The Clock Tower: “Wait Here, I’ll Go Ahead”
It’s a simple, brief moment, but as they make it across No Man’s Land to the edge of the town of Veld, they find a warren of streets filled with the snipers of occupying forces. As they use a wall for cover, Diana tells Steve and the group, “Wait here, I’ll go ahead.”
The men do not question her, protest or argue. They simply look at each other and obey her command. This is in direct contrast to the scene with the Generals and the board room, when Steve told Diana to wait outside, and she ignored him. It’s also a nod to the fact that Wonder Woman has earned the respect of these men, and they’re happy to defer to her judgement in this instance, having just watched her demolish a battlefield stalemate after a year of no movement.
Once Diana has moved through the streets and cleared a path to the centre of Veld, the group finds themselves pinned down by a sniper firing from a clock tower. People are being killed and, for a moment, chaos reigns. Suddenly, Steve remembers an action he witnessed on the beach of Themyscira, and gathers his comrades to head into the firing line to grab a piece of an armoured vehicle. As he instructs his friends to lift it onto their backs, Steve shouts, “Diana! Shield!” and Wonder Woman immediately knows what to do.
She runs at the men, shield and sword drawn, and emulates her beloved, late Antiope by using the metal sheet as a launch-pad – flying into the air and demolishing the clock tower on top of the sniper. As she emerges unscathed from the rubble, the townspeople rejoice at their liberation – and her group of comrades make unspoken acknowledgement of the bond they have created through such remarkable teamwork.