Green Lantern: The Animated Series/Recap

This is a description of the episodes from Green Lantern: The Animated Series. See that page for details.

It includes potholed tropes.

Spoilers are not hidden.

Episode #1: Beware My Power, Part 1
The Red Lantern Corps are killing off Green Lanterns who live on the edges of the Corps' territory, so far away it takes months to reach. When Hal Jordan finds that their masters The Guardians of the Universe are not doing anything about it yet, he steals an experimental starship (controlled by a sentient computer he names Aya) to go there. His mentor Kilowog comes along. They manage to save a Lantern named Rex from the red ones but the ship's engine breaks, leaving them stranded in the sector.

Notes:
 * The rage-powered red rings seem to be stronger than the green ones, at least in sheer output.

Episode #2: Beware My Power, Part 2
Chased by the Red Lanterns, the Green Lanterns hide on Rex's homeworld. However, Atrocitus, leader of the Red Corps, tells them to give themselves up or he'll destroy the planet, forcing a reluctant minion, Razer, to set up the device. Hal faces Atrocitus but is beaten. Rex dies buying time for Kilowog to evacuate the populace before the planet explodes. Razer is then captured by the Green Lanterns.

Episode #3: Razer's Edge
Hal and Kilowog deliver Razer to a space prison ran by the Spider Guild. However they suspect something is wrong and return to investigate, only to be captured when special crystals in the prison cancel their rings' powers. Razer, who is repentant about blowing up Rex's planet, is freed by Aya, who then convinces him to help save Hal and Kilowog. After dealing with the alien spiders, Hal returns Razer's power ring and decides to bring him along with them.

Notes:
 * We find out that Razer became a Red Lantern after the woman he loved died.
 * The Spiders ate their prisoners after torturing them inside their own minds.

Episode #4: Into the Abyss
When a spaceship full of unhatched eggs from an endangered alien species is dragged towards a "pinhole" in space, Hal, Kilowog and Razer work desperately to save it. However Kilowog's mistrust for Razer turns violent at a critical moment. They are saved with Aya's help.

Notes:
 * Aya obtains a humanoid body in this episode.

Episode #5: Heir Apparent
The heroes try to recruit a new Green Lantern to battle the Red ones, but first he must engage in a duel to gain the hand of his queen. But when he is found dead, Hal must take his place, while the others look for the killer.

Episode #6: Lost Planet
Aya tracks Rev's ring to a planet which is about to be hit by an asteroid. After delaying the asteroid, the crew disembarks to find the ring's owner. None of the inhabitants seem to have it, but they -- and the planet itself -- are more than they appear to be at first glance.

Notes:
 * This episode introduces Mogo and Saint Walker.

Episode #7: Reckoning
Razer breaks ranks with the Green Lanterns so he can deal with Atrocitus personally, but things don't go quite as planned. Hal learns the origins of the Red Lanterns.

Notes:
 * Atrocitus claims responsibility for the war on Razer's planet and the death of his wife.
 * Razer gets a Red Lantern battery to recharge his ring.
 * The backstory of the Red Lanterns is revealed. The Manhunters destroyed their world.
 * The Red Lanterns have a fleet of warships.

Episode #8: Fear Itself
Hal and Kilowog find themselves caught in the middle of a war while searching for food. Kilowog ends up in a camp of pig people similar to himself, while Hal ends up with the jellyfish creatures that are supposedly antagonizing them.

Notes:
 * The yellow crystals show up again. Not only do they nullify Green Lantern energy, they drive people paranoid with prolonged or direct exposure.

Episode #9: ...In Love and War
The heroes meet the Star Sapphires Corps, power ring-wielders who wield The Power of Love. Unbeknownst to the heroes, the Star Sapphires' interpretation of love leads them to imprison males on their home planet, and the Green Lanterns are their next targets. To this end, Galea, Kilowog's Love Interest from the previous episode, and Carol Fenris are recruited to help imprison them. This backfires when Aya and Razer investigate Kilowog's disappearance, while Carol's ring makes her violently jealous. Hal helps Carol reject the ring's influence, allowing her to remove it, and Carol is sent back home. Hal then rescues Kilowog and escapes with his friends.

Notes:
 * The Zamarons (Star Sapphires) are the former mates of the Guardians of the Universe, like in the comics.
 * In the comics, the Zamarons used gemstones as the focus of their powers (thus the name), not rings.
 * Kilowog's new love interest (from the previous episode) becomes a Star Sapphire, as well. Unlike Carol, she remains one.
 * Aya's appearance is revealed to be based on Razer's dead wife, a fact which he had failed to notice (though the viewers might have).

Episode #10: Regime Change
Iolande's brother, Ragnar, becomes a Red Lantern and conquers their world with the Reds' help, even setting up a "liberator" (the device the Reds use to destroy planets). The heroes arrive to help but are overpowered and must hide. Ganthet wants to use his prototype weapon, which uses hope as a power source, to aid them, but Appa has him exiled for breaking the Guardian code of indulging in emotion.. With help of Sayd, Ganthet returns to Oa, activating his prototype: a Blue Lantern battery. Its power doubles the strength of the Green Lanterns while nullifying the powers of the Reds, earning the heroes a decisive victory over the Reds and giving them the power to remove the Liberator safely.

Notes:
 * Ganthet is still in exile at the end, but willingly so.
 * The Guardians sent an army of Green Lanterns to the Frontier to help, but it will take them 18 months to get there. Meanwhile, Oa is defenseless.
 * The blue hope energy is what powers the Blue Lanterns in the comics.

Episode #11: Flight Club
The Red Lanterns are looking for a code that will activate "The Lighthouse" an ancient device that can open a path through The Maelstrom, a barrier between their territory and the Guardians', so their space fleet can pass through. The code was known only by a Green Lantern explorer who was imprisoned in the Space Prison (from episode #3). The Green Lanterns are sent by The Guardians to find it first, but the explorer is already dead and the only one who knows the code now is Byth, a Thanagarian criminal. The heroes must make a deal with the treacherous man to obtain it before the Reds arrive.

Notes:
 * Byth was the Silver Age Hawkman's first foe in the comics.

Episode #12: Invasion
The crew heads for the Lighthouse to destroy it and prevent the Red Lantern invasion, but the Reds, having obtained the access code from Byth, have beaten them there. The heroes eventually succeed in their mission but Atrocitus blasts a hole through the asteroid field anyway using his planet-killer bombs. When Hal attempts to arrest him, Atrocitus outmanuvers him and steals the Interceptor.

Meanwhile, Saint Walker is tasked with climbing a mountain on Mogo to find the Savior that will help defeat the Red Lanterns.

Notes:
 * Saint Walker's journey up the mountain is a reference to the comics, except he went up with his family in that continuity (who died along the way). Here his world was ravaged by the Red Lanterns.
 * Saint Walker finds the Blue Lantern battery and gets a blue power ring.
 * Aya is reprogrammed into helping the Red Lanterns (by one of Mogo's prisoners from episode #6.)

Episode #13: Homecoming
Atrocitus uses Aya to bypass Oa's defenses and land on the planet. He begins his assault while the guardians hide in the control room.

Hal devises a plan to reach Oa in time to save The Guardians, but Kilowog stays behind to hold back the Red Lantern Armada. The remaining members of the crew ask for aid from the Star Sapphires, who have reformed since their introduction. They use their technique that teleports a person to the one he or she loves, and it sends Hal to Earth although it gives him temporary amnesia; Carol helps him remember. They also send Razer straight to the Interceptor, implying that he loves Aya. He saves her.

Meanwhile Saint Walker and Mogo help Kilowog stop the alien Armada.

Hal arrives on Oa in time to save the Guardians and ultimately defeats Atrocitus. He and Appa then convince the rest of the Reds to leave in peace with an admission of guilt and an offer to rebuild the forgotten zone.

Notes
 * This episode is Saint Walker's debut as a Blue Lantern.