Four Green Lanterns are led into an ambush and overwhelmed--only one of them, Kilowog, manages to escape. John goes to confront them and rescue his mentor, Katma Tui, while Kilowog tells them of the League of the Third Eye and its leader, Despero.
John gets captured and brought to Despero, who reveals he was cast out for his deformity (his third eye) and gained his powers from a mystic flame, giving him vast powers capable of defeating a Green Lantern single-handedly and mind-controlling millions... including Katma. He casts John into the mystic flames, but he's rescued by the resistance, which includes Katma who is pretending to be mind-controlled. Despero transfers the mystic energies into his followers and sends them on a war of intergalactic conquest.
Written by Gadfly on Feb 27, 2019