Lanterns: Why John Stewart Should Be Afraid of Using Sinestro’s Ring Battery

Spoilers for the HBO series Lanterns follow.

The finale of Lanterns set up a new status quo for Green Lantern John Stewart, one that has fans cautious for how his new power battery and ring will affect him. John Stewart, while accompanied by the Hal Jordan hologram, portaled to the mysterious alien planet to find Sinestro. Sinestro tried bargaining with Stewart and revealed what Kerry’s Manhunter son had requested of him — his own power battery. Sinestro had been able to forge one for him, giving the Manhunter access to great power if he so chose. 

The Halogram was cautious of the power battery. Sinestro, recognizing what Hal was, easily explained it away to Stewart. The Hal Jordan hologram didn’t want John Stewart using the forged battery because it meant that the ring would do a new scan and replace the Jordan hologram with one of John Stewart. This would essentially be a second, more permanent death for Hal Jordan and for obvious reasons, the hologram didn’t want that. The episode proceeds with John Stewart’s ring running out of charge and him putting off using the Sinestro battery, not wanting to be rid of the hologram yet. 

Yet, in the end, John Stewart crafts an oath of his own — dedicating himself as a servant of the Green Lantern mission but not the Guardians —  and uses the power battery. Stewart has told off Guy Gardner, informing him that while Gardner may be the Green Lantern of Section 2814, John Stewart would be the Green Lantern of Earth. The finale shows Stewart fully stepping into his own, reconciling both with what being Green Lantern means to him, and with his family, the two main drives of the character through the series. 

But as the show moves forward and future Green Lantern stories are created for the DCU, John Stewart should be afraid of using Sinestro’s ring battery. These objects, especially when created by an enemy, always come with a cost. 

The biggest glaring issue with the Sinestro power battery is the clear yellow impurities. In the Green Lantern comics, it’s long-standing continuity that the Green Lantern power batteries cannot be made without this yellow impurity. It’s how the battery functions, and the Guardians often deal with their enemies by diluting their essences and dispersing them throughout different batteries. In the show, however, this piece of lore wasn’t a main feature. It begs the question whether the power batteries are composed the same in the show, and if they’re not, what obvious yellow impurities would mean. 

Is the Sinestro lantern inherently laced with fear, then? The Hal Jordan hologram’s parting guidance to John Stewart changes an earlier stance of “don’t be afraid” to a more nuanced “don’t be afraid to be afraid”. Green Lanterns are about overcoming fear, but this emphasis on accepting fear could be dangerous. The power of the Sinestro Corps comes from an embracing of fear and using it to power the rings. If Lanterns leans into this, it’s possible that John Stewart using Sinestro’s power battery could set up a storyline for a corrupted John Stewart. 

Corrupted Green Lanterns would be nothing new, especially if the show went down a Parallax route. Parallax is the literal living entity of fear. In the comics, Parallax threatened the Green Lanterns corps and the universe as a whole through possession of both Hal Jordan and Kyle Rayner. Hal Jordan became possessed by the entity following the destruction of his home Coast City while Kyle Rayner fell victim to it following the death of his mom. Rayner learned that the Sinestro Corps had been responsible for his mother’s death, meaning Rayner was also to blame for it. 

The DCU has yet to introduce Kyle Rayner and it’s unclear whether they will. Lanterns could pull a similar storyline with Stewart’s mom, especially given the fact that the season ended with them reconciling. Killing her off would have more emotional impact now than if she had died in the first season. Lanterns could also use Parallax to bring back Hal Jordan and potentially have that be a mid-season reveal with opening episodes popping up the mystery of how Jordan could return given his death in season one. 

What are your thoughts on the new power battery? Let us know in the comments below!

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