"A Battle Will Never be Fair".

Well, I'm back for another step in Diana's journey. While I don't think this part will be as long as the others, we'll see how that goes. Without further ado, let's start with Diana's training.

Before the training begins, Diana asks about the godkiller. Hippolyta seems to be confused about what she is talking about. This could be something that only Antiope told her about for reasons that come later, and yet Hippolyta already has a weapon ready to claim as the godkiller. Who knows, maybe they kept that sword specifically for Diana to use, just not telling her that there is nothing special about it, as it does turn out to be a Deus Ex Machina which is a masking of probably the biggest red herring in the story; more on this much later in the film.

Diana does get a glint in her eye when Hippolyta mentions that, "Only the fiercest warrior may wield it.".The rest of her time of Themyscira shows that she intends to prove that she can become that warrior.

Time flashes forward at least five years(likely longer, just a guesstimate) and Antiope tells Diana that she keeps doubting herself as she is knocked down during another training session, which is still kept in secret after all these years. Antiope makes another hint about who Diana is when she says that she has more power than she knows, but if you don't have the skill to hone them, it's pointless.

Hippolyta comes on horseback and discovers that they were training together and starts to berate Antiope for it, even though Diana tries to defend her by telling her that she was the one who asked to be trained. Diana can't finish her sentence before she is sent back home by Hippolyta's guards.

Antiope tells Hippolyta that she left her no choice because she never taught Diana how to fight. This could be a reason why Diana seems to model herself more from Antiope than Hippolyta. Had she trained Diana, maybe she would imitate more traits of Hippolyta, but that's not certain.

Hippolyta tries to deny the fact that Ares may not return, but her facial expressions tell that even she doesn't buy it herself. When Antiope shoots her down on that excuse, Hippolyta uses her last ditch effort and says: "The stronger she gets, the sooner he will find her". She knows she's lost the argument, but a mother will do anything to keep her child from war or any kind of danger; even in a warrior culture. Antiope says that she loves her as much as she does, but this is the only way to protect her, and with a heavy heart Hippolyta relents.

With her permission, Diana starts her training, which is told to be harder than any Amazon as she tells Antiope to be trained until she is better than her. Yet, Hippolyta still tells Antiope not to tell her about who she is and how she was created. Which is already something to wonder if the story of Diana being sculpted from clay to even be true, even though Hippolyta seems to be sincere about that while not being so about most other things she tells her daughter.

We finally see Diana in her adult form and before her scuffle begins with the other Amazons, she still looks to her mother; either for approval or just get some read about what she feels about her progress in skill(am I worthy). Diana is shown to be adept in all sorts of weapons throughout the scene(including her iconic lasso) and is never said how many years it has taken for her to get to this point. Considering that she looks the same in WWI as she does in present day, which shows the Amazons are immortal unless they die in battle(running on Tolkien's view of Elves lifespan), so this could have easily taken decades.

Once the other Amazons are defeated, Diana duels with Antiope as the final exam. While the duel goes on for a while, and Diana does manage to disarm Antiope, but the victory is not complete because she looks at her mother before finishing the fight.

Maybe this was the farthest Diana had ever gotten because Antiope knocks her down and tells her to never let her guard down. The final lesson she tells Diana is to never expect people to play on your level and be honorable. This does show her view on the world and has become hardened, as most people tend to become, which is a wonderful contrast to Diana's optimism throughout the film along with her naivety. Both of which are changed to varying degrees throughout the story.

The battle seems to be won by accident as Diana races her bracelets for pure defensive reasons but gets a surprise as their is shockwave effect and Antiope is beaten. It is clear, however, that Diana has never known this as she looks at her bracelets in: shock, joy, and then remorse once she sees Antiope injured. The rest of the Amazons look at her in fear, Hippolyta knows that Diana knows her full potential now, and Diana apologizes before she runs off.

One final note. The gauntlets are used in the iconic pose in the comics more of a salute for the Amazons. Here, it seems to be more symbolic of the fact that Diana's is at her greatest strength when she is in a defensive position. With that pose, it cannot be used to hurt anyone, it can only defend; either yourself or other people. I'm sure that was the thought when the comic was originally done, it's just an interesting symbol in this movie specifically.

Thanks for reading guys(guess it was not shorter than usual), and I will be back with Steve Trevor's introduction.