Warning! Spoilers ahead for Green Lantern #17!In a moment Green Lantern fans have been waiting for, the DC Universe's godlike White Lantern has finally made their triumphant return. Things are going off the rails quickly, and the Corps is on the brink of complete and utter destruction yet again.

Lord Premier Thaaros, experimenting on the Emotional Spectrum for his own twisted purposes. But while things are looking dire, the White Lantern, long thought gone for good, has returned to help save the day and bring balance back to the Emotional Spectrum.

Green Lantern Kyle Rayner is Back as the White Lantern

Kyle is Here to Save the Emotional Spectrum From Thaaros

In Green Lantern #17 by Jeremy Adams, Xermánico, Romulo Fajardo Jr., and Dave Sharpe, things are quickly going to hell. Beloved Green Lantern Mogo is channeling Red Lantern energy and out to destroy the Corps' headquarters on Oa. The power behind Mogo is Lord Premier Thaaros, who has become corrupted thanks to the Dark Star Ring that is turning Thaaros into something powerful and dangerous. While Thaaros continues to manipulate Mogo, Alan Scott and his Green Lantern head for the Sciencells to liberate Teen Lantern.

The recent arc begins with Green Lantern Civil Corps Special #1 (2024)!

Unfortunately, Thaaros' scientists have completed their experiments on Teen Lantern and have fashioned a new Power Ring that can access the powerful Source Lantern. Even worse, the Source Ring is taken by Varron, an undead and power-mad former Green Lantern. The Green Lantern crew arrives and puts up a fight, but none of them can compete with Varron, now imbued with Source energy. Varron makes a beeline for the Source Lantern while the Green Lanterns get Teen Lantern and evacuate Oa.

Kyle Rayner senses the danger the Emotional Spectrum is in and finally snaps out of his funk...

Varron approaches and enters the Source Lantern thanks to his new ring, promising to unlock its secrets and its overwhelming power. Kyle Rayner senses the danger the Emotional Spectrum is in and finally snaps out of his funk, shedding his Green Lantern costume and becoming a White Lantern once more. Kyle soars through Oa, giving his friends one last look at him before he flies into the Source Lantern, ready to face his destiny. Inside the Source Lantern, Varron draws power from dozens of damned souls while the White Lantern radiates multicolored energy.

Kyle Rayner Worked to Become a White Lantern

He Lost His Power, But Never His Connection to the Emotional Spectrum

Before it was splintered into multiple lights, the White Light of Creation was the most powerful energy in the Emotional Spectrum. Though rarely seen, its power was finally revealed during Blackest Night after Nekron and the Black Lantern Corps' attack on the DC Universe. Not too long after the Green Lantern's triumphed over Nekron, Kyle Rayner took it upon himself to master every light in the Emotional Spectrum, and in doing so, he became the first genuine White Lantern in the DC Universe and gained nearly godlike power.

Kyle officially became a White Lantern in Green Lantern: New Guardians #16 (2013)!

However, that power was put to the test during the "Rebirth" era of DC Comics when Kyle was asked by Guardians Ganthet and Sayd to restore the deceased Blue Lantern Corps and restore hope to the universe. Working with the Blue Lantern Leader, Saint Walker, Kyle earnestly tried to revive the Corps but ultimately failed thanks to an unknown power. Worse, the event caused Kyle's White Lantern Ring to fracture into seven multicolored Power Rings and search for new owners. Thankfully, Kyle was welcomed back into the Green Lantern Corps, but his White Lantern days were over.

Kyle could feel the pain the Emotional Spectrum was in...

Kyle couldn’t channel the White Lantern power anymore, but his connection to the Emotional Spectrum lingered. As Lord Premier Thaaros began destroying Central Power Batteries and experimenting on the Source Lantern, Kyle began to feel serious disturbances that affected his mental state. Kyle could feel the pain the Emotional Spectrum was in and began glowing various shades of color. The Green Lantern even briefly managed to fire off a concentrated blast of White Lantern energy, though it was too much for him to bear at the time.

The White Lantern Can Fix What the Green Lanterns' Leader Has Destroyed

No One Knows the Emotional Spectrum Like Kyle

To be clear, in his quest for power, Thaaros has done extensive damage to the Emotional Spectrum. He's destroyed every Corps Central Power Battery and was on the precipice of destroying the enigmatic Source Lantern. This has had huge ramifications in the DC Universe, the least of which is the creation of brand-new parts of the Emotional Spectrum, namely Sorrow, a Lantern powered by sadness. And thanks to DC Comics' January solicitations, fans know that more 'Fractured Lanterns' are on the horizon, undoubtedly creating even more problems for the Green Lanterns to deal with.

That's right. Next January, DC Comics will be releasing the one-shot special Green Lantern: Fractured Spectrum #1 by Jeremy Adams and V Ken Marion.

While the idea of powerful new Lanterns fueled by new emotions does seem dangerous, Kyle Rayner is exactly the person who can right that kind of wrong. He’s studied every aspect of Emotional Spectrum and understands it in a way that even the great Hal Jordan doesn’t. Aside from the grand power Kyle finally has back in his hands, this Green (now White) Lantern has the emotional intelligence needed to handle something as delicate and sensitive as the Emotional Spectrum, especially with it being in such a precarious state.

...Kyle knows what’s at stake and that the Emotional Spectrum needs to be protected at all costs.

That said, fixing the Green Lanterns’ problems isn’t going to be easy. Between a Source-powered Varon and Thaaros (now under the influence of a powerful Old God), the DC Universe has two godlike beings hellbent on taking the Emotional Spectrum’s power for themselves. But Kyle knows what’s at stake and that the Emotional Spectrum needs to be protected at all costs. What’s coming next may not be pretty, but now that the White Lantern is shining again, the future is looking a heck of a lot brighter.

The White Lantern Will Be Critical to the Green Lanterns' New Era

Kyle's New Power Can Bring Order Back to the Emotional Spectrum

Things may look dark now, but Hal Jordan has found a way to revive the Green Lantern Corps free from Thaaros' influence. But there are still other lights that need to be fixed (not to mention the mysterious Fractured Lanterns soon to debut). But now that Kyle's back as a White Lantern, the Green Lantern Corps has the best resource available for undoing the Thaaros' damage and bringing order back to the Emotional Spectrum.

Green Lantern #17 is available now from DC Comics.