WARNING: Spoilers for Green Lantern #5 by Geoffrey Thorne, Marco Santucci, and more!
The characters of the Green Lantern Corps are some of the most fascinating heroes and villains in the DC Universe, but in current continuity, it’s the villain Sinestro who seems to be the most noteworthy. An archenemy of the Corps for decades, Sinestro and the Green Lanterns are intrinsically tied, and with the current situation the Green Lanterns have found themselves in, the Corps' fall could mean Sinestro’s rise.
Thaal Sinestro has long been the Green Lanterns’ dark opposite. Though he has a particularly strong rivalry with the Green Lantern Hal Jordan, Sinestro’s enmity has often extended to the entire Corps alongside his own Yellow Lanterns. Just like Sinestro, his Corps’ newest recruit, Jessica Cruz, was once an iconic Green Lantern, and her changing allegiances signals a new day for the Sinestro Corps.
Though he may not be directly responsible for the downfall of the Green Lanterns, Sinestro isn’t going out of his way to help them either. In Future State: Green Lantern #1, fans see the Sinestro Corps taking advantage of the Green Lanterns’ absence in “The Taking of Sector 0123” by Ryan Cody and Sami Basri. Using pre-existing Green Lantern infrastructure, the Yellow Lanterns are moving in to fill the void as the universe’s resident protectors. And with Green Lantern #5 by Geoffrey Thorne and Marco Santucci confirming Jessica Cruz’s induction into his Corps, as fans also saw in Future State: Green Lantern #1, Sinestro is stealing more than just the Corps’ technology.
Meanwhile, when the Teen Lantern attacks his home in Green Lantern #5, Sinestro watches over the fray with piqued curiosity, content to watch his Lanterns take her on. He doesn’t need to fight her because he’s already won the larger battle, and sullying his hands battering an angry child wouldn’t do his new standing in the universe any favors. Thaal Sinestro always plays the long game.
With the formation of the United Planets and the Green Lantern Corps in shambles, the Sinestro Corps are perfectly poised to take their place, giving Sinestro one thing he’s wanted for years: order. Despite his villainous past, Sinestro has always seen himself as a force for order in the universe. Once considered to be the greatest Green Lantern, he was toppled and dismissed from the Corps when he used his ring to become a dictator on his homeworld Korugar.
All Sinestro ever really wanted was peace, order, and security for the universe, he just thought that his control and his version of justice was the best way to protect his vision. To that end, he formed his Sinestro Corps using some of the universe’s most dangerous fearmongers. But now, with his Corps’ star on the rise, Sinestro has recruited a genuine hero to his side and worked toward legitimizing his standing as the new protector of the universe. With Sinestro’s Corps poised to replace the Green Lanterns, it seems his legitimacy will be recognized sooner rather than later. And if he can recruit fan-favorite heroes like Jessica Cruz to his cause, there’s no telling who else he could convince. After all this time, Sinestro has finally won against the Green Lantern Corps - and he didn’t have to lift a ring finger to do it.