Warning! Preview pages ahead for Green Lantern #12!One of the most powerful upgrades Green Lantern has ever received is on its way back. Just a few years ago, Kyle Rayner studied the Emotional Spectrum to master its seven lights and was rewarded by becoming the first true-blue White Lantern.

Unfortunately, Kyle’s upgrade wasn’t to last and he eventually went back to his old green duds. But recent changes to the Emotional Spectrum are throwing everything out of whack and it’s starting to get to Green Lantern. A surprising display of power could suggest that Kyle is closer than ever to regaining his ultra-powerful White Lantern powers.

Green Lantern Fends Off His Attackers with White Light

In a preview for Green Lantern #12 by Jeremy Adams, Xermánico, Romulo Fajardo Jr., and Dave Sharpe, things aren’t going well for the Green Lantern Corps’ Resistance. Hal Jordan and his small cache of rebels tried to bring Lord Premier Thaaros to justice over his destruction of the Emotional Spectrum’s Central Power Batteries. However, they made the shocking discovery that Thaaros has replaced the United Planets ruling council with members of his own race, giving him unilateral control over the United Planets and Green Lantern Corps.

While Hal, Jo Mullein, and Simon Baz fight off the Green Lanterns still loyal to Thaaros, the Corps leader wastes no time finding the rest of the Resistance. Several United Planets Lanterns find the Resistance Corps base and prepare to take Kyle Rayner in. Kyle is in dire condition as his mind is clouded by colors. Green Lanterns Salaak, Two-Six, and Hal Jordan’s associate Razer try to protect Kyle but are no match for Thaaros’ enforcers. One of the United Planets Lanterns places shackles on Kyle as the seemingly ailing Green Lantern contemplates the damage to the Emotional Spectrum.

Kyle screams for the United Planets Lanterns to stop just as a burst of blinding white light comes from his Green Lantern Power Ring. The antagonistic Lanterns are all knocked out cold while their uniforms, constructs, and even their Power Rings are destroyed. Kyle passes out from the intense experience as his friends collect his body and get him to safety. Two-Six and Salaak discuss the odds of what Kyle just did as Razer suggests they move on before more of Thaaros’ allies come.

Kyle’s White Lantern Past is Linked to the Emotional Spectrum’s Current Chaos

The DC Universe was once nothing but the White Light of Creation until it was splinted by darkness, creating seven distinct lights such as the Green Light of Willpower. Shortly after Blackest Night, Kyle Rayner was forced to master the seven lights to save his old mentor Ganthet and to stop the Guardians of the Universe from assimilating all life into the twisted Third Army. It took Kyle some time, but after mastering the Violet Light of Love, the Green Lantern earned the White Lantern’s power and founded a proper White Lantern Corps.

Kyle served as a White Lantern for years, but after trying to use the White Lantern’s power to revive the Blue Lantern Corps, the ring fractured into seven different ones, making Kyle a Green Lantern once more. Several years after Kyle’s time as a White Lantern, the Emotional Spectrum came under attack. It was shortly after the United Planets assumed control of the Green Lantern Corps that various factions’ Central Power Batteries began exploding, a plot secretly ordered by the Corps’ leader, Lord Premier Thaaros.

Thanks to Thaaros destroying these Central Power Batteries, his new United Planets Lanterns became able to channel additional lights other than Green. Thaaros claimed that the destruction of the batteries was a matter of security, but he’s secretly been trying to access the powers of the mysterious Source Lantern. Thaaros’ damage to the Emotional Spectrum hasn’t gone unnoticed though. As more Central Power Batteries fell, the destruction took a heavy toll on Kyle, whose empathetic connection to the Emotional Spectrum started causing the Green Lantern great distress.

Thaaros is Accidentally Helping Kyle Rayner Become a White Lantern Again

Despite mastering the Emotional Spectrum’s lights, something was preventing Kyle from returning to his White Lantern form. While he was okay going back to operating as a Green Lantern, it was a curious direction for the character who had worked incredibly hard to elevate his powers only to bring him back to the basics. However, in his determination to bend the Emotional Spectrum to his will, Thaaros may have accidentally provided a way for the Green Lantern to reclaim his old White Lantern power.

Thaaros has done so much damage to the Emotional Spectrum that his United Planets can now freely alternate between lights like Blue and Red. However, Thaaros’ soldiers are merely channeling the lights. They don’t understand the complexities of using them in the way that Kyle does thanks to his relentless dedication to understanding the lights and their correlating feelings. Judging by Kyle’s flash of white light in the preview, he seems to have gotten over whatever block he had before. Thanks to Thaaros’ attack on the Emotional Spectrum, the Green Lantern can finally access his powerful god-level upgrade once more.

Having a White Lantern on the good guys’ side would be a serious boon for Hal and the rest of the Green Lanterns. With a White Lantern Kyle, Thaaros and all the United Planets Lanterns don’t stand a chance. Kyle was able to dispatch three with just one flash, so imagine the power he’ll possess once he fully regains his White Lantern form. This could be a real game-changer for Kyle and finally give the Green Lantern the amazing character development he’d lost.

Kyle Rayner is Getting the Upgrade He Deserves

Kyle Rayner may be dedicated to the Green Lantern Corps, but he worked hard to earn his White Lantern powers. It was a shame when he lost them years ago, but this assault on the Emotional Spectrum seems to be the best chance Kyle has at getting his upgrade back. Right now, Hal Jordan needs as many powerful allies as he can get, and it doesn’t get much more powerful than a White Lantern. Hopefully, the Green Lantern is just moments away from trading in his green costume for a white one.