What if "Emerald Twilight" went like this...

[Andrew NDB Shot Caller Find all posts View Profile Close Andrew NDB]

Was in the chat and this kind of popped into my head.

What if Marz' "Emerald Twilight" actually had been something like a 10 issue crossover event with "Mosaic" that actually -- even all the way back then -- would have given us the endgame of Alan Moore's Prophecy of Blackest Night.

Meaning...

Coast City has just been wiped out, Hal's still coping over it, but it's not something that's going to push him over the edge. Meanwhile, the Weaponers of Qward unite with Ranx, the Children of the White Lobe, and the Empire of Tears (who they free) to exterminate the Green Lantern Corps. While Hal is on Earth mourning in what's left of Coast City, Oa is struck head-on, the Lanterns getting swarmed and annihilated in a surprise attack despite John Stewart and Kilowog doing their best to marshal the troops. Sodam Yat plays a big part in the fighting, managing to put a significant dent in the opposition... yet in the end falls prey to the Lobespawn. John Stewart goes down swinging, either dying himself or becoming incapacitated.

Hal receives urgent orders to head to help defend Oa... and arrives just in time to see Ranx/Lobespawn detonating a blink bomb in Mogo's core. Fighting his way through the hordes to Oa, he realizes he is the last Green Lantern. On the surface, the cityscape of Oa is decimated, the Guardians gone... and demons playing music on drums bound with very curious blue skin.

With the hordes approaching fast on his heels, Hal enters the Central Power Battery, absorbs all the energy (destroying the Central Power Battery) and becomes Parallax -- vowing to make things right. Then, as the forces of the united Qwardians/Tears/White Lobians and Ranx in low orbit draw near... detonates Oa's own core with his new powers to obliterate all of his enemies.

Hal's survival or death is left mysterious for a while -- maybe he died with Oa, maybe not.

We track a wounded, battered Ganthet as he heads to Earth. Finds Kyle in an alley, gives him the ring and tells him to "Do what you must." He sacrifices himself and what's left of his energy/life to create a Lantern and ring for him. Kyle's story more or less continues as it did in the normal comics.

Fast forward to Zero Hour. Events happen the same, only difference now is that Hal is not in grief over just Coast City, but personally blames himself and has survivor guilt over not being there to defend Oa while all of his comrades died -- he wants to destroy the universe to remake it to undo the wrong, erase the battle that killed the Corps and the Guardians. Things play out the same.

Any thoughts?

[Lantern2814.20850 Green Lantern Find all posts View Profile Close Lantern2814.20850]

interesting re-telling.
Right now so much is fluid recent interviews lead me to believe that we have not seen the end of the Blackest Night.
Ranx may be gone but it may have already left a blink-bomb unseen on Mogo
Sodom Yat has just now become Ion. "The Ultimate Green Lantern"
time will tell............

[Guest Close Satyrquaze]

Nice.

I was actually a little upset as I read the Children of the White Lobe succeeding in exploding a blink-bomb in Mogo's core.

[Mister Ed Horse of a Different Color Find all posts View Profile Close Mister Ed]

That is a much better alternative I think. It has all the elements it seemed like ET was lacking. A truly massive tragedy with plenty of personal impact on Hal, plus a Hal that was AWARE of the tragedy in progress, TRIED to stop it, and FAILED. All the sort of stuff that, IMHO, WOULD drive Hal over the edge.

Plus, as an added bonus, it would have tied to a great story from the past, it would have set up Kyle's situation in a way that made more sense (why the Guardians were gone, why Ganthet didn't stick around to give more guidance, why John Stewart wasn't in the picture, etc.). Gosh, I just can't even begin to count the ways that this would have been better. The only downside being that the Guardians would have all been pretty convincingly dead, kind of crippling the notion of an eventual return of the Corps (although the really clever out for that would be to, at some future date, utilize the Guardian/Zamaron children that were still unaccounted for).

One aspect that might have been clever to add would be to have Hal run out of energy (like he did in the original ET), just as he was hearing of this tragedy, leaving him powerless to help, until he, through sheer force of will, was finally able to access the power without using his battery (like Priest had been trying to teach him), thus becoming something "beyond" a GL (keeping the prophecy intact when it said that Mogo was the last GL to fall, which same out could also be used to spare John in some capacity, as he was also no longer a GL). This would add to the tragic aspect, too, as I imagine pulling that feat off just at that time would give Hal the feeling that he was DESTINED to make a difference- so to then STILL fail would be horrific. Beyond that small change it could still play out much the same as you outlined, though I might even leave Ganthet out of it altogether, perhaps having JOHN be the last "Guardian", and essentially have to give up his Guardianhood to provide Kyle with the last ring. John's humanity could also help explain why Kyle was such a different choice than the Guardians traditionally made.

[Superlantern mmmm Beer! Find all posts View Profile Close Superlantern]

works for me but maybe they would have revealed the parasite to be....... a fear taco instead of bug

[Kane2814 Weaponer of Qward Find all posts View Profile Close Kane2814]

That is a much better alternative I think. It has all the elements it seemed like ET was lacking. A truly massive tragedy with plenty of personal impact on Hal, plus a Hal that was AWARE of the tragedy in progress, TRIED to stop it, and FAILED. All the sort of stuff that, IMHO, WOULD drive Hal over the edge.

I agree. Still, I'd make sure that the events of "ET" were enough to push Hal over the line ethically rather than have him go nuts. It'd be more respectful to the character and his fans and it would've just been more interesting (especially if Parallax had managed to sway a few heroes to his side by righting a few of the wrongs that happened in their lives)


Back when "ET" first happened, I tried to think of what might've made the story more believable for me in pushing Hal "over the line" and I figured that if Carol and Tom had died with Coast City and that Hal, in trying to recreate the city, had *actually* managed, through force of will, to summon their souls, then having the Guardians interfere might enrage Hal enough and also enbolden him to the notion that with enough power, he could bring them *all* back.

[Guest Close Martley of 2814]

Interesting idea. I found it a very welcome breath of fresh air when I first read Twilight but this might have been even more compelling!

[Guest Close HalFingJordan]

If Emerald Twilight went like that my original feeling of infuriation and a need to drag everyone responsible into the street to be shot would be reduced to only infuriation.

[Guest Close Lundonj]

Interesting additions, but I still don't see anything pushing Hal over the edge. He had seen it all so many times, experience loss so often and overcome so much adversity in his life, that he would have found a way to move on without losing it.

That's why Rebirth fits for me, because he had a push in the back to get over that edge that he wouldn't otherwise cross. He still feels responsible because he literally allowed fear to get to him, but he wouldn't have gone insane on his own.

Besides, the haters would still be all over Hal for fall of the JSA in Zero Hour, regardless of his reasons for attempting to repair the Universe.



-Don

[Guest Close Myth]

See, now while that would be a killer story that would show the Corps giving their all against a massive threat, I can't help but think that the current ET was the best thing for him.

It made Hal have flaws, and these flaws were very, very human. After all, to save everyone you know and love wouldn't you say "fuck it all" and try to get nearly unlimited power to set things right?

[Mister Ed Horse of a Different Color Find all posts View Profile Close Mister Ed]

See, now while that would be a killer story that would show the Corps giving their all against a massive threat, I can't help but think that the current ET was the best thing for him.

It made Hal have flaws, and these flaws were very, very human. After all, to save everyone you know and love wouldn't you say "fuck it all" and try to get nearly unlimited power to set things right?

Well, see, IMHO, THAT was a big part of the problem with the original ET. Hal WASN'T trying to save everyone that he knew and loved. That group was pretty much universally OK (in fact one of those that would fall in that group, Superman, had just come BACK from the dead). In fact, as it turned out, he was attacking (and in the case of Kilowog, KILLING) an organization and people who were important to him to try to retroactively save a bunch of people he didn't know in a city he hadn't lived in in years, which had been destroyed while he was busy saving more people than had EVER lived on the whole planet Earth over on Malthus. IMHO, the level of personal tragedy that would explain his reaction just wasn't there. I felt like *I* (no paragon of virtue and willpower) would have reacted better to a comparable loss, and that's not a good impression for a comic book hero to make.

[IonFan Forum Member Find all posts View Profile Close IonFan]

I could see that working, no crazy Hal, still true to what happen (should of happen), and it still as Kyle in it. works for me

[Big Daddy Dave Skywalker Moisture Farmer Find all posts View Profile Close Big Daddy Dave Skywalker]

In ten seconds time, you came up with a much better thought out and interesting version than Marz, Dooley and Carlin did together.

The fatal flaw in it though is that in your version, Hal still becomes a villain/anti hero. Too many fans (and creators in the business) just wouldn't accept that. Still, it's potentially a much better story than what we got.

[Andrew NDB Shot Caller Find all posts View Profile Close Andrew NDB]

The fatal flaw in it though is that in your version, Hal still becomes a villain/anti hero.

Some liked Hal very much as a villain/anti-hero. But you're right, it wouldn't work for the reasons you mention... but had they gone this route (or something like it) back then instead of what we got? Maybe it would have made the difference in making it less enough of a jagged pill that it would stay swallowed.

[Big Daddy Dave Skywalker Moisture Farmer Find all posts View Profile Close Big Daddy Dave Skywalker]

Maybe it would have made the difference in making it less enough of a jagged pill that it would stay swallowed.

...It might have. I could see that. If in your version Parallax didn't exist, and Hal just died a heroic death (with no body of course) destroying Oa and the Guardians enemies, Kyle would've been accepted even better by fans.