Season 1, Episode 12
Airdate: May 19, 2012
The Interceptor heads to the Lighthouse…only to be ambushed by Red Lanterns who got there first! The Green Lanterns are forced to retreat, and Aya decides to fly down the beam to sneak into the facility. Meanwhile, on Mogo, the sentient planet tells Saint Walker to climb a high peak to find the one who will save everyone from the Red Lanterns. Back at the Lighthouse, Aya manages to disable its defenses so Hal and the others can take out the guards and set the facility to self-destruct. Atrocitus is right behind them, and as the Lighthouse explodes, the path collapses with both ships barely making it out in one piece. Atop the peak on Mogo, Saint Walker is frustrated by Mogo’s cryptic responses, but he reiterates his hope that the Red Lanterns will fall. Suddenly, a blue lantern power battery and ring appear before him. Finally, as Hal, Kilowog, and Razer investigate Atrocitus’ seemingly abandoned ship, the Interceptor suddenly attacks them. Atrocitus had retrieved the technologist Drusa from Mogo, and she hacks Aya to take control of the ship and escape to Oan space. Worse, Atrocitus planted Liberators inside the asteroid field, which he uses to blast open a wide enough path for the rest of his armada.
After the crappy previous episode, this one’s a welcome return to form. The Red Lanterns gaining access to the Lighthouse did feel a bit rushed, but it still worked out fine in the end. The action sequences were intense and broken up well with the Lanterns cooking up strategy and the quieter moments on Mogo. Atrocitus’ choice of Drusa rather than Zartok was a good twist; it was obvious that the arrogant Zartok wouldn’t get to join Atrocitus, but the exact reason why Drusa was chosen makes much more sense. It was even cleverly hinted at when she was fixing electronics on Mogo.
My favorite scene was of course Saint Walker receiving the new battery and ring after saying the Blue Lantern catchphrase “All will be well.” It seems my theory of Saint Walker becoming a Blue Lantern by the finale was borne out, though he’s not in costume just yet. Strangely enough, we are led to believe that Mogo somehow knew about the Blue Lantern prototype; it’s not explained exactly how it acquired this information, but maybe the planet is prescient or something.
I’m assuming that Byth Rok is dead; aside from the brutal torture we saw on screen, there was even worse pain implied by his screaming as the view shifted to the outside Atrocitus’ ship. I don’t see the Red Lanterns keeping the Thanagarian traitor around for long once he gave up the code. In fact, I hope we don’t see Byth Rok again; he was a poor character to begin with, and if he survived his ordeal, it actually makes the Red Lanterns look less threatening.
Only one more episode to go, and then Green Lantern: The Animated Series takes a break until the fall. I bet we’ll end on a cliffhanger…
I actually enjoyed Byth Rok, but I agree that last week was not my favorite. This week on the other hand was amazing. Looks like Saint Walker is going to play a key role next week. I hope we also get an epic scale battle.