There's a moment in this issue -- at some point after the "Eleven Years Later" page -- that you have to just stop wondering where this story falls in continuity. It seems unlikely that Steve is going to emerge from this story 12 years older than he was when he left, but it's hard to hope for that outcome, since it likely means the loss of his son, either through his death or being forced to remain in Dimension Z. Stepping into these waters, you realize that you just need to let Remender go where he's going and we'll see where we are when the river, as they say, meets the sea.
Both Remender and Romita really tug at the heart strings in this issue. Steve's narrative that the silver lining of getting on that train in issue #1 is getting to meet his son was as heart-warming as it was heart-breaking, given the likely outcome. But, Romita also gets in his digs, showing Steve's mural of superheroes in the background, a reminder of the world that he hasn't seen for 12 years. Neither Remender nor Romita is sugar-coating this experience, showing Steve as mentally and physically exhausted from the 11 years of the Zola virus borrowing itself into his mind. But, given the uncertainty over Ian's eventual fate, it's hard to even hope for this arc to come to an end. We're left hoping that Cap will be able to do what he does best and find the impossible outcome, one that appears to run through Ian's now fully grown sister.
I don't really recall reading a story where I was so unsure of the eventual outcome. Remender is really keeping me on the edge of my seat and hoping for the best, even though I'm doubtful that the "best" is going to be possible. Fingers crossed.
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