Love and betrayal abound for Arthur and Mera in Aquaman No. 49

With Mother Shark giving all of Arthur’s memories back to him, there’s only one thing that she hasn’t returned, his memories of Mera. Spoilers for Aquaman No. 49 follow.

Now that Aquaman knows what happened to him and how he ended up on the Isle of the Old Gods, there’s only one more thing left for him to learn, how he died. Mother Shark told him that Mera was the one who had killed him, seemingly flying in the face of the end of “Drowned Earth,” but there is so much more to the story than that.

Mera has been coronated, and Arthur visits her in her chambers, much to the chagrin of Mera given that everyone thinks he’s supposed to be dead due to his disappearance after “Drowned Earth.” However, he’s just lying low for the time, and now simply wants to talk with his love. The two begin to joke and humor each other but, soon, Mera turns the conversation into a more serious tone. There’s a lot more happening than she’s letting on.

Image by DC Comics/Art by Viktor Bogdanovic

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First off, the Widowhood of Atlantis is trying to force her into marriage, much to her disapproval. And the second, larger thing is — Mera is pregnant. Arthur had previously promised that he would always come back to her, no matter where he was pulled but, immediately after being told she’s pregnant, Arthur freezes, terrified of possibly doing to his child what his mother did to him. For the first time in his life, he was truly scared. Unable to compose himself, he begins to freak out, leading to Mera becoming extremely angry and frustrated. In her frustration, she can no longer control her powers, causing a watery explosion, and this is what kills Arthur.

Much has been made in the way of mystery throughout the first arc of this new Aquaman run and, while it was seemingly already showed what happened at the end of “Drowned Earth,” it turns out, there was so much more to it, and it makes the story all better for it. What’s revealed to have happened in this issue are the two simultaneous best and worst things to happen for both Arthur and Mera, which makes for a lot of complicated for feelings in this issue. Kelly Sue DeConnick and Viktor Bogdanovic work excellently together in bringing forth everything that the audience and the characters should be feeling and create a great issue together.

9.0/10 

Aquaman no. 49 unveils the answers to the mystery that the series has held for the past year in a satisfying, heartbreaking way.