EPISODE 8: Hal and John resume their investigation, discovering the clues Sheriff Kerrie had dug up about Hope Springs’ gruesome history and the shady past of the Hand of God’s Mercy. The pieces of the puzzle all begin falling into place – the Black Hand is a cult that has been run by the Macon family for decades, performing necromantic ritual sacrifices in a repeated effort to summon an eldritch being known as The Centre. Their efforts have never taken – until now, due to the volatile power of the Starheart.
Their latest sacrifice of Todd Rice, however, seems not to have summoned the intended entity. Due to Rice’s otherworldly metahuman abilities, the cult has instead summoned a creature of darkness from beyond the veil of space, something known as a Sun Eater. It begins slowly devouring the light of the Earth’s sun, plunging the planet into darkness.
In the midst of all this, Hal grapples with his own “fall from grace.” He knows what he has done wrong, and just wants to put things right if he can. He and John are caught between two impossible choices – disobeying the Green Lantern Corps’ orders not to intervene, or allowing their planet to suffer the consequences of their inaction. Ultimately they decide to step in and stop the cult of the Black Hand, only to find that their efforts are for naught. The Sun Eater has already been summoned, and it will take an extraordinary amount of light in order to destroy it.
In the fight against the cult, Hal’s ring is remotely deactivated by the GLC in order to prevent its use. John realizes it’s up to him to stop the Sun Eater, but he doesn’t know if he has what it takes. Realizing what must be done, Hal decides to take John’s ring for himself and fly into space to face the Sun Eater in John’s stead. He pours everything he has into the creature, overloading the Sun Eater, the ring, and himself with sheer light and power. As the power disintegrates Hal, he shouts his old oath one final time.
On Earth below, John watches as the blackened sky turns dazzling green, and then fades back to a sunlit day. He realizes that Hal has sacrificed himself to save them all.
Once again, John is brought to Oa for disciplinary action by the Guardians. However, John has no regrets for his actions, nor does he have any doubts as to Hal Jordan’s true character.
Grudgingly admitting that John made the proper judgment call, the Guardians reactivate Hal’s old ring and pass it on to John. He is left as the sole Green Lantern of Earth, a responsibility that he solemnly accepts. John’s final act of the series is to adopt Hal Jordan’s old oath as his own – the same oath that he once accused of being “corny,” but now which he understands the true meaning and weight of.
END