Aya’s found the path she needs to reset the universe to her liking.
What They Say:
Ranx – The Green Lanterns travel to a planet where the Anti-Monitor’s head continues to function.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
As Green Lantern: The Animated Series hits its penultimate episode for the season and the series, we got a lot of very good things are more of the past came out previously and it put the team in a position to do what they can to try and stop Aya with all the new knowledge they have about her past and what the Guardians have done in their far flung past. The massive fight that happened was pretty intense since it all came down to a personal level with the team wanting to not kill her and not exactly end her life in some other form either, though a “reboot” is looking more and more likely for her. That may have been the hope, but with her now taking down the planet of Ranx, a huge number of the corps are being sent to stop her and they don’t have the connection with her to try and do it gently.
This gives us quite the excellent bit of space adventure as a huge army of Manhunters are attacking the planet that have to be dealt with, which isn’t something that the Corps can do easily. With Guy Gardner, now an Honor Guard, we get some hilarious little bits of dialogue in the mix and the reveal that John Stewart is now the Earth GL, which Hal can’t quite believe. Guy gets in some great lines, including a hilarious one regarding the masks many of them wear. But Guy’s position is one that’s really set off Hal because of what he’s planning, which Hal and the others realize is just the wrong plan in general and definitely the wrong one for them to try and save Aya. What they’re able to do though is a pretty curious trick learned from the Blue Lanterns that will let them slip through and try and do what they can.
While the exterior of Ranx is intriguing enough, once Hal and the others get beyond the force shield around it, it only gets more interesting since we learn that they were basically invited there. It’s a bit delayed in a sense since we have to deal with more Manhunters that snuck through with them and are in pursuit, but the closer they get to the goal the more interesting it becomes as it’s revealed that the one that has called this group there is the surprisingly functioning head of the Anti-Monitor. Having him being the one that could be the solution to stopping Aya is amusing, but it certainly makes a lot of sense when you get down to it. His story post-Aya is simple but definitely amusing since he was able to take control of a new world in a hugely powerful way, one that leaves Hal feeling like it’s trading one devil for another.
The Anti-Monitor in this form is dangerous enough in and of itself, but there’s a real reason that Aya wants him as part of his original creation design has given him the potential for going back in time to the creation of everything. An ability that, should Aya acquire it, would allow her to reset the universe in her newly viewed way which would remove all life from it. What really amps things up here is that there are multiple fronts going on with the battle as it progresses. Once Hal and the others opt to work with the Anti-Monitor, they have the Manhunters trying to get in and they have the Corps trying to stop them. And then Aya herself shows up behind them to blow through it all in order to get to Ranx directly to acquire what she wants. It’s a great bit of scale, especially when she lands on the shield and begins to make her way through it all, like a god striding across a world in magnificent and powerful form.
In Summary:
The series hits some good high notes here as it focuses on action for the majority of it and keeps things streamlined as it reveals why Aya is there and what’s really controlling the planet. While Hal and the others are still hoping to do what they can to save her and to save the entire universe itself, the scale of forces involved here is just going in a huge way that will determine the fate of everything. Though Aya is a smaller player in this episode overall, her place in it is no less profound and integral to where it will all draw to a close in the next episode. But it still keeps everything in a personal and emotionally connected level, even with her, and that makes you really enthralled by how events play out here. There’s a lot to like simply because it does go big in a way few shows truly do, even if it does go for the obviously ill thought out ideas of not truly eliminating all your foes. This definitely leaves me anxious to see how it will all come to a close.
Grade: A-