Issue 79 isn't retconned away. According to the Spectre, when Linda Danvers went back in Kara's place, she created a new spin-off universe, a "divergence," from Earth-1.
Well, that makes sense I guess. After all the Multiverse included a potentially infinite number of realities, so what's one more. Anyway, nice to see yet another confirmation that yes, the Multiverse was real.
(New addition to the Supergirl mythos: Kara chose the name "Linda Lee" because of her subconscious memories of her experiences with Linda Danvers, who taught her what a "true hero" is.)
Well, that
is a neat touch!
She has dropped the "Supergirl" mantle because she no longer feels, after her experiences and the choices she made in issue 80, that she is capable of being a hero. Think along the lines of Kal-El in "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?" He chose not to be a hero anymore after his actions. I agree, it's not "heroic," but some might think otherwise. You might want to consider reading the issue for your own take on it. If nothing else, think of it as a Crisis tie-in
Maybe I will. I can see where a person who feels guilt or is disappointed in herself might resist having people call her a "hero," but stepping to the sidelines sort of makes for circuitous logic. I'm not a hero, so I will stop helping people. And because I don't help, I'm not a hero. It seems to me that if she's unhappy with how she's behaved, copping out would just make it worse, not better.
But of course you're right; PAD was in an impossible spot and got himself out the best he could. At least it beats yet another superhero death...we've had enough of those to last forever.