You know, this is the point where I felt like things are unnecessarily stretched out bs. Overstayed its welcome.
At first, it was Shadow World and Outsiders. They both weren't linked, but apparently they are. Seeds are planted when the BBEG is revealed to be the religious prophet of the past, so it's easy and acceptable to follow.
The problem now, is that, after we reached the apparent climax and things supposedly ends, there's a bigger BBEG than the BBEG. Surprise. Well, not really. There're seeds with Pierrot reluctantly following Skullmask. Except we never develop him any further except exactly at this climax point, unlike Skullmask (and the religion) which revelations slowly seeded throughout the story, throughout the Shadow Worlds encounter. This is a sudden asspull move to extend the conflict which could've been solved by itself, satisfyingly even.
That's just problem no. 1, though. Problem no. 2: Priscilla is an evil all along. Yes. The girl who is established as a really close bro with Zod, Desir's trusted partner, and most importantly, the core member of final subjugation squad pre-reincarnation, is actually an enemy. She isn't Zod's, Desir's, nor the core member as we established before. Was it even hinted that she might be an enemy down the line? No. We have Skullmask for that, the old prophet of Artemise and her actions clearly oppose him. Not only the drama gets dragged along, it also comes at the cost of deconstructing a character not in a good way.
Were it to be hinted that Priscilla's had ulterior motives, the evil stare, or scary smiles, this might've been acceptable. But the only revelation of that aspect is literally the last chapter where Zod said "there is an impostor amogus". She lacks screentime, and this development is meaninglessly sudden. Wrench ex Machina, a surprise wrench in the machine.
And there is my rambling. I'll still read this to the end, and the story might finally take their (belatedly late) time to explain the plot twist, but that will still be patching up the holes rather than sewing a fine cloth in the first place.
