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"The End": Many years into the future, a young Lantern named Snow has completed his training and earned his badge. Excited, Snow asks the Bookkeeper of Oa to tell him the story of Hal Jordan.

Quote1 Hal Jordan was the spark...that started the everlasting fire. Quote2
ā€” Toris

Green Lantern (Volume 5) #20 is an issue of the series Green Lantern (Volume 5) with a cover date of July, 2013. It was published on May 22, 2013.

Synopsis for "The End"

Many years into the future, a young Lantern named Snow has completed his training and earned his badge. Excited, Snow asks the Bookkeeper of Oa to tell him the story of Hal Jordan.

The Bookkeeper complies and retells Hal's first years as a Lantern, his corruption from Parallax, his redemption, his exploits in the War of Light and finally, his death.

In the present, Hal had jumped off a cliff in the Dead Zone in order to commit suicide and obtain the power of the black ring. Meanwhile, in the realm of the living, Sinestro had retrieved his old yellow ring and Power Battery.

Released from the Chamber of Shadows, the Templar Guardians discover Volthoom has taken the Great Heart, the first Lantern ever created.

At Oa, Volthoom is close to complete his plan. Having imprisoned the Guardians, Volthoom is aware of the Guardians' creation of the Great Heart. Long ago, the Guardians feared the power of their own emotions, so they extracted all emotions from their minds, creating the First Lantern and the First Ring. Volthoom, having travelled across space and time to witness the creation of the first Lantern, obtained the ring.

Using his powers, Volthoom returns emotion to the Guardians, who begin to feel shame for all the things they have done. Volthoom then plans to use the Green Lantern Central Battery to increase his power, but in that moment, the Green Lantern Corps counterattack.

In the Dead Zone, Hal has acquired the black ring and Black Hand's body disintegrates. Tomar-Re asks Hal how will he escape from the afterlife and Hal replies he will asks help from some friends. At Nok, homeworld of the Indigo Tribe, Indigo-1 begins to channel the light of the Black Lantern.

Meanwhile, at Oa, Volthoom begins the decimating the Green Lanterns, until Atrocitus and the Red Lanterns arrive to take vengeance. Atrocitus snaps Volthoom's neck, but this does not kill him. Instead, Volthoom blasts the Red Lanterns away, while telling them how silly they are. Zillius Zox prevents the Green Lanterns from helping, along with Bleez and Dex-Starr, saying that Atrocitus wants Volthoom for himself, but G'nort restrains him with a dog construct. Kyle also brings the Blue Lanterns, Indigo Lanterns and Star Sapphires as additional reinforcements. The combined Lantern forces unite their powers, allowing Mogo to fire a powerful combined energy blast at Volthoom.

However, Volthoom is not affected, but in that moment, Sinestro smashes him with the Yellow Central Battery. Enraged, Sinestro attacks Volthoom with everything he has got. Also, the Indigo Lanterns arrive at Oa and channel the black light, opening a portal to the Dead Zone. Suddenly, Black Lantern Hal and an army of zombies attack Volthoom. Despite this, Volthoom easily rips through the dead army and attacks Hal, trying to seek the one point in his life where he was fully consumed by despair. Hal initially believes it was Parallax, but Volthoom finds Hal's true weakness: the death of his father.

Young Hal sees Volthoom, who says that he is an angel who can bring his father back; he only has to wish for it. Tearful, the boy accepts and Volthoom uses his despair to regain his full power. Sinestro returns to the Yellow Battery and summons Parallax, becoming his latest host. However, Sinestro has become the full master of Parallax, allowing him to use his power without being corrupted. As Sinestro and Volthoom fight after Volthoom reminds him that he is the First Lantern and a god, Hal returns to the Dead Zone. There, he meets his father, who says that he and his mother are very proud of him. Then, Martin leads Hal to the tomb of Nekron. Placing his ring on the tombstone, Hal opens the tomb and Nekron is unleashed on Oa.

Sinestro tells Hal to kill Volthoom while he has the chance, but Hal is aware that if Volthoom dies while connected with the emotional spectrum, the universe will be destroyed. To avoid that, Hal takes away all of Volthoom's powers, reducing him to a normal human. Volthoom is finally vulnerable and Nekron kills him with his scythe.

With Volthoom dead, the First Ring vanishes and the Guardians are free. Meanwhile, Hal sees his child self, who confuses him with his father. Hal embraces his child self, telling him that everything will be alright. Happy, the boy disappears. In that moment, Abin Sur's old ring chooses Hal as its wielder, resurrecting him and welcoming him to the Green Lantern Corps. With Hal alive, the black ring no longer has a wielder and Nekron is banished back into the Dead Zone. Hal recovers his father's old jacket and is reunited with Carol.

In that moment, the Green Lanterns are attacked by the Sinestro Corps, because Sinestro reactivated them. Hal realizes the Yellow Corpsmen are distraction and Sinestro is going for the Guardians. While the Green Lanterns take care of the Corpsmen, Hal goes after Sinestro, who still retains the power of Parallax.

As they come to blows, Hal refuses to lose faith in Sinestro, having seen the kind of Green Lantern he can be. However, Sinestro proclaims that with the death of Korugar, he no longer has anything to live for. Their battle is brief, as Sinestro has already killed the Guardians because it was their fault that they created the Manhunters and the Third Army. He even left one for Atrocitus. Only Ganthet refused to beg for his life. Having lost Sayd somewhere among the star, Ganthet had nothing left.

Sinestro prepares to leave Oa, leaving the Corps in the hands of Hal and the Templar Guardians, who are saddened of the Guardiansā€™ deaths. Before they leave, Hal asks Sinestro the question he was about to make while they were on Ysmault: "Were we ever truly friends". Sinestro and his Corps depart from Oa, but not before answering Hal's question: "That's the tragedy of all of this, Jordan. Hal. We'll always be friends."

Afterwards, the Red Lanterns took their leave as well. The Star Sapphires, Blue and Indigo Lanterns remained in Oa in order to help the Green Lanterns rebuild. The Templar Guardians also decided to remain on Oa and became accepted by all.

As the Bookkeeper finishes his tale, he proclaims that even now, the Templar Guardians have become leaders of the Corps. Lantern Snow then asks what happened to the heroes after their years of adventure, the Bookends of Rebirth. The Bookkeeper revealed their fates:

Guy Gardner the Warrior grew old but his courage remained great as ever. He spent his later years on many bars on several sectors of space, retelling his years of adventure to interested patrons. In one special occassion, Bolphunga the Unrelenting tried to attack him, but Guy easily took him down with one punch.

John Stewart the Bridge Builder returned to Earth and married Yrra Cynril. He became an U.S. Senator and his actions as a leader were remembered by many generations.

Kyle Rayner the Torchbearer became a healer known across the universe. The White Lantern blessed him with the ability to heal any kind of injuries. He was forever content with his new duty.

Simon Baz the Miracle Worker was allowed to keep his ring and became the teacher of Jessica Cruz, who became a Green Lantern after the death of the Justice League. He remained friends with B'dg and showed everyone what the ring was fully capable of.

Atrocitus the Cursed remained in command of the Red Lanterns, who continue thristing for vengeance on those who have wronged others. Atrocitus has learned the pain of loss never fully disappears.

Larfleeze the Hoarder eventually found his family and traded every possession he had to see them again. But in time, he returned to his old ways, stealing everything he could get his hands on.

Saint Walker the Believer retained his faith and the Blue Lantern Corps grew in numbers that rivaled the Green Lantern Corps. Walker fell in love again and started a new family. In time, the Blue Lantern Corps brought hope to every sector of the universe.

Iroque the Redeemer eventually took her ring off, proving that she no longer needed it to feel compassion. The Indigo Tribe continued working to save those believed beyond redemption.

Hal Jordan, Green Lantern, and Carol Ferris, Star Sapphire, got married and had a son named Martin. Free of fear, Hal and Carol led a life full of love. In time, they became grandparents and retained their old rings even in old age.

Lantern Snow then asks about Sinestro, and the Bookkeeper replies that Sinestro's fate will never be known, as he burned those pages from the Book of Oa long ago. The Bookkeeper's hand is magenta, revealing himself to be Sinestro.

In the present, Sinestro visits Larfleeze's cave and completes a trade he made with him: Ganthet and Sayd are alive and together and Larfleeze gets to keep the greatest secret of the universe to himself. When Ganthet asks Sinestro why did he spare their lives, Sinestro replies that he knows how does it feel to lose it all.

The Bookkeeper finishes the tale of Hal Jordan, the greatest Green Lantern of all.

Appearing in "The End"

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