It seems that one of the biggest additions to the Green Lantern mythos actually has a couple of plot holes that have yet to be filled. The Emotional Spectrum empowers various Lanterns through a variety of feelings, but strangely enough, two basic emotions are left out of the fold.
Fans know that the Power Rings used by the Green Lanterns are fueled by their s' capacity for willpower. But the scope of the DCU was widened considerably when it was revealed the Lanterns were but one fraction of a greater force. The Green Light of Willpower is one part of the Emotional Spectrum, an energy source that allows beings to harness cosmic power based off of certain emotions. From the Red Lanterns' anger to the Star Sapphires' love, seven different lights with corresponding emotions radically changed the lore Green Lantern operated off of for years.
However, while the Emotional Spectrum covers some natural emotions like fear, hope and comion, there are two pretty obvious feelings that don't appear to have a light associated with them: the two most basic emotions, happiness and sadness. Alex Jaffe penned a response on in the Emotional Spectrum. Jaffe replies that the emotions tied to each Lantern corps are meant to be interpreted more as motivations that drive each Lantern and not necessarily the state of any particular ring-slinger. However, Jaffe does make the point that Volthoom, the first being to ever wield a Power Ring, was able to launch his attack on the Green Lantern Corps by draining each Lantern using despair. In essence, sadness essentially robs the Lanterns of their power, implying that the emotion does factor in to the Emotional Spectrum's makeup.
Volthoom’s ability to use despair as a weapon makes sense, as the Ultraviolet Lantern Corps has also been able to manifest powers using negative emotions such as hate and shame. Strangely enough, even if this explains how an emotion like sadness fits into the Emotional Spectrum, there's still no explanation for how, or even if, happiness works. However, one hero may be the key to explaining this issue for the Green Lanterns.
The 31st century isn’t just home to the Legion of Super-Heroes, but a mysterious, young hero known as the Gold Lantern. Since his introduction, speculation has run rampant over what his ring is powered by, especially since it doesn’t appear to operate like Green Lantern’s Power Ring. Is it possible that this new hero has tapped into a part of new, undiscovered part of the Emotional Spectrum that pertains to happiness? It took a while for the Ultraviolet Lanterns to be discovered, so it's not out of the question to think more time was needed to discover a Lantern Corps centered around positivity. Whatever the future may hold, it seems like some official clarification in the pages of Green Lantern may be needed to discover if sadness and happiness truly serve a purpose in the Corps' lore.
Source: DC
