An unexpected development suggests that the Green Lantern corner of the DC Universe is about to see the revival of its god-tier White Lantern. It’s been ages since the powerful Lanterns have been seen, but a perplexing series of events could end up bringing the powerful Corps back.
The recent Green Lantern run has been shrouded in a mystery involving the takeover of the Green Lantern Corps by the United Planets. Around the same time, strange events began occurring in regards to the Emotional Spectrum, the power source of all Lantern Corps. But clues have slowly come out and they seem to be pointing in the direction that someone intends to bring the powerful White Lanterns back for nefarious purposes.
In the wake of Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths, the Guardians of the Universe have gone missing. No one knows where the immortal beings are, but in their absence, control of the Corps has been assumed by the interplanetary organization, the United Planets. But they made no allies of the Corps’ Earth-based Lanterns with their first order of business: Quarantining Earth and reassigning the Corps’ human members. While most went along with this decree, Hal Jordan and John Stewart voluntarily left the Green Lantern Corps.
While John went home to take care of his ailing mother, Hal tried to resume his life in Coast City. Despite not being an official member of the Green Lantern Corps any longer, Hal was able to fashion himself a new ring and costume out of the leftover Emerald Light from an old Manhunter suit. The new Power Ring perplexed Green Lantern due to its unusual powers compared to his previous ring. But Hal’s time on Earth was interrupted by the reappearance of his old enemy Sinestro.
Sinestro informed Hal that something was seriously wrong with the Emotional Spectrum and that he hadn’t been able to wield the Yellow Light of Fear since the Yellow Central Power Battery exploded on New Korugar. However, Sinestro’s anger at Hal allowed him to tap into the Red Light of Rage and briefly become a Red Lantern. Before Hal could even process how Sinestro accessed another light, Green Lantern’s old ally Razer tracked Hal down on Earth to tell him the Blue Lantern Corps had fallen.
In Green Lantern #8 by Jeremy Adams and Amancay Nahuelpan, Razer tells Hal Jordan the sad story of how Odym went to hell after the Blue Lantern Power Battery exploded, cutting Razer off from the Blue Light. Not only have the Yellow and Blue Central Power Batteries been destroyed, but Ysmault’s Red Central Power Battery has also been destroyed, leading Hal and Razer to suspect foul play. The two make a plan to leave Earth and inform the United Planets that the Emotional Spectrum is being targeted.
Green Lantern and Razer seek a way off of Earth with Madame Xanadu’s assistance but unfortunately are interrupted by the United Planet’s Lanterns who have come to arrest Razer. Razer and Hal put up a good fight until they make a horrifying discovery: The United Planets’ Green Lanterns aren’t just wielding the Emerald Light, but the Blue and Yellow Lights as well. The sudden change throws Hal off his game and allows the United Planets’ Lanterns to apprehend Razer.
Aside from the sight of Green Lanterns wielding an energy other than the Emerald Light, what makes the situation odd is that the United Planets’ Corps officers are using the lights whose associated Central Power Batteries have blown up. This issue also revealed that the Red Central Power Battery was destroyed, explaining how Sinestro could tap into its power. Whoever is destroying the Central Power Batteries is allowing the remaining ring-slingers free access to the other Emotional Spectrum’s lights. But who would mastermind such an endeavor and what end goal could there be?
No one seemed to question the Guardians of the Universe’s sudden disappearance or the United Planets taking over the Green Lantern Corps. Their takeover was followed by cutting off Earth from the Corps’ protection and the sudden destruction of the Yellow, Red, and Blue Central Power Batteries. The explosion that took out the Sinestro Corps’ Central Power Battery seemed like an accident, but with nearly half of the Batteries wiped out, it’s obvious someone is benefiting from the Lantern Corps’ intentional destruction.
The only people who have seemed to benefit from this dramatic change are the United Planets’ newly restructured Green Lantern Corps. With the Blue, Yellow, and Red Central Power Batteries turned to rubble and their Corps gone, the Green Lanterns can wield four lights in total, over half the Emotional Spectrum’s total energy sources. But why would the United Planets want to control more than one light? The only possible answer is the United Planets is trying to control all seven lights to reclaim the most powerful energy, the White Light of Creation.
