Green Lantern/Headscratchers: Difference between revisions

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*** Green Lanterns also have Faster Than Light travel with their rings (how long it takes them to get places sometimes seems to [[Depending On the Writer|differ]]) so it's not unreasonable to think that they don't need to be stationed ''on'' a planet, so much as check in occasionally. If Abin Sur's planet is particularly quiet and not prone to periodic threats of total annihilation, then it actually does make more sense to keep the Lanterns stationed on Earth, which comes under attack roughly every other week.

* How do you trust a guy named SINESTRO as part of the Green Lantern Corps?

** '''In universe answer:''' [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast]] doesn't apply to the Green Lantern Corps since as an interplanetary police force, naming conventions won't cross cultural boundaries as easily. Add to that that though the rings translate for the members, most of the Lanterns are called by their phonetic home name, so for all we know "Sinestro" is Korugarian for "Totally Trustworthy [[Nice Guy|McNiceGuy]]". Secondly, Sinestro was ''the'' most respected and effective GL based on merit and performance. If there even ''was'' an inkling of distrust (let's say the rings translated the raw meaning of his name from Korugarian to English / Whatever as "Ima [[And Your Little Dog Too|McBadguy]]"), then it would have been wiped away because '''A.''' as [[Empathic Weapon|Empathic Weapons]], the rings only choose good guys, and '''B.''' his years of faithful service & due diligence. I'm not even sure that with his betrayal in hindsight, you could call it inevitable based on a name.

** '''In universe answer:''' [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast]] doesn't apply to the Green Lantern Corps since as an interplanetary police force, naming conventions won't cross cultural boundaries as easily. Add to that that though the rings translate for the members, most of the Lanterns are called by their phonetic home name, so for all we know "Sinestro" is Korugarian for "Totally Trustworthy [[Nice Guy|McNiceGuy]]". Secondly, Sinestro was ''the'' most respected and effective GL based on merit and performance. If there even ''was'' an inkling of distrust (let's say the rings translated the raw meaning of his name from Korugarian to English / Whatever as "Ima [[And Your Little Dog, Too|McBadguy]]"), then it would have been wiped away because '''A.''' as [[Empathic Weapon|Empathic Weapons]], the rings only choose good guys, and '''B.''' his years of faithful service & due diligence. I'm not even sure that with his betrayal in hindsight, you could call it inevitable based on a name.

** '''Out of universe answer:''' [[Genre Savvy|You really don't]], but as a friend to left handed people, I have to say that Sinestro is derived from the latin "left handed" which is only used as a synonym for evil "out of dark ages" ignorance. And yeah, Sinestro wears his ring on his left hand most adaptations I've seen him in, so his parents may well have literally named him "Lefty" on purpose. So even if I ran into someone named Sinestro in real life, I'd at least give them the benefit of the doubt.

** These kinds of things are another one of those annoying cases where people somehow ''forget that the characters in the story'' are ''in the story and not snarky outside observers like us''. If you found yourself partnered by your boss in [[Real Life]] at your place of business with a guy named Baron von Killshot, would you ''actually'' be afraid of the guy just because of his motherfucking ''name''?? Would you be so timid and neurotic as to insist that they pair you with someone else? Wouldn't they be right to accuse you of being prejudiced toward the man and possibly borderline mentally ill? ''It's just a name'', and if the man ''did'' turn out to be evil, it would just be a fluke. People in [[Real Life]] as well as in fiction generally understand that, and if they said anything at all, the likeliest reaction would be [[Lampshade Hanging|a friendly joke or pun]] or question about how the fellow came by the name (maybe followed by, "I'm sorry, you probably get that all the time").

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** The comic in general does often point out how it wasn't Hal's fault but Parallax's, and mostly the only people still on his case about it are the Lost Lanterns. There's still the aspect of Hal feeling rather guilty about having Parallax take over him, but this element too is barely touched on. Of particular note is when Parallax took over Kyle Rayner and his dialogue pointed out insistently that he was just doing with Kyle what he did with Hal Jordan earlier and neither had any control over their actions.

*** Yes, but when Parallax took over Kyle, he did so very obviously, he had big scary teeth, was obviously and unapologetically evil, and didn't do any real damage. Hal, however, wasn't noticeably different in appearance, wiped out a good fraction of the Green Lantern Corps, and his actions weren't ''evil'' so much as desperate and misguided. Even if Hal wasn't responsible for his actions, his actions were all things that the other members of the Corps could easily imagine him doing.

**** I assumed either Parallax hadn't mastered his control of people or more likely the energy Hal absorbed from the Central Battery/Guardians prevented Parallax from completely suppressing his personality. This is why Hal was a [[Well Intentioned Extremist]] when first possessed and an [[Ax Crazy]] [[Complete Monster]] the second time.

**** I assumed either Parallax hadn't mastered his control of people or more likely the energy Hal absorbed from the Central Battery/Guardians prevented Parallax from completely suppressing his personality. This is why Hal was a [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]] when first possessed and an [[Ax Crazy]] [[Complete Monster]] the second time.

* Why are there only two Green Lanterns for a single space sector if said Space Sectors are 0.028% of the whole freaking universe!There are at least 100 billion galaxies in the universe,each containing billions to trillions of stars. Even if only one planet in a billion has an interstellar civilization, there would be trillions of interstellar races. And the Guardians intend 7200 people to look after all that?!

** Some have posited that the DCU is smaller than our own. So that's one thing. If that doesn't cover enough, though, Earth is actually quite remarkable in its ability to support life; the chances of a given planet being able to hold life may be significantly less than one in a billion. Another theory is that the Guardians of the Universe are [[Non Indicative Name|actually]] more like the Guardians of the Known Galaxies (twenty-eight?).

** Some have posited that the DCU is smaller than our own. So that's one thing. If that doesn't cover enough, though, Earth is actually quite remarkable in its ability to support life; the chances of a given planet being able to hold life may be significantly less than one in a billion. Another theory is that the Guardians of the Universe are [[Non-Indicative Name|actually]] more like the Guardians of the Known Galaxies (twenty-eight?).

** I remember Hal mentioning that there were only 138 planets with sentient life in Sector 2814. I can't remember the specific storyline, though.

*** It ''has'' been previously established that the Lanterns don't police the whole universe. There's the Unknown Sectors, where ''Emerald Warriors'' is taking place. Even in the 3600 sectors, there's places Lanterns don't go, such as the Vega system, and L.E.G.I.O.N.-patrolled space. Local governments seem to have a degree of choice in the matter as well, which was a minor plot point during ''New Krypton''.