Chapter Summaries

Batman captured Parallax in Deathstorm and watched Atrocitus tear apart Krona’s ghost while First Lantern tried to bargain for his freedom. Knowing First Lantern’s quest to save his homeworld would eventually threaten the Green Lantern Corps and the timeline, Batman refused him and left him to hate Batman instead.

• Bane forced Parallax into Deathstorm, who had become a willing vessel under The Black’s influence.
• Batman explained that Brainiac’s force field trapped Krona’s ghost, and Atrocitus repeatedly tore the ghost apart in revenge for Sector 666.
• First Lantern admitted he had secretly negotiated with Sinestro and pleaded with Batman to release him, offering his knowledge of the Emotional Spectrum and the Great Heart.
• Batman recalled that the Time Trapper who destroyed First Lantern’s homeworld had vanished from the timeline, making First Lantern’s plan to undo that loss futile and dangerous to the Green Lantern Corps.
• Batman rejected First Lantern’s offer, saying he refused because it was fun and because he wanted to deny someone who thought too highly of himself.

Batman and Sinestro negotiated an alliance between the Green and Yellow Lantern Corps after Batman rejected First Lantern’s offer and stopped his connection to the Power Ring. Sinestro agreed to reform his corps and respect each planet’s right to choose its own government, leaving the Lanterns allied against Mongul’s forces.

• First Lantern begged Batman and Sinestro to verify his claims, but Batman ordered his connection severed, sending his consciousness back to the Shadow Cabinet.
• Batman destroyed First Lantern’s green willpower construct, and Sinestro ordered the Yellow Lanterns to stop fighting the Green Lanterns and attack Mongul’s Annihilators instead.
• Sinestro forcibly deactivated the Yellow Lanterns’ rings until they calmed down, then restored them and made them obey his orders.
• Batman sent Bane, the Ventriloquist, and Atrocitus to join the battle while Sinestro and Batman discussed Parallax and the future of the Lantern Corps.
• Batman named several Yellow Lantern criminals and challenged Sinestro to reform his corps, while Sinestro realized Batman was reading his surface thoughts.
• Batman offered to permit the Yellow Lantern Corps to exist if planets could choose Sinestro’s governance voluntarily and Sinestro addressed the worst criminals in his ranks; Sinestro agreed.

Anton Arcane agreed to help Black Death Emperor use his power to strengthen an agent in exchange for a method to develop his own deathly power. Meanwhile, Amon Sur and Cyborg Superman broke into Arin Sur’s prison on Ranx, but Clayface’s report prompted Chen Tao to suspect another complication involving Mongul.

• Anton Arcane absorbed power from the Council of Decay and accepted Black Death Emperor’s request to help him reach Mongul.
• Amon Sur arrived at Arin Sur’s cell, warned the guards about their weaknesses, and helped Cyborg Superman kill them.
• Amon Sur opened Arin Sur’s cell, and Cyborg Superman entered to take her away; the figure on the bed wore a Batman-style grin.
• Clayface reported a new situation to Chen Tao, who looked from Sinestro to the seemingly lifeless Mongul.

Sinestro arranged for his wife, Arin Sur, to become a Green Lantern and expected Amon Sur to help defeat Mongul and Cyborg Superman. Mongul revealed that Amon Sur was under his control, while Batman’s group brought a Clayface impersonator posing as Arin Sur into the confrontation.

• Sinestro explained that he had bound his Green Lantern ring to Arin Sur so it would appear and protect her in danger, hoping becoming a Lantern would give her a reason to live and oppose him.
• Sinestro and Amon Sur planned for Amon to reveal Arin’s location, allowing Cyborg Superman to capture her before the ring activated and Amon attacked Cyborg Superman.
• Mongul revealed that he had corrupted Amon Sur with The Black, making him a spy, and gave him Black Mercy to use against Sinestro or Batman.
• Killer Croc received Batman’s order and carried the woman claiming to be Arin Sur out of The Red as a hostage.
• Mongul revived as Amon Sur arrived with Cyborg Superman, and Chen Tao recognized that the captured Arin Sur was actually Clayface.

Sinestro tried to make Mongul kill Arin Sur so she would become a Green Lantern, but Chen Tao’s team disrupted the plan by staging a second hostage-taking. Chen Tao then prepared to fight Mongul while leaving Cyborg Superman for Sinestro.

• Mongul threatened Arin Sur to force Sinestro to join him against Batman, but Sinestro refused and said he was severing his emotional weakness.
• Mongul stabbed the apparent Arin Sur, revealing that she was Clayface in disguise, while Chen Tao brought the real Arin Sur and Killer Croc out of The Red.
• Chen Tao explained the switch with a hurried excuse, and Sinestro realized Batman had secretly protected his wife, feeling relieved that she would not become a Green Lantern.
• Chen Tao confirmed that the Arin Sur in his care was real, but his growing unease led him to prepare for a fight.
• Chen Tao and Sinestro simultaneously armed themselves against Cyborg Superman with Kryptonite and weapons, then Chen Tao took Mongul as his opponent.

Chen Tao watched Sinestro overpower Cyborg Superman while fighting Mongul and suspected Mongul had prepared a betrayal involving Black Mercy. After warning Sinestro and arranging protection for Arin Sur and William Hand, he learned Sinestro already knew about Mongul’s spy and weapon.

• Chen Tao admired Sinestro’s specialized weapons as Sinestro battered Cyborg Superman, while he noticed Mongul seemed to be holding back against him.
• Mongul surprised Chen Tao with Black-powered insect limbs that nearly struck him, and Chen Tao used Red Death’s speed to evade them before driving Mongul back with heat vision.
• Chen Tao suspected Mongul planned to use Black Mercy and a trusted Yellow Lantern spy to attack Sinestro, and he had already sent Killer Croc away with Arin Sur for protection.
• Killer Croc reported that a nearby planet’s Totem Council had sent members of The Red to confront them, so Chen Tao told him to protect Sinestro’s wife and William Hand while Bane came to help.
• Chen Tao warned Sinestro that Amon Sur might be Mongul’s spy and asked whether he knew about Black Mercy, and Sinestro replied that he knew it all.

Sinestro explained his plan to control Mongul through Abin Sur’s Blue Lantern Ring and use Mongul as Parallax’s host so he could stand against Batman. As Amon Sur threatened him with Black Mercy, Sinestro dismissed Batman’s warnings and believed his mastery of fear would let him resist it.

• Sinestro recalled Abin Sur’s warning that his confidence and willingness to gamble would eventually lead to disaster.
• Sinestro revealed that he had replaced a Blue Lantern’s ring with Abin Sur’s original ring so it would connect Mongul to him and let him control Mongul.
• Sinestro planned to use Owlman’s Father Box to strengthen his control over Mongul and make Mongul host Parallax.
• Sinestro concluded that controlling Parallax through Mongul would give him the power to confront Batman on equal footing.
• Amon Sur threatened Sinestro with Black Mercy while Batman warned that its nightmare variant could overwhelm even powerful willpower.
• Sinestro rejected Batman’s warning and insisted that, as the master of fear, he could break free of the plant.

Chen Tao watched Sinestro battle Mongul while containing Cyborg Superman and Arkillo, but Mongul’s attack on Oa’s allies and Sinestro’s hidden vulnerability turned the fight into a crisis. As Chen Tao rushed to help, Sinestro was struck by the Black Mercy and impaled through the chest, leaving him apparently dying.

• Chen Tao kept Cyborg Superman from regenerating and sealed Arkillo inside a metal cocoon.
• Sinestro fought Mongul while Chen Tao warned him about Amon Sur and possible hidden attacks.
• Sinestro caught Amon Sur trying to use the Black Mercy, revealing that he had long suspected his nephew’s betrayal.
• Killer Croc and Bane reported that an Island of Decay had trapped them inside The Red, and Chen Tao promised to help.
• Amon Sur stabbed the Black Mercy into Sinestro’s back as Mongul punched through his chest, and Chen Tao rushed toward the apparently dying Sinestro.

Chen Tao faced Mongul as Sinestro lay trapped in Black Mercy’s dream, while Mongul’s invasion threatened The Red and its defenders. Bane refused Batman’s order to leave the fight, and Chen Tao realized there might be another way to free Sinestro.

• Chen Tao discovered Sinestro was still alive but helpless inside Black Mercy’s dream, and he carried him while confronting Mongul.
• Killer Croc reported that Mongul’s forces had invaded The Red, and Chen Tao recognized that the Mongul fighting Sinestro had been Arkillo in disguise.
• Mongul revealed that Arkillo was hunting Killer Croc and pursuing Deathstorm and the Green Lantern Central Power Battery, while Bane revived and attacked Mongul.
• Chen Tao explained that Black Mercy could only be broken if its victim sincerely abandoned the life they desired, and Bane agreed to try to wake Sinestro.
• Bane rejected Batman’s order to leave the fight and insisted on taking on Mongul himself, as Chen Tao realized there was another way to break Black Mercy.

Batman tried to turn Mongul’s ritual against him while arranging for Bane to free Sinestro and bring the Yellow Lantern master back into the fight. Sinestro awoke from the Black Mercy’s illusion but hesitated to kill Amon Sur, and the resulting explosion left him dying in his wife’s arms as Batman cried out to him.

• Batman’s plan to have Bane take the Black Mercy from Sinestro faltered when Bane charged at Mongul, so Batman attacked Mongul himself.
• Batman’s blow shattered Mongul’s body, but Mongul used the destruction to begin a ritual that summoned and controlled the Parallax.
• Batman told Bane to guard Sinestro and explained how to remove the Black Mercy, while he kept Mongul from using Warworld’s cannon too soon.
• Batman learned that Mongul had forced the Parallax out of Deathstorm and told Killer Croc that Mongul had used the battle to prepare the ritual.
• Sinestro awoke from his Black Mercy illusion and tried to stop Amon Sur, but his failing will made his Yellow Lantern construct vanish before it struck.
• Amon Sur’s power of The Black exploded, killing Sinestro as his wife reached him, and Batman cried for him to say something.

After Sinestro died during the battle on OA, Chen Tao discovered that his heart could summon Bat-Sinestro from a parallel universe. When Mongul claimed the Yellow Lantern power for himself, Chen Tao synchronized with Bat-Sinestro and became the new focus of the Corps’ fear energy.

• Arin Sur and Chen Tao grieved over Sinestro’s death as the Yellow Lantern Corps members broke free of his control.
• The Alfred Protocol identified Sinestro’s heart as an anchored item and revealed Bat-Sinestro’s history and danger level.
• Chen Tao took Sinestro’s heart, deciding that using it to help defeat an enemy was acceptable despite his vow not to loot a teammate’s corpse.
• Mongul gathered Yellow Lantern energy and declared himself the sole avatar of fear after Sinestro and Arkillo were no longer able to oppose him.
• Chen Tao synchronized with Bat-Sinestro, drawing the Yellow Lantern power away from Mongul and becoming the Corps’ apparent new leader.

Chen Tao used Bat-Sinestro’s control over the Yellow Lantern Rings to keep Mongul from taking Parallax and offered him a way to surrender safely. Mongul rejected the offer, invoked a Warzoon oath, and forcibly pulled Parallax into himself, becoming Parallax Mongul.

• Chen Tao revealed that Sinestro’s authority over the Yellow Lantern Rings let him contest Mongul’s attempts to take Parallax from Deathstorm.
• Chen Tao identified Mongul’s apparent remote extraction of Parallax as a trick and told Killer Croc to retrieve the Green Lantern Central Power Battery with Ventriloquist and Bane.
• Mongul and Batman continued tugging Parallax in and out of Deathstorm while Mongul’s body weakened under the borrowed power of The Black.
• Batman offered to help Mongul survive, replace the corrupted The Black in his body, and protect him from Black Death Emperor and the other enemies he had provoked.
• Mongul refused Batman’s sincere offer and recited a Warzoon oath before unleashing his power.
• Mongul snapped the Yellow Lantern chains, tore Parallax free from Deathstorm, and pulled it into his own body.

Chen Tao prepared Bane to become Ion Shark’s host while Mongul struggled against Parallax, but Bane could not control the Entity and Ion Shark took over. As the two Entities fought, Ion Shark switched hosts and possessed Chen Tao’s Batman.

• Chen Tao ordered Killer Croc to bring back William Hand and prepare to release Ion Shark, keeping William as a backup host for Bane.
• Chen Tao confirmed Luther was ready to fire Warworld’s planet-destroying cannon at Mongul if necessary.
• Mongul lost his struggle against Parallax, who took control of his body and greeted Chen Tao with an evil grin.
• Killer Croc reported that Ion Shark had taken control of Bane and was carrying him toward Chen Tao.
• Parallax and Ion Shark clashed through Mongul and Bane, and Parallax gained the advantage by taunting Bane’s poor compatibility.
• Chen Tao stepped in to defend Bane, and Ion Shark switched hosts by possessing Batman.

Chen Tao unexpectedly became Ion-Man when Ion Shark linked him to Bane, and the Alfred Protocol revealed a corrupted record of The Batman Who Laughs before recalibrating his danger level to infinity. As Ion Shark and Parallax fought over control of him, Chen Tao transformed through multiple Batman forms and devastated Mongul, leaving both lantern beasts struggling to possess him.

• Ion Shark decided to link itself to Chen Tao as well as Bane, and Chen Tao gained Ion-Man's perspective and abilities.
• The Alfred Protocol's danger-level reading climbed to infinity as corrupted text revealed The Batman Who Laughs's plan to infect The Red with the Laughing Mindset and turn the world into cake in everyone's eyes.
• Chen Tao let Ion Shark summon The Devastator and Red Death, then transformed into a Bat-Dragon and struck Parallax Mongul with heat vision.
• Chen Tao transformed into other powerful forms, including one resembling Darkseid, and reduced Mongul to a skeleton with Omega Beams.
• Parallax poured yellow-lantern energy into Chen Tao and tried to possess him, while Ion Shark fought back by forcing green energy into him.
• Chen Tao finally shouted for the two lantern beasts to stop fighting over him.

Chen Tao used the conflict between Parallax and Ion Shark to make them fight while he coordinated with Killer Croc and prepared to return Ion Shark to the Green Lantern Central Power Battery. Mongul failed to keep Parallax under his control, and Parallax chose to go back to Chen Tao.

• Chen Tao made Parallax and Ion Shark attack each other, then contacted Killer Croc to check on the team, the Central Power Battery, Scarecrow, and Deathstorm.
• Deathstorm plotted to flee, but Bane used the Black's power to knock him down before he could escape.
• Chen Tao told Ion Shark to return to the Green Lantern Central Power Battery and warned that chains might force him into submission.
• Mongul tried to bind Parallax with dark-green chains and merge with him, but Parallax rejected him because Mongul lacked true fear.
• Chen Tao broke free of Ion Shark's control and called to Parallax, who struggled away from Mongul and chose Chen Tao instead.

Hal and the Green Lantern Corps returned from the Phantom Zone to find Qward enslaved and began taking the planet. General Zod revealed he had helped Sinestro and arranged for Mogo to attack the Corps, forcing Hal to race toward Oa because he believed Batman was in danger.

• The Green Lantern Corps arrived at Qward, where the enslaved Qwardians rushed from their factories as Mogo was shielded by the Corps.
• Hal questioned General Zod about how he might threaten the Green Lanterns, but Zod denied being a villain and left him uneasy.
• Hal learned from a captured Yellow Lantern that Sinestro might target Oa and the Green Lantern Central Power Battery, potentially making himself Parallax's host.
• Mogo attacked the Green Lanterns, and Zod admitted he had used devices Hal helped place on Mogo to carry out his plan with Sinestro and Mongul.
• Hal decided the Corps had to leave Qward and stop Sinestro at Oa, while Kilowog stayed behind to deal with Mogo.
• Hal declared that he and his chosen Green Lanterns would save Batman.

Owlman revealed that he intended to make the universe powerful enough to resist the Anti-Monitor, despite knowing the plan could expose it to greater danger. Hal Jordan rushed to rescue Batman but found him laughing amid the corpses, while General Zod used a Phantom Zone portal to trap Kilowog and the Green Lanterns.

• Outsider warned Owlman that his plan to strengthen the universe was dangerous, and Owlman admitted he had told Luther in hopes that Luther might stop him.
• General Zod contacted Owlman and reported that his operation was ready, with more than a thousand Green Lanterns and Mogo gathered around him.
• Hal Jordan opened a portal to reach Batman and found him wrapped in yellow energy, laughing over a corpse among dead Green Lanterns and Yellow Lanterns.
• Kilowog’s Green Lanterns bound Mogo with a coordinated attack while General Zod taunted them.
• Mogo warned Kilowog to run, and Zod revealed that he had let Hal leave before opening a Phantom Zone portal that began pulling the Green Lanterns in.

Batman’s secret containment plan described how to immobilize him by turning him into iron through Backwards Magic, while Chen Tao, possessed by Parallax, overwhelmed the Lanterns and fought Bane. The battle left Bane and Hal Jordan under attack, and Hal received Batman Secret Files from Batman.

• Batman’s containment file proposed using Backwards Magic to make the Metal Spirit turn him into a mindless lump of iron, warning that destroying his petrified body could kill him.
• Chen Tao struggled to control his body as Parallax possessed him and used Darkseid’s Omega Effect and Bat-Brainiac’s psychic powers against the Lanterns.
• Bane used Ion Shark’s power to shield himself from Batman’s attacks, while Hal Jordan tried to understand what had happened to Batman.
• Batman’s attacks killed several Lanterns and burst Atrocitus’s head, though his Red Lantern Ring made him difficult to kill.
• Batman attacked Bane at extreme speed, and Bane told Hal that the Guardians and Sinestro had been dead for ages.
• Hal stopped asking questions and told Bane that Batman had sent him something called Batman Secret Files.

Hal Jordan used Batman’s Backwards Magic book to expel the Parallax Monster from Batman, leaving it vulnerable to Mongul and Ion Shark. As the monster tried to flee, Batman began summoning dead Guardians and wielding one like a bomb.

• Hal and Bane read Batman’s plan and discussed his precautions, while the Parallax Monster battered the barrier around them.
• Hal opened Batman’s magic book, which identified him as pure-hearted, canceled its emergency countermeasure, and activated the plan.
• Mongul secretly prepared Warworld’s cannons as a last resort while hoping to reclaim the Parallax Monster.
• Hal recited the spell, and the Parallax Monster was expelled because Batman had been turned into a rock it could not possess.
• Mongul’s chains and Ion Shark threatened the expelled monster, which chose to flee.
• Batman stood motionless, summoned dead Little Blue Men, and held one whose green light signaled a Guardian self-destruct.

Chen Tao used resurrected Guardians of the Universe as self-detonating weapons to weaken Parallax while Mongul waited for a chance to interfere. Meanwhile, General Zod used Phantom Zone marks to capture and defeat the Green Lantern Corps, then set his sights on Earth.

• Chen Tao controlled a Guardian of the Universe and hurled it at Parallax, who realized the dead Guardians could stop their self-detonations and return to Batman.
• Batman chased Parallax through space with Mongul, Hal, Bane, and the others following, until a Guardian struck Parallax and erased a large part of his energy in an explosion.
• Chen Tao kept throwing Guardians at Parallax and watched Mongul, recognizing that Mongul was waiting for an opportunity to act.
• General Zod revealed that the Green Lantern Corps had been marked as Phantom Zone prisoners and used the Phantom Zone opening to pull them in.
• Kilowog led a counterattack with six Green Lanterns, but Mogo destroyed their assault and the Corps was captured.
• General Zod told Mogo that their next stop was Earth.