DC Finally Reveals The Disturbing Fate of Green Lantern's Teen Sidekick

Warning: contains spoilers for Green Lantern #16!Teen Lantern has been missing for months, and now DC has revealed the disturbing fate of Green Lantern’s sidekick. Thaaros, the premiere of the United Planets, has turned the once-beloved Green Lantern Corps into a fascist police force, and declared war on the rest of the Emotional Spectrum, and as seen in Green Lantern #16, Teen Lantern has been key to Thaaros’ crusade of evil.

Green Lantern #16 was written by Jeremy Adams and drawn by Xermanico. A group of Tharros’ former advisors have gathered to discuss the Premiere’s plans. They reveal that Thaaros has kept Teen Lantern imprisoned for months. Thaaros learned she found a way to harness the green light without the Guardians, and he tortured Teen Lantern to learn how she did it. Thaaros had been using what he learned to wreak havoc on the other Lantern Corps, including the Green Lanterns. The advisors fear Thaaros experiments have contributed to his recent bouts of instability.

Teen Lantern's Disturbing Fate Is a New Low for Green Lantern's New Big Bad

Thaaros Has Waged War on All the Lantern Corps

Thaaros’ ascension to the head of the United Planets has indeed coincided with a descent into madness. Kidnapping and torturing Teen Lantern is a new low for him, however. The Durlan Thaaros took control of the newly-formed United Planets. Just prior to Thaaros’ rise, the Guardians of the Universe turned majority control of the Green Lantern Corps over to the United Planets. Thaaros seized on this opportunity to create an army to do his will throughout the cosmos, including an inner cadre of Lanterns answerable only to him. Dissenters, such as Hal Jordan and John Stewart, were expelled.

Thaaros’ has continued to consolidate his hold on the Green Lantern Corps, and Teen Lantern finds herself caught in his grip. As one of Thaaros’ advisors noted, Teen Lantern was able to harness the energy of the Green Lantern without the need for a ring or a battery. Introduced in Brian Michael Bendis’ relaunch of Young Justice in 2019, Teen Lantern was an exciting addition to the Green Lantern mythos. Parts of Teen Lantern’s backstory, including the device she uses for her powers, are still shrouded in mystery.

Teen Lantern Has Been Used as a Weapon of Mass Destruction

Teen Lantern Has Been Traumatized Beyond Belief By Thaaros

And now Thaaros is working to crack the code of Teen Lantern’s powers–and he is willing to go to disturbing lengths to accomplish this. None of the advisors explained what exactly Thaaros did to Teen Lantern, but he did enter her mind to extract her secrets. Reading a person’s mind without their consent is morally questionable to begin with, but Thaaros adds enough layers to make it downright heinous. He tortures a teenager to get what he needs, and while the issue hints at a savior for Teen Lantern, she has already endured enough trauma at Thaaros’ hands.

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Thaaros has also used a teenager to help him wage war on dissident elements throughout the galaxy, such as rogue Lanterns and the other Corps of the Emotional Spectrum. It was revealed that Thaaros was also behind the attacks on the Blue Lanterns and the Sinestro Corps, and Teen Lantern’s technology may have played a hand in this as well. The damage Teen Lantern has been forced to commit in the galaxy is staggering. Using a teenager in this fashion should erase all doubt that Thaaros is the worst villain in Green Lantern history.

Green Lantern #16 is on sale now from DC Comics.