Fan Casting

In the beginning, the Amazon were sculpted from clay by five Olympian patrons. Their purpose was to return the merits of virtue, love and equality to man’s world. The first generation, led by Queen Ostrera, trained as diplomats and warriors. Among them were Ostrera’s own daughters: the hotheaded Hippolyta, and the stoic Antiope. Once they reached the outside world, the small band of Amazons were drawn into all sorts of petty conflicts between mortals and demigods. Hippolyta fell in with Heracles and his band of marauding warriors. Heracles convinced her that if the Amazon allowed his men to join them, their mission could be completed. Antiope, on the other hand, instantly disliked the son of Zeus, and believed the Amazon’s mission to be a lost cause. Hippolyta eventually agreed to bring Heracles and his men to Paradise Island for a rendezvous, but only after a heated argument with Antiope. When they arrived, Heracles and his men laid siege to the island, catching the still small-in-numbers Amazon by surprise. Hippolyta attempted to reason with Heracles but became his hostage instead. Antiope sought the aid of the Amazon’s patron gods but they only agreed to help on the condition that she would not retaliate against their aggressors. The Amazon were meant to be ambassadors of peace, after all. In secret, Antiope also commuted with Ares, god of war, who also agree to aid her under certain conditions. The patron goddesses cleared the way for Antiope to rescue her sister, while sending Heracles’ men back to their ships as a tempest surrounded the island of Themyscira. But Antiope did not stop. She carved her way from ship to ship until she found Hippolyta. Before she could slay the treacherous demigod, Hippolyta stopped her, holding on to the promise of the Amazon. Decimated, the Amazon began to rebuild, shifting their culture towards warfare and defense. The tempest that pushed their invaders away would now shield them from the rest of the world. A disillusioned Hippolyta, now queen of the Amazon, vowed never to let such a treason occur again. The isolationist doctrine was established. Antiope had broken a promise to her patron goddesses. As punishment, she was exiled from Themyscira, but with her followed a small band of devoted Amazon. They sought to establish their own nation elsewhere, Bana-Mighdall. The price of Antiope’s secret pact with Ares also came to light: she would bear him a child, a daughter who would one day serve her father in a coup against the olympians. Fearful for her daughter’s future, Antiope arranged for the child to be returned to Themyscira after she’d given birth. Hippolyta promised to raise the baby as her own, and to teach her to embody and uphold the original purpose of the Amazon.