Green Lantern Corps: Emerald Twilight
This film is pretty much a continuation of everything previously. This is the film where the truth comes out. The movie where the house of cards finally falls. Sinestro, Hal Jordan, Parallax, Scar, the guardians of the universe, the entire green lantern corps, and John Stewart are all on a collision course.
We are going to see what happens when the truth comes out. When the green lantern corps, a force for good, is built on secrets and lies, what happens when it all falls apart?
One more thing we will touch on. The nature of order. Emotion is inherently a force of chaos. How far do you go to stop chaos?
New Characters:
Tora: Naive, young, and kind princess of a tribe of aliens in an ice planet village. Curious. Can create and control ice.
We begin on Korugar. Sinestro is there, he’s a soldier on his world. A spaceship crashes, alien green lantern dies, sends ring to find a successor. Sinestro is chosen. Abin Sur, whose planet is in the same solar system as Korugar. He arrives to bring him to Oa for training. Sinestro rises through the green lantern Corp, battling criminals, dictators, and monsters along side Abin Sur. He and Abin Sur become the two most respected lanterns in the corp. Sinestro meets Abin's sister, and falls in love. They marry, and she lives with him on Korugar.
Abin Sur, working solo while Sinestro is on leave from the corps after the wedding, battles a murderer, the last of a species of prophets. The killer is captured, but gives Abin Sur the Blackest Noght prophecy. Abin informs the corp, who call it insane ramblings, but ask him to tell no one. Abin decides to search for the truth in private.
On Korugar, Sinestro battles crime, his wife becomes pregnant. His world is filled with corruption. Run by corrupt politicians, ruled by puppet governments, filled with murderers and criminals who get away free either because they have connections or the police simply don't care. Hedoes not want his child to grow up on this world, and makes a decision. The government works for him now. He is the new ruler of Korugar. He is consumed by his work. His wife questions him, wondering if he made the right choice, asking if this is the way. He’s become too cruel, and the power is driving him insane. He is given a choice, end what he's doing, or she leaves him.
He has come too far, and his work is too important. He tells her to go, and never come back. Soon after, Abin Sur dies, Hal becomes his successor, and Sinestro is out in charge of training him.
Now, Hal is in the Krolotean ship, with a course preset for Zamaron before his ring stopped working. The Guardians watch, monitoring Hal through his ring. After Hal left earth, they activated this feature, so they don't know what he's doing, just that he's left earth against their wishes. After a meeting with John, who wants to bring a group of lanterns to the dark planet from the previous film(the guardians say no), they send out the Alpha Lanterns, an internal affairs green lantern group who have been cybernetically enhanced and are directly connected to the power battery. They've been seen in the background in previous movies, guarding the guardians, but are not explained until now. The alpha lanterns are sent out to capture the rogue lantern Hal Jordan, and bring him to justice. It is announced to the corps Hal is rogue, and to be on the look out for him.
Kilowog, John, and Soranik meet. It's hard to believe Hal could turn against the corps. John and Soranik decide to tell Kilowog about the other corps. He knows about yellow, but there's also red, blue, black, and there have been reports of pink. They also tell him about Hal's final words to the guardians. Maybe he has turned his back on the corp. He’s still innocent until proven guilty, but if he is the next Sinestro, he must be stopped.
Meanwhile, the alpha lanterns arrive to capture Hal. Something is wrong though, because instead of their origininal orders, they try to kill him. This leads to a chase, with Hal taking them out one by one using the ships weapons and out menuvearing them. They're cyborgs, able to survive in the vacuum of space, and can easily be repaired by the guardians, so it's okay.
Other nearby lanterns discover the alpha lanterns, and a large group of about 50 lanterns is sent out, including John, Soranik, and Kilowog, to bring Hal to justice. Hal arrives above the planet of Zamaron, and violet lanterns fly out, surrounding his ship and leading him down. Zamaron is a planet of crystal mountains coming out of the sea, with massive alien cities, centered around temples and palaces built on these mountains. Lots of pinks, blues, and purples.
Hal asks for an explanation of what happened to Carol, and what's going on. He is taken to the queen of the Zamarons, who explains that her people are an offshoot of the same race as the guardians, who separated from them millennia ago after seeing their failings in attempting to live emotion free lives. They used the emotional light energy of love to power their society. Recently, after the Sinestro corps war, they have decided to create their own Corp, one that will protect the universe when the green lantern corps inevitably collapses. They will usurp in a new era of peace and love, using rings powered peace and love. Carol is undergoing training to protect her sector.
Hal asks to be taken to Carol, and on the way sees more of Zamarons society. Zamaron is a world of music, magic, and space hippies. Hal reunited with Carol, who's very happy to see him, but is acting strangely. She goes to talk to him in private, where she informs him that when they said the rings were powered by love, they meant that they were POWERED by LOVE.
The process by which this happens involves Zamaronian couples give themselves over completely to the power of love, and being converted into energy for the planet's lantern power battery. Their love powers all the energy on the planet. Carol and a few other new recruits have been playing along with this for weeks looking for an opportunity to escape.
The green lantern Corp then arrives on Zamaron. Carol thinks they're here to save them but Hal informs her that he became a wanted fugitive throughout the universe trying to get to her and they're here to arrest him. The violet lanterns are called to defend Zamaron from the invading lanterns. Green lanterns encounter another Corp for the first time since the Sinestro corps. Carol sees this as a chance to escape, and tells Fatality to get the others. But Hal and Carol are soon cornered by John, Soranik, and Kilowog. They attempt to capture them both as Hal tells them about the alpha lanterns trying to kill him, leading to them realizing more is going on than they suspect.
Meanwhile, in the forgotten sector, the red lanterns, including Atrocitus and Guy Gardner, hunt a group of murderers who escaped prison and have hidden from the authorities in the forbidden sector. The murderer's attempt to escape, fleeing through the asteroid field from the second film. All but one are killed( Lyssa Drak) We see Guy Gardner killing a criminal begging for his life. We see that when you wear a red ring, you often have visions of the the things you hate most.(his abusive parents and Sinestro, in Guy’s case)
The Red Lanterns follow her ship through the asteroid belt, coming into contact with some law enforcement ships searching for the escaped prisoners. They open fire on the Red Lanterns, and Atrocitus sends his men to kill them, as they are interfering in the mission. Guy is shook by this, but shrugs it off when his rage visions return and returns to his rage state. Lyssa apparently thought Sinestro's leaving her in prison was a challenge to regain his loyalty, and shortly after made her escape from the prison that Sinestro previously attacked. She is heading to Oa, where she has heard Sinestro was heading too. Lyssa Draks ship is hit, but she lands on a nearby planet.
Meanwhile, the guardians watch through lanterns rings, and learn about the alpha lanterns malfunction. Scar reveals she is the one who took control. She used the power of something called Ion to override the guardians original commands, because she knew he would escape, and lead the corps closer to blackest night. The guardians attempt to reprimand her, saying she has gone rogue like Krona, creator of the Manhunters, or Sayd and Ganthet. She reveals that she has worked harder than any of them to stop the blackest night, going so far as to kill Abin Sur. The other guardians are corrupted by fear, but she is not, the Ion entity is now within her. She kills them all.
On Zamaron, Kilowog, Soranik, Hal, Carol, and John call a cease fire. Hal's reason for disobeying the guardians, the other corps, and the blackest night prophecy, and the guardians attempts to hide it are explained. On Oa, Scar watches as everything falls apart and realizes. There is only one way to keep order in the universe. Emotion is chaos, and free will is an expression of emotion. She uses the power of Ion to take control of the entire corps minds through their rings. The only lantern left unaffected is Hal, who isn't wearing his ring. The lanterns turn on Hal, the Zamarons, the violet lanterns, and Carol. They realize the rings are controlling the lanterns now, and just barely escape, Carol puts a bubble around Hal and they fly off into space. The green lanterns kill the Zamaron Queen and lay waste to the capital city before heading off to chase Hal and Carol. Hal and Carol only escape when a large battle ship beams them up and goes to light speed, leaving the lanterns behind.
It is revealed the ship belongs to Sinestro and his now unpowered corps. They were heading to go destroy Oa and get back Parallax and their rings, when Sinestro heard Hal was a fugitive and decided to go find him and see if he had finally joins the side of fear. Sinestro also tells Hal that the guardians are corrupt. They killed Abin Sur, and Sinestro has returned to kill them in retaliation, and plans to become the new peacekeeping force in the universe. Hal agrees to work with him, for no other reason but to free his friends from the guardians mind control, and plans to double cross Sinestro later.
Meanwhile, the Red Lanterns have arrived above an icy planet, similar in environment to Norwegian mountains and glaciers. Atrocitus(with Dex-Starr, as always, at his side), gives a speech about how they are vengeance, they are Justice, those who are injustice will die by their hands and their rings, that sort of thing, and the red lanterns find the crashed ship several miles outside of an alien town. The aliens are mostly human looking, but with albino-ish features(white hair) The Red Lanterns demand control of the village, and kill an alien that tries to attack them(with ice powers, they all have ice powers) With the town under control, the Red Lanterns establish a perimeter take the citizens prisoner and begin ransacking homes. Guy Gardner searches a home for the escaped prisoner, but, is more gentle with it than the other red lanterns, and gets into a fight with another Red Lantern over the burning of the homes of these aliens to smoke Lyssa Drak out. Even consumed by rage, Guy still knows that the people of this town are innocent.
While the search goes on, one of the captured aliens, a young woman named Tora, the princess of this village, has noticed he is different, and attempts to persuade him to free them. She tries to put him at ease, asking him where he’s from(he explains earth) After she asks for her freedom, he says he cannot do that until they have finished serving the village, as he is a servant of Atrocitus.
Back with Hal, Sinestro, and Carol, there is a scene where Carol mentions to Sinestro that Hal once described him as pink space-Hitler while telling her about him on Earth.
They are about to arrive at Oa, and the plan is revealed that Sinestro, Carol, and Hal will head to Oa on a smaller ship while the Sinestro corps draws the thousands of Green Lanterns on Oa’s fire. Sinestro comes because he knows of secret chambers under Oa that Parallax may be housed in, Carol, because she has the power of a ring, and Hal, because he needs to get to the power battery to try and destroy it to save his friends. With the battery shut down, the green lanterns will be no more, and Sinestro corps will rule.
They head down to Oa and traverse through the sewers, caves, and basements, making their way to the series of chambers beneath the guardians council room. They are discovered by lanterns, and run, making it to the chamber of the book of black. From the book, it is shown every emotional color has an avatar, parallax is one, ion is another. Ion has been taken over by Scar, and that's how she controls everyone. The green lanterns catch up, as the area around them is wiped out by Mogo's laser. Exposed, Sinestro releases the parallax entity, hoping to survive the next blast by merging with it. Instead of coming to him though, it moves past, straight into Hal.
Hal saves Carol and Sinestro from Mogo's laser attack, and goes to battle the attacking green lantern. Sinestro releases yellow rings which go to their former owners. Oa becomes a war zone. Parallax Hal is losing control as he feels the power of fear. He relives his fears within his mind, his father's death, he's a screw up, he isn't worthy of the ring. He was never worthy. He doesn't matter. No one on Earth cared, they moved on. Carol didn't care. His father's dead, his mother's dead, everyone he loves dies. He can't protect Carol, he's a screw up. He's nothing. He doesn't matter he isn't worthy he doesn't matter. He is afraid.
He begins killing lanterns all around him, green and yellow, absorbing their fear. Hal's temples grey. Carol calls out to him, but Hal Jordan is gone, trapped in his own body. Unlike the more neutral entities, those on the far end of the spectrum, like Parallax, take control of their hosts. They drive, you are the passenger.
On the ice world, Guy, seeing the Atrocities done by um… Atrocitus in the name of justice, realizes what must be done. He challenges Atrocitus to a duel to the death, for leadership of the red lanterns (a rule made by Atrocitus, as a way for him to kill anyone who got too ambitious) They battle in the snow, Guy is being brutally beaten, but is able to chop off Atrocitus’s hand, and destroy his ring. He is about to kill him, but chooses not too, refusing to let his rage continue to control him. He, as new leader of the red lanterns, decides to leave the planet, as there is no sign of Lyssa in the village, and they know she is going to Oa, and that Sinestro is there, so they should head there to help the lanterns. Atrocitus is left on an uninhabited moon. Dex-Starr forfeits his ring to remain with him.
A mind controlled Soranik arrives, and is nearly killed by Parallax, when Sinestro intervenes, saving her life in a surprising turn of events. Hal is shocked by this, and regains control of his body, but it won't last long. Scar watches as her troops die, and commands Mogo to release the many extra lantern rings held within him. The rings go out into the Galaxy, attaching themselves to people and using them as soldiers in the battle against Parallax and the Sinestro corps.
Hal is in control, he's worthy of the ring, and of of the life he has. He needs to be worthy. Carol and the corps need him to be worthy. Using all of his willpower, he is in control, and horrified by what he has done, and goes to destroy the power battery, blowing it up and releasing every green lantern. Many throw their rings off as soon as they are freed, including John and Soranik. But, Mogo's secondary power battery kicks in, and those who didn't immediately remove their rings once again become Scar’s slaves. Ringless green lantern’s and civilians living on Oa run in fear. once again Hal is beginning to lose control.
John heads to his quarters on Oa, and grabs his blue ring to fight against the green lanterns, but soon realized while it does give him some defensive and minor offensive capabilities, it increases the green lanterns around his energy levels. The violet lantern trainee’s who escaped earlier, led by Fatality arrive, along with the Red Lanterns, led by Guy. Their rings only have a bit more battery left, and they obviously aren't gonna go back to Zamaron for more, so they want to use what's left saving the universe.
John, Sinestro, Red Lanterns, various violet lanterns, and various Sinestro corps members charge Mogo, there's no other way, to save the universe, Mogo must be destroyed. The lanterns battle through Mogo's defenses, many die, many are captured, and eventually, only Fatality remains. She destroys the power battery at Mogo's core, and the living planet explodes.
Scar is now without an army, and in a rage, goes to kill Hal, and all the green, Violet, and Yellow lanterns. Parallax regains control. He senses fear in her. In truth, Scar was the most emotional of all the guardians. She was afraid of blackest night, she was angry at her fellow guardians, greedy for power and loved order. She hoped for a better future. Now though, fear consumes her, literally and figuratively. In her fear her willpower crumbles, and Ion flies out of her. Then Parallax kills Scar, and flies off into space, saying goodbye to Carol. Sinestro prepares to leave with his corps, but first goes to Soranik to inform her, he's her father, and is always welcome in the Sinestro Corps. Guy is happy to see John again.
The green lanterns are no more. Mogo is dead, dozens of lanterns are dead, Oa’s streets are filled with wreckage, the violet lanterns power runs out. The Sinestro Corps are on the loose. But, there's hope. Ion is free, away from the influence of scar a peaceful entity. He flies off into space. Fatality begins to feel love for John. They have hope, but it's not enough. The Sinestro corps are out there, blackest night is coming. They need a corps.
Later, Carol speaks on Zamaron, with the other former violet lanterns beside her. The universe needs a police force, and they are that police force. But, gaining power from converting lovers into energy is not the way. This must end. Carol has learned of the existence of an entity made of pure energy from the book of black, an avatar of love. The people of Zamaron call it: The Predator, and it lurks in the caves of the crystal mountains. The power batteries of the green lanterns and the yellow were both created using entities, and gained unlimited energy. Finding this creature is the key to harnessing emotional love energy. If they want to save the galaxy, it must be found.
And so they search for it, they search for the galaxy's last hope. Kilowog returns home to his family, the Red Lanterns leave to police the far reaches of space like the forgotten sector. John and Fatality reside on Zamaron now, Soranik returns to her former life as do many former lanterns, the Sinestro corps train and prepare for war, Parallax/Hal flies off to some dead world, trying to get as far as possible from anyone he could hurt, and Ion swims through the galaxy. It is searching for members of a new Green lantern Corp, people of great willpower. This is a fresh start, a new beginning. The green lantern corps fell, but now is a chance to rebuilt, better than ever, and not make the mistakes made previously.
End Credits Lyssa Drak wanders the ruins of The Guardians council chamber and the area around it the battle took place in, calling out to Sinestro about how she realized he was just testing her and she escaped and is ready for him to take her back. She discovers the book of black, which devours her. We see the pages write themselves, showing the death of scar, original protector of the book of black, and Lyssa Drak becoming the new protector.
DCEU References:
Some of the weapons on the Krolotean ship look a bit Kryptonian, a few others look Apocoliptic
It is mentioned bounty hunters like LOBO are searching the Galaxy for Hal after he was declared a fugitive.
Tora, who after hearing about Earth from Guy, may eventually travel there and become a member of the Justice League, and maybe befriend a certain fiery Hispanic woman with superpowers.