A Crazy Shade Of Blue
ENTRY #63
1202.21
More than likely, you've heard the following statement: Insanity is repeating the same action over and over, and expecting different results.
Personally, I have a little bit of a problem with that, because it's also a fair description of the scientific process. For instance, say that during the course of an experiment, a scientist observes for the first time that Action A yields Reaction B. What is the scientist going to do? Well, more than likely, he (or she) is going to repeat the experiment, just to see if Action A yields Reaction B again. Probably many, many times. And then, our intrepid scientist is going to try to discover precisely why Reaction B is the result of Action A.
Eventually, the scientist will publish his findings, and then other scientists will conduct their own investigations, to satisfy for themselves that Action A produces Reaction B.
I suppose that sooner or later, it will be firmly established that Action A yields Reaction B. At that point, someone doing Action A and expecting Reaction LMNO will be looked upon as having a somewhat tenuous grip on reality. But I'm getting sidetracked here.
Assuming for the moment that the above description of insanity is at least somewhat accurate, who do you think gets the award for Most Insane in the DC Universe? If you’re thinking that it's a certain grinning, green-haired psychopath, you would be sadly mistaken. Think shorter. Think bluer. Think older -- much, much older. And think far, far less in the humor department.
The Most Insane Individuals In The DC Universe are The Guardians Of The Universe, the founders of the Green Lantern Corps. The Joker pales in comparison -- and not just because of his chalky-white skin. I might even go so far as to say that their insanity is on a cosmic scale.
Now, I don't know if any of these could be considered either a cause or a symptom of their insanity, but there are a few things that have remained constant in the portrayal of the Guardians over the years. First, their role as "Guardians Of The Universe" is a self-appointed one. Second, they don't appear to have anything resembling a sense of humor. Third, they have always used other agents to carry out this role. Fourth, they are control freaks.
Let's start with the first point. The origin of the Guardians has been modified, retconned, tweaked, and otherwise altered over the years, more often than not to fit the story requirements of whoever was writing the various Green Lantern titles. But one thing remains constant. The race that would become the Guardians (originally from the planet Maltus) was among the first intelligent life forms in the DC Universe.
Billions of years ago, a Maltusian scientist named Krona, in an attempt to discover That Which Man Was Not Meant To Know, was responsible for unleashing a universe-spanning catastrophe. (This is the part where the specifics have been altered the most in various retellings of the Guardians' origin.) Feeling in some way responsible for the disaster that had been unleashed, a group of Maltusians took it upon themselves to correct the damage that Krona had caused, eventually becoming known as The Guardians Of The Universe.
Here is where you have to start wondering about the Guardians' choices. I mean, you have an entire race (or a substantial number thereof) taking on responsibility for protecting the entire universe just because one of their members of did something monumentally foolish? Granted, this was a mistake of cosmic proportions (the earliest version had Krona unleashing evil on the entire universe as a result of his bungling), but come on, let's have a little sense of proportion here!
And this kind of leads into my second point. And I am willing to cut them a little slack on the whole lack of a sense of humor. After all, the Guardians are all billions of years old. In that span of time, they must have heard every possible joke in the universe thousands upon thousands of times over. I suspect that even the late Johnny Carson would have had a hard time being funny after that long. By this point, even that moment with Ed Ames and the tomahawk might fail to elicit even the smallest trace of a smile.
All of which, I suppose, is my way of saying that the Guardians take themselves much too seriously. The little blue guys are wound way too tight.
Now we come to the third and possibly most important point. While the Guardians have taken upon themselves the responsibility of protecting the universe, they have never done so directly. Now, each Guardian has been described as possessing the power of the Central Power Battery of the Green Lantern Corps -- far more power than any single Green Lantern could ever control. If they had expanded their numbers to match the responsibilities they had taken upon themselves, they could easily carry out those duties. But instead of using that power directly, they have instead chosen to have others act as their agents.
[SIDEBAR: Instead of expanding their numbers as I suggested in the previous paragraph, the Guardians have taken the opposite route. They have cut themselves off from every emotion, more thoroughly than the Vulcans could ever hope to do. I suspect this might be at least part of the reason they are wound so tight.]
Their first choice of agents were androids they created, which they called the Manhunters, and which were deployed as an interstellar police force. But there turned out to be a fault in the Manhunters' programming, and they became more focused on hunting criminals (or even "criminals") than in administering justice. And in the most recent retcon of the Guardians' (and Krona's) origin, it was Krona who deliberately introduced the programming glitch into the Manhunters, which led to all sentient life in an entire sector of space being wiped out. (This particular sector, by the way, was designated Sector 666.)
When the Manhunters revolted against the Guardians, the Guardians responded by destroying most of the Manhunters. (But not all of them. A vast number still remain, and they have developed a grudge against both the Guardians and the Green Lantern Corps.) In the aftermath, the Guardians decided they had made a mistake in choosing artificial intelligences -- even the advanced ones they created for the Manhunters -- as their agents. They concluded that what they needed was living agents to act as their police force, and created what would become the Green Lantern Corps.
As has been recently revealed, the energies that the Guardians (and the Green Lanterns) wield is just part of a spectrum. Each color is tied to a different emotion. The Guardians chose the green energy because it is at the center of the spectrum, and is the easiest to control. But while the Guardians do not choose to use the other colors of the emotional spectrum, neither do they want any other entities wielding those forces. They are overtly hostile to the wielders of the other colors of the emotional spectrum, considering them aberrations which need to be wiped out. Even when it was learned that the Green Lanterns alone would not be able to stop the Blackest Night, and that those other wielders of the emotional spectrum would be needed to combat the power of Nekron and the Black Lanterns.
Most recently, it has been shown that the Guardians have become disenchanted (for lack of a better term) with the Green Lantern Corps. This comes following the "War Of The Green Lanterns" storyline, and the reboot of the entire DC line following Flashpoint. In various issues of the Green Lantern titles, the Guardians have mentioned that they feel that it is time to create what they call "The Third Army" -- the successors to the Green Lantern Corps.
During one discussion, the Guardians mention two Green Lanterns in particular as a source of their disenchantment, or perhaps disappointment. Hal Jordan is described as being "all drive and no forethought," while Thaal Sinestro is described as being "all drive and no altruism." They could also be describing Epimetheus and Prometheus, but they seem to be irked (if the Guardians can indeed be irked) that none of the Green Lanterns are perfectly round pegs that will fit nicely into round holes.
I think part of the Guardians' disenchantment may stem from the fact that there are some in the Green Lantern Corps -- possibly even an increasing number -- who are beginning to question the recent actions of the Guardians. Most of these actions were taken apparently without any regard they might have on the morale of the Corps.
The first action was their decision to welcome one-time renegade Sinestro back into the GLC after a green power ring chose him once again at the end of "War Of The Green Lanterns." Their decision may partially stem from a desire to follow the old adage, "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer." But I think it may stem more from the fact that at the moment, neither they, nor Sinestro, nor apparently anyone else can remove the ring short of killing him.
The second action was expelling Jordan from the GLC at the end of "War Of The Green Lanterns." Jordan brought the war to an end by stopping Krona once and for all -- by killing him. Killing a Guardian -- even one who had been expelled from their ranks, as Krona had been -- should have been something that no Green Lantern should have been able to accomplish, due to failsafes the Guardians had placed in the power rings. (I strongly suspect that for the first time in perhaps millions of years, the Guardians may be remembering what fear feels like.) The power ring has been described as the most powerful weapon in the DC universe, and it would appear that for the first time, the creators of that weapon are faced with a user who could possibly turn it against them, despite all precautions they may have taken.
The third action may not be widely known to most of the GLC just yet. The Guardians decided that Ganthet -- the one Guardian who has been portrayed as having a distinct personality, and who had been expelled from the Guardians for being too independent of thought -- needed to return to the fold. Bring him back to their way of thinking; assimilating him. Or as Kyle Rayner said, lobotomizing him. And from every indication, it is this lobotomized version of Ganthet that is the greatest proponent of creating this Third Army.
The Guardians decided that the Manhunters were less than what they wanted, and so the Manhunters were discarded without a second thought.
The Guardians seem to have decided that the Green Lantern Corps are less than what they want, and it appears that they are getting ready to discard them without a second thought.
Instead of taking a long hard look at their actions, and thinking that the problem might not be in their agents, but in themselves, the Guardians Of The Universe are about to make the same mistakes all over again.
Oh, yeah. The Guardians are insane.
The Joker would be the first to agree with that assessment. Come to think of it, The Joker would probably say something like, "And I know insane."
-30-
1202.21
More than likely, you've heard the following statement: Insanity is repeating the same action over and over, and expecting different results.
Personally, I have a little bit of a problem with that, because it's also a fair description of the scientific process. For instance, say that during the course of an experiment, a scientist observes for the first time that Action A yields Reaction B. What is the scientist going to do? Well, more than likely, he (or she) is going to repeat the experiment, just to see if Action A yields Reaction B again. Probably many, many times. And then, our intrepid scientist is going to try to discover precisely why Reaction B is the result of Action A.
Eventually, the scientist will publish his findings, and then other scientists will conduct their own investigations, to satisfy for themselves that Action A produces Reaction B.
I suppose that sooner or later, it will be firmly established that Action A yields Reaction B. At that point, someone doing Action A and expecting Reaction LMNO will be looked upon as having a somewhat tenuous grip on reality. But I'm getting sidetracked here.
Assuming for the moment that the above description of insanity is at least somewhat accurate, who do you think gets the award for Most Insane in the DC Universe? If you’re thinking that it's a certain grinning, green-haired psychopath, you would be sadly mistaken. Think shorter. Think bluer. Think older -- much, much older. And think far, far less in the humor department.
The Most Insane Individuals In The DC Universe are The Guardians Of The Universe, the founders of the Green Lantern Corps. The Joker pales in comparison -- and not just because of his chalky-white skin. I might even go so far as to say that their insanity is on a cosmic scale.
Now, I don't know if any of these could be considered either a cause or a symptom of their insanity, but there are a few things that have remained constant in the portrayal of the Guardians over the years. First, their role as "Guardians Of The Universe" is a self-appointed one. Second, they don't appear to have anything resembling a sense of humor. Third, they have always used other agents to carry out this role. Fourth, they are control freaks.
Let's start with the first point. The origin of the Guardians has been modified, retconned, tweaked, and otherwise altered over the years, more often than not to fit the story requirements of whoever was writing the various Green Lantern titles. But one thing remains constant. The race that would become the Guardians (originally from the planet Maltus) was among the first intelligent life forms in the DC Universe.
Billions of years ago, a Maltusian scientist named Krona, in an attempt to discover That Which Man Was Not Meant To Know, was responsible for unleashing a universe-spanning catastrophe. (This is the part where the specifics have been altered the most in various retellings of the Guardians' origin.) Feeling in some way responsible for the disaster that had been unleashed, a group of Maltusians took it upon themselves to correct the damage that Krona had caused, eventually becoming known as The Guardians Of The Universe.
Here is where you have to start wondering about the Guardians' choices. I mean, you have an entire race (or a substantial number thereof) taking on responsibility for protecting the entire universe just because one of their members of did something monumentally foolish? Granted, this was a mistake of cosmic proportions (the earliest version had Krona unleashing evil on the entire universe as a result of his bungling), but come on, let's have a little sense of proportion here!
And this kind of leads into my second point. And I am willing to cut them a little slack on the whole lack of a sense of humor. After all, the Guardians are all billions of years old. In that span of time, they must have heard every possible joke in the universe thousands upon thousands of times over. I suspect that even the late Johnny Carson would have had a hard time being funny after that long. By this point, even that moment with Ed Ames and the tomahawk might fail to elicit even the smallest trace of a smile.
All of which, I suppose, is my way of saying that the Guardians take themselves much too seriously. The little blue guys are wound way too tight.
Now we come to the third and possibly most important point. While the Guardians have taken upon themselves the responsibility of protecting the universe, they have never done so directly. Now, each Guardian has been described as possessing the power of the Central Power Battery of the Green Lantern Corps -- far more power than any single Green Lantern could ever control. If they had expanded their numbers to match the responsibilities they had taken upon themselves, they could easily carry out those duties. But instead of using that power directly, they have instead chosen to have others act as their agents.
[SIDEBAR: Instead of expanding their numbers as I suggested in the previous paragraph, the Guardians have taken the opposite route. They have cut themselves off from every emotion, more thoroughly than the Vulcans could ever hope to do. I suspect this might be at least part of the reason they are wound so tight.]
Their first choice of agents were androids they created, which they called the Manhunters, and which were deployed as an interstellar police force. But there turned out to be a fault in the Manhunters' programming, and they became more focused on hunting criminals (or even "criminals") than in administering justice. And in the most recent retcon of the Guardians' (and Krona's) origin, it was Krona who deliberately introduced the programming glitch into the Manhunters, which led to all sentient life in an entire sector of space being wiped out. (This particular sector, by the way, was designated Sector 666.)
When the Manhunters revolted against the Guardians, the Guardians responded by destroying most of the Manhunters. (But not all of them. A vast number still remain, and they have developed a grudge against both the Guardians and the Green Lantern Corps.) In the aftermath, the Guardians decided they had made a mistake in choosing artificial intelligences -- even the advanced ones they created for the Manhunters -- as their agents. They concluded that what they needed was living agents to act as their police force, and created what would become the Green Lantern Corps.
As has been recently revealed, the energies that the Guardians (and the Green Lanterns) wield is just part of a spectrum. Each color is tied to a different emotion. The Guardians chose the green energy because it is at the center of the spectrum, and is the easiest to control. But while the Guardians do not choose to use the other colors of the emotional spectrum, neither do they want any other entities wielding those forces. They are overtly hostile to the wielders of the other colors of the emotional spectrum, considering them aberrations which need to be wiped out. Even when it was learned that the Green Lanterns alone would not be able to stop the Blackest Night, and that those other wielders of the emotional spectrum would be needed to combat the power of Nekron and the Black Lanterns.
Most recently, it has been shown that the Guardians have become disenchanted (for lack of a better term) with the Green Lantern Corps. This comes following the "War Of The Green Lanterns" storyline, and the reboot of the entire DC line following Flashpoint. In various issues of the Green Lantern titles, the Guardians have mentioned that they feel that it is time to create what they call "The Third Army" -- the successors to the Green Lantern Corps.
During one discussion, the Guardians mention two Green Lanterns in particular as a source of their disenchantment, or perhaps disappointment. Hal Jordan is described as being "all drive and no forethought," while Thaal Sinestro is described as being "all drive and no altruism." They could also be describing Epimetheus and Prometheus, but they seem to be irked (if the Guardians can indeed be irked) that none of the Green Lanterns are perfectly round pegs that will fit nicely into round holes.
I think part of the Guardians' disenchantment may stem from the fact that there are some in the Green Lantern Corps -- possibly even an increasing number -- who are beginning to question the recent actions of the Guardians. Most of these actions were taken apparently without any regard they might have on the morale of the Corps.
The first action was their decision to welcome one-time renegade Sinestro back into the GLC after a green power ring chose him once again at the end of "War Of The Green Lanterns." Their decision may partially stem from a desire to follow the old adage, "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer." But I think it may stem more from the fact that at the moment, neither they, nor Sinestro, nor apparently anyone else can remove the ring short of killing him.
The second action was expelling Jordan from the GLC at the end of "War Of The Green Lanterns." Jordan brought the war to an end by stopping Krona once and for all -- by killing him. Killing a Guardian -- even one who had been expelled from their ranks, as Krona had been -- should have been something that no Green Lantern should have been able to accomplish, due to failsafes the Guardians had placed in the power rings. (I strongly suspect that for the first time in perhaps millions of years, the Guardians may be remembering what fear feels like.) The power ring has been described as the most powerful weapon in the DC universe, and it would appear that for the first time, the creators of that weapon are faced with a user who could possibly turn it against them, despite all precautions they may have taken.
The third action may not be widely known to most of the GLC just yet. The Guardians decided that Ganthet -- the one Guardian who has been portrayed as having a distinct personality, and who had been expelled from the Guardians for being too independent of thought -- needed to return to the fold. Bring him back to their way of thinking; assimilating him. Or as Kyle Rayner said, lobotomizing him. And from every indication, it is this lobotomized version of Ganthet that is the greatest proponent of creating this Third Army.
The Guardians decided that the Manhunters were less than what they wanted, and so the Manhunters were discarded without a second thought.
The Guardians seem to have decided that the Green Lantern Corps are less than what they want, and it appears that they are getting ready to discard them without a second thought.
Instead of taking a long hard look at their actions, and thinking that the problem might not be in their agents, but in themselves, the Guardians Of The Universe are about to make the same mistakes all over again.
Oh, yeah. The Guardians are insane.
The Joker would be the first to agree with that assessment. Come to think of it, The Joker would probably say something like, "And I know insane."
-30-