I sometimes wonder about Hippolyta telling Diana “they do not deserve you”
Because - the statement seems so ordinary, when you first hear it. It’s just another badass phrase from the trailers generalizing how the world is bad, and Diana is too good and too young to go out and be trying to protect it.
Then I remember how Hippolyta suffered.
She too was once a hero. She too fought to protect mankind. She was also young, daring and adventurous once.
But she lost.
She lost her sisters, mothers and friends in war. She watched her clan be killed, slaughtered mercilessly and endlessly at the hands of Ares and his soldiers - and this battle must’ve been so traumatizing for her to the point that when she managed to lead the remaining Amazons to victory, she demanded that the gods give her a safe haven, where she and her sisters could live in peace and safety. She swore to protect her Amazon family, and her island allowed for them to live in isolation, while kept safe from the dangers of man.
Zeus granted her a child - and you can imagine Hippolyta’s love and tenderness towards this child, the first child the Amazons had seen in centuries. Hippolyta poured so much heart and tears into raising Diana. Training her to be the best warrior, protecting her, spending time with her as mother and daughter. Watching Diana grow. Braiding her hair. Feeding her by hand, and laughing as she told her daughter stories. Helping Diana hop onto and adjust her saddle when she was old enough to ride a horse. The two of them leaving the rest of the group whilst on hunts, and laughing as they raced each other on horseback through the luscious forests and coasts of Themyscira. Hippolyta watching nervously as Diana shoots her first arrow, and being unable to hide her pride when Diana helps her opponents up to their feet again after knocking them down.
This daughter, this woman is nothing like any other Amazon. Diana is a born warrior and a natural leader at heart, but there is a warmth to her voice and a tender love when she meets with others.
Hippolyta worries for Diana’s innocence.
So when Steve crashes on the island and brings word of war raging through the world, and Ares is the prime suspect, and Hippolyta catches Diana in the act of stealing God-Killer and the Wonder Woman armor, she is heartbroken.
Here is her daughter, the pride of her life, one of the greatest people Hippolyta has ever known - being selfless and brave, just as Hippolyta once was herself. Diana is determined to go out and save the world, she is young, she is innocent - and she will see and face many horrors, horrors that even Hippolyta herself cannot understand.
As any mother would, a huge part of Hippolyta wants Diana to stay home and be safe. Man’s world has betrayed the Amazons before, and Diana is too young and naive to understand. Her only daughter - what if she doesn’t return?
But another part of her understands. Diana has what it takes to be the ambassador between Themyscira and the rest of the world. Diana can’t stay here on this island her entire life - the true test is out there, where danger lies.
Hippolyta willingly gives up her greatest love for the sake of the betterment of mankind. She gives up her only daughter and the future queen to the Amazons to a lost cause, and her beloved child will see pain and torture like no other before.
The phrase “they do not deserve you” carries more weight to Queen Hippolyta than it possibly could to anyone else, and honestly, its so overwhelmingly heartfelt and sad - and this movie is going to be so kickass I could never put it into words.
(via slyrider)
