Warning: contains spoilers for Green Lantern #8!
A popular trope in science fiction and fantasy is the idea of a “chosen one”—an individual, somehow more gifted than the rest, who will save the day, or help usher in a golden age. In the Green Lantern mythos, Hal Jordan is sometimes viewed as the “chosen one” and John Stewart calls it out in Green Lantern #8..
The concept of a “chosen one’ resonates throughout genre fiction, and some of pop culture’s most enduring franchises, such as Star Wars and Harry Potter, are built around this idea; stories of the “chosen one” can also be found in myths and folk tales as well. Hal Jordan is sometimes viewed in this way. As the first human to join the Green Lantern Corps, Jordan has butted heads with his superiors in the Guardians of the Universe on many occasions, perhaps more than any other Lantern. He regularly challenges their authority, and in some instances, he shows them the error of their ways—the classic Green Lantern/Green Arrow run is an example. While Jordan’s accomplishments are great—he is far from the “chosen one,” and John Stewart shoots this idea down. Ironically enough, John Stewart himself may be a “chosen one.”
In Green Lantern #8 by Geoffrey Thorne, ChrisCross, and Marco Santucci, John Stewart is desperate to discover the secret of who attacked the Green Lantern Corps. He meets Lonar of New Genesis, who takes Stewart on an odyssey that takes him back millions of years, before the Guardians created the Green Lantern Corps. Lonar is coy about why he brought Stewart there, speaking in riddles and half-truths. All the while, Lonar hints at a great destiny for Stewart, saying he will soon “ascend.” Stewart, fed up with Lonar’s ambiguity, tells him that so many of his (Stewart’s) friends have billed as the “chosen one” and that he rejects the idea, saying “we make our own fates.”
John Stewart does not call Hal Jordan out by name here, but it is impossible not to think Hal is one of the “friends” he is referring to. Hal’s bravery and great deeds set him above other Lanterns, but he is far from the chosen one. Indeed, in light of Hal’s history—slaughtering countless Green Lanterns during the infamous “Emerald Twilight” storyline, he is anything but a chosen one. Interestingly enough, John Stewart himself is facing such a dilemma; Lonar has made it clear a grand destiny awaits John Stewart, a future that makes Stewart very close to a “chosen one.” Stewart rejects such notions, leaving readers to wonder how his destiny will play out. Will he embrace this role? Or will he reject it, in favor of sharing whatever power he is destined to receive?
Green Lantern John Stewart uses his friend Hal Jordan to call out an overdone and wore out pop culture trope. Stewart knows enough about Hal Jordan to know he is anything but a chosen one.