A Green Lantern Just Killed Billions and Destroyed a Planet

The stakes somehow got even bigger in DC’s Green Lantern #16, which is saying something after everything that took place in the Green Lantern Civil Corps Special. The final page of that issue teased a massive cliffhanger, and that’s exactly where Green Lantern #16 begins, though if you thought the incoming planet-sized threat that is a Red Lantern-controlled Mogo would be diffused in some way, you were likely shocked by the outcome. While the Lanterns did save some of the population, Mogo’s collision with Thanagar obliterates the planet and kills billions in the process, and those ripple effects will be felt across the galaxy.

While any planet being destroyed would be significant, Mogo destroying Thanagar raises that bar considerably. Thanagar has long been one of the more important players in DC’s cosmic side of the universe, and having that completely removed from the board (or at least mostly so) will have immediate effects on characters and the world at large, especially for those who managed to survive the attack.

A Raging Planet

In the Civil Corps Special, it was revealed how Thaaros was able to manipulate the emotional spectrum and those attached to it. Thanks to experiments run on Keli Quintela and her special connection to the spectrum, Thaaros and his scientists were able to learn how to steer individuals toward other parts of the spectrum. That is how someone like Kilowog, who is the personification of Willpower, was able to be pushed into the Yellow Spectrum of Fear, leading to that confrontation between Kilowog and John Stewart at the beginning of the Civil Corps Special.

That’s also how Thaaros created his special Lanterns who can switch between the different spectrums, but in others like Kilowog, this is more like mind control, as he pushes away their normal personalities and tendencies. That’s why Kilowog didn’t respond to any sort of reasoning from Stewart, and thus the same is true of Mogo, who Thaaros had pushed into the spectrum of Rage, turning him into a Red Lantern. When he finally collides with Thanagar, it’s devastating, and we soon learn in this issue just how deadly the attack was.

A fleet of Rannian Battle Cruisers can be seen leaving the planet as the collision with Mogo is taking place in the background, and we learn that Hal Jordan, John Stewart, and Carol Ferris are aboard the ship helping to gather survivors. Carol asks how many were saved, and Hal says a thousand if they were lucky. Carol then says “A thousand…a thousand people out of how many billion…just gone…”.

John and Hal head outside to help give Carol time to get the ship in good enough shape to head towards Rann. While it takes a minute, they all manage to keep the ship intact and the survivors safe, but as Carol expresses in the issue, Thaaros has left an indelible mark on the galaxy even in his defeat, and it will continue to be a moment the universe will remember from here on out. You can find the official description for Green Lantern #16 below.

“The seeds of war have been sown, and now a massive battle rages across the galaxy! Hal Jordan, John Stewart, and Guy Gardner must race to unlock the mystery of the Dark Star resurrection, what it means for their beloved friend Kilowog, and just how to battle an entire planet! The red rage of Mogo rains down on our heroes as the Civil Corps heats up!”

What did you think of the issue? You can talk all things DC and Green Lantern with me on Threads and Twitter @mattaguilarcb!