’re finally getting an idea of how they fit together. I’ve had theories for why Ananke has been acting the way she is, and I think the final revelation did in fact confirm at least one of my theories (that she’s been moving to counteract the ‘Darkness’ this whole time). I’ll have to wait for confirmation naturally. For all we know she’s been deluding herself this whole time.
Honestly its times like now that I wish I had a friend that was reading this series with me. I would love nothing more than to talk with somebody about who is and isn’t true dead (I won’t do that here, because those are massive spoilers). If anybody feels like chatting about it feel free to reach out.
I think I’m going to have to cave and start reading this series issue by issue instead of waiting for the volume. I just don’t see myself being patient enough to wait months for the next scrap of information.


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