When taken captive by the sinister Black Mercy plant, Green Lantern was thrust into a fantasy world. And that perfect reality might have revealed Hal Jordan's true feelings about his most hated enemy.
When it comes to the origins of villains, Green Lantern has quite the tragic one. After the previous Green Lantern of Sector 2814 perished, Hal Jordan was recruited to take his place. As the first Earthling Lantern, Jordan faced an uphill battle from his fellow Corps members, including Sur's close ally, Thaal Sinestro. However, Sinestro took Jordan under his wing and the two actually developed a bond. But Green Lantern turned on Sinestro when the hero discovered that his friend had been abusing his Lantern powers to install a dictatorship on his home planet of Korugar. From that day, Jordan and Sinestro were never truly able to repair the friendship they'd began in Hal's earliest days with the Corps.
And it appears that Hal, unfortunately, never got over that turn of events. In Green Lantern #7 by Geoff Johns and Carlos Pacheco, Green Lantern and Green Arrow discover that the intergalactic terror, Mongul, has returned and has been spotted on Earth. The two race to confront him only to discover a farm filled with Black Mercy plants. While the two think they managed to defeat Mongul and his plans for Earth, they actually wind up ensnared by the sinister fauna. Hal is drawn into a fantasy world where he never became the villain Parallax and the Green Lantern Corps is as strong as ever. In fact, the world is so perfect, that Hal's former friend and mentor Sinestro is still a deputized Green Lantern. After the Corps completes another successful mission, Sinestro compliments Hal, proud of how far his mentee has come.
Hal’s desire for a friendship with Sinestro is shocking to say the least. Sinestro coordinated Green Lantern’s fall as Parallax by sending the fear entity to possess Jordan after he was emotionally weakened after the destruction of Coast City. So of all the people Hal could blame for his turn to evil, Sinestro would be at the top. But despite everything they've been through, it looks like Hal really just wants his mentor and friend back.
The relationship between Green Lantern and Sinestro is complex. They’ve gone from being immediate rivals to comrades to hated enemies. And, despite all those dramatic shifts, there’s still a part of them that recognizes the bond they shared in Hal’s early days with the Green Lantern Corps. For Jordan, getting into the Corps was the greatest achievement of his life, and in many ways, Sinestro helped Hal become the Green Lantern he is today. The time they shared as partners can't be easily forgotten, no matter what pains and traumas they've inflicted on one another. Heartbreakingly, in Hal's idealized world, all that ugliness just doesn't exist. What does is a friendship that was never forced to end. Green Lantern may never want to admit it, but he'd give anything to have that friendship with Sinestro back.