warning: contains spoilers for Black Panther #25
Wakanda has had a tumultuous relationship with its gods recently, and the rebirth of a major deity has already drawn the ire of Black Panther. The new chapter of Wakanda’s connection to its gods may be starting off on a rocky note.
For generations, the Orisha safeguarded and watched over the nation of Wakanda. However, as revolution and calamity overwhelmed the people, the gods of Wakanda were nowhere to be found. T’Challa sought the guidance of Storm in Black Panther #13, and described how the panther goddess Bast, and the other Orisha, had been mysteriously absent. It took T’Challa being drawn into the far reaches of the galaxy after discovering the Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda, to reconnect with Bast, whose spirit possessed Zenzi, the daughter of the Emperor. Black Panther learned that Bast and the Orisha had abandoned Wakanda Prime for the nation’s intergalactic expansive offshoot. The Orisha returned to Wakanda right as the final battle against the Empire began, and apart from Bast, remained uninvolved spectators as T’Challa and his army stood tall against Emperor N’Jadaka.
As Black Panther defeated Emperor N’Jadaka, the panther goddess Bast was reborn in a new form but was not immediately embraced by T’Challa. In Black Panther #25 by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Daniel Acuña, Brian Stelfreeze and Laura Martin, the goddess Bast transferred from the Emperor’s daughter Zenzi, to Zenzi, the Nigandan rebel who opposed Wakanda that she was named after. This new union was more than a bodily possession, as Bast was fully reborn and ready to take her place amongst the Orisha once more. However, following the battle, T’Challa and Ororo Monroe confronted the new Bast to criticize the gods for their part in the Empire’s evils. As Black Panther sought to lay blame on Bast for all the oppression and death, Bast fired back that it was T’Challa’s orders that sent Wakandans into the stars and ultimately founded the Empire. Bast departs coldly, and the first meeting of the new panther goddess and her avatar ends on shaky terms.
The fact that Bast has been reborn by joining with Zenzi, a rebel that caused enormous amounts of strife and pain in Wakanda, is likely another source of apprehension in T’Challa. The first issue of Ta-Nehisi Coates’ run on Black Panther featured T’Challa seeking to kill the mysterious Zenzi for using her abilities to draw out the rage and hate of his citizens, causing them to turn on him and each other. Since then she frequently sowed dissention throughout Wakanda and was a part of attempts to overthrow T’Challa. It remains to be seen how much of Zenzi still remains within the newly formed Bast, or if the animosity she held for Wakanda will manifest itself through the god’s actions.
It has been a massively transformative period for Wakanda in the last years. Princess Shuri returned from the Djalia plane as Aja-Adanna. Democracy was introduced to the nation, and the connections with the Orisha have been reestablished. As Wakanda enters a new age, an amicable relationship between Bast and Black Panther would be ideal, but for now there is lingering animosity and an intergalactic empire to rule.
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