A big secret for one of Green Lantern’s oldest enemies has just come out, and it means huge things for their future. The Green Lantern corner of the DC Universe has always been one of my favorites, if only for the villains. Aside from some incredibly cool Earth-based bad guys like Hector Hammond, Hal Jordan, and the rest of the Emerald Knights have a universe of rogues, several of whom are connected to the Green Lanterns via the Emotional Spectrum. Atrocitus, Larfleeze, and Sinestro are just some of the multi-colored threats the Green Lanterns have faced over the years.
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But the one foe people tend to gloss over is Star Sapphire, aka Green Lantern Hal Jordan’s longtime on-again, off-again love interest Carol Ferris. To be fair, Star Sapphires and the others who took that identity haven’t really been villains ever since the Geoff John era (though their methods were always questionable). That said, Carol Ferris is now the only remaining Star Sapphire, and ever since embracing her heroic other half, she’s been kicking major ass working side-by-side with Justice League Unlimited. However, is discovering there’s more to the Star Sapphire’s history than she ever realized.
Star Sapphire’s Power is Way More Complicated Than We Thought
In Green Lantern #32 by Jeremy Adams, Montos, Romulo Fajardo Jr., and Dave Sharpe, Star Sapphire heads to Paris with Dove in response to a distress signal. But as it turns out, this is a ruse by Hal to surprise Carol. He’s cleared the evening for them both with the Justice League, leaving the couple free to enjoy the City of Love together. Unbeknownst to Carol, though, Hal is getting ready to pop the question. But the two just take the time to enjoy the evening together for the first time in months.
Unfortunately for them, crime still happens on even the most romantic nights. The villain known as Cupid has just stolen a relic from the Sacré-Cœur, and she makes an explosive exit that catches Hal and Carol’s attention. They head out to apprehend Cupid, and once it becomes clear that Cupid spoiled Green Lantern’s attempts to propose, Star Sapphire nearly loses it. But the couple brings Cupid to justice and recovers the cross she’d stolen from the church. But interestingly enough, the cross’s jewel removes itself and affixes to Carol’s ring, causing a mysterious voice to ring out.
The voice tells Carol that the power she knows as Star Sapphire is actually one part of a greater whole. Long ago, the true Star Sapphire was fractured into eight aspects: Mania, eros, philia, storge, ludus, pragma, philautia, and agape. Mania is what Carol and her fellow Star Sapphires have been channeling for years, and the aspect she just discovered was agape. But there are still six aspects of love out there in the universe, and Carol must find them to possess the Star Sapphire’s full power and return love to the DC Universe.
Star Sapphire’s Villain Era Was All Because She Didn’t Possess Her Full Power
More seasoned Green Lantern fans know that, historically, Star Sapphire has served in a more antagonistic role, largely due to drawing her powers from the gemstone of the same name. The literal Star Sapphire would drive those exposed to its powers mad with love, to the point they’d become completely obsessed with whoever they were fond of most. For the longest time, we were led to assume the Violet Light of Love was just one of the strongest and most unstable parts of the Emotional Spectrum. But the truth is far more nuanced than that.
The White Light of Creation fractured to create the Emotional Spectrum; love itself was fractured into eight different components. The Zamarons just happened to find the most unstable of them all and use it to create their love army. But now we know that there are actually seven other types of love out there that make up a greater, more powerful version of the Star Sapphire. Carol just found agape, the divine love between humanity and the gods. But there are six other aspects out there, just waiting for Carol to find them and unlock her true potential.
It’s wild to think that Carol was only ever a villain because she was influenced by one extreme form of love. But it’s wilder to think that Star Sapphire has a chance to become more powerful than ever if she can seek out and find the additional aspects of love. Where they are is anyone’s guess, and how much more powerful they’ll make Carol is a damn good question. But it is so incredibly cool to see a reveal like this that not only recontextualizes everything we know about Star Sapphire, but sets her up for an exciting new era.
What do you think about this new Star Sapphire reveal? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts on the ComicBook Forum!
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