After a fierce battle with what look like flaming samurai, Green Lantern Corps member Kilowog crash-lands on earth saying that that Katma Tui, John Stewart's former trainer and girlfriend, is MIA in enemy territory. John goes to investigate the planet of Kalanor, which is a barren desert inhabited by terrified townsfolk ruled over by the god-king Despero.
John is captured and taken to Despero, who explains that he got his power from the Flame of Py'tar, a giant fireball that Despero stumbled across in the wilderness when an earthquake opened a crack in the ground. Despero's third eye, which previously made him an outcast, is able to channel the flame's power to deadly effect. Despero thus believes himself The Chosen One tasked to bring all worlds under Py'tar's light.
Despero orders John thrown into the Flame of Py'tar, which is now kept in a pit in his palace. To make things worse, his executioner is none other than Katma Tui. However, she's actually a spy working with a Kalanoran resistance movement, which teleports John to their secret hideout. Kilowog, Hawkgirl, Flash and the Martian Manhunter all show up to help and decide that the best way to deal with the Flame of Py'tar is to throw a carbon bomb in it. Just as they're about to do so, however, Martian Manhunter senses that the Flame is actually a sentient being and telepathically reaches out to it. Through J'onn, the Flame tells the Kalanorans that it's actually the life force of Kalanor which had been suppressed long ago, and then imprisoned by Despero. Now freed, it turns into a massive tree that spreads all over the planet, restoring the world's once-thriving ecosystem.
Tropes seen:
- Actor Allusion: This is not the first time Keith David has voiced a purple-skinned character in animation. In fact, given Despero's skin in the comics is traditionally red rather than purple, it's possible his character design here was intentionally re-colored to pay homage to David's most famous and iconic VO role.
- All Your Base Are Belong to Us: At the start of the second episode, Despero's Py'tar-powered troops attack the rebel base.
- Attack Hello: Katma Tui greets John Stewart by punching him in the face and demanding to know what he's doing there.
- Back for the Dead: Arkkis Chummuck and Galius Zed reappear after "In Blackest Night", only for both of them to die.
- Big Damn Heroes: When Despero's troops attack the base, the Kalanorans are outmatched and John's ring suddenly stops working. All seems lost until Kilowog and three members of the Justice League show up out of nowhere and drive Despero's troops out.
- Big Eater: Flash was already established as a big eater because of his souped-up metabolism, but in Kilowog he meets his match. Their shared fondness for food becomes a Running Gag.
- Bland-Name Product: The ice cream that Flash and Kilowog find in John Stewart's freezer is "Bob and Terry's".
- Continuity Nod: Kyle Rayner, who appeared and became a Green Lantern in Superman: The Animated Series is mentioned twice; Katma apparently trained Rayner at John's request, and when it looks like John can't summon the will to use his ring, Katma intends to have Rayner recalled to take over as Earth's Green Lantern in John's stead.
- Culture Police: When John first arrives in Kalanor, he spots some cops busting a frightened citizen for smuggling books. Apparently, all books are illegal.
- Dark Messiah: Despero preaches himself as a savior, whose will must be obeyed without question, all resistance destroyed or made to obey.
- Death Faked for You: After John's initial clash with Despero, the latter orders Katma Tui to throw him into the Flames of Py'tar. Instead of getting incinerated, however, Katma's allies teleported John into their resistance base.
- Dies Differently in Adaptation: Arkkis Chummuck and Galius Zed both perish at the hands of Despero's invasion fleet, when their respective deaths in the comics happened under different circumstances (Arkkis Chummuck sacrificed himself to defeat Maaldor, while Galius Zed was murdered by Fatality).
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: An outcast who ventures into the desert and encounters a supernatural burning force empowered by some divine will and returns to his people as a supernatural prophet? Despero might as well be a stand-in alien Moses, albeit one who decided to use his new powers to enslave others to his own will.
- Double Entendre: When John puzzles over his suddenly non-functioning ring, Katma says that his problem must be mental, so she'll have to train him again.Katma Tui: Look, you have two choices: let me help you retrain your mental disciplines or you can live with your emerald impotence.Flash: Impotence?! (John glares at him) ...Right, I-I was just going over there. (Zips away)
- Energy Beings: The Flame of Py'tar is living nuclear plasma and is the sentient life-force of the planet Kalanor. J'onn is able to telepathically communicate with it.
- Evil Sounds Deep: Despero, courtesy of Keith David.
- Extreme Omnivore: When offered a pint of ice cream, Kilowog swallows it, package and all. Later when Flash shows him John's videocassette of Old Yeller, Kilowog also mistakes it for food and eats it, declaring it "delicious."
- Eye Beams: Despero's seems to be a cross between a laser and a Mind Control ray.
- Eye Scream: Green Lantern punching Despero right in his third eye, leaving an imprint of his ring like it got branded.
- Face Death with Dignity: As he is dragged to his doom, Despero has a blissful smile on his face, remarking that he sees "paradise".
- Faux Horrific: When the Flash and Kilowog go into John's apartment looking for his ring battery, the camera turns to them exclaiming shock when they encounter a mysterious being — it turns out to be John Stewart's elderly landlady, who herself believes the two to be evil aliens and attacks them with a broomstick.
- Flirtatious Smack on the Ass: Hawkgirl gives an encouraging slap on the ass to John.
- Forced Transformation: Once the Flame of Py'tar turns on Despero, his mooks — including the ones attacking other worlds — all turn into trees.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: Despero started out as a shunned and deformed nobody. Discovering the Flame of Py'tar makes him a powerful cult leader, and from there, a threat to the entire galaxy that even the Green Lantern Corps struggles against.
- Genius Loci: The Flame of Py'tar is apparently Kalanor's ecosystem, which is a single sentient being.
- A God Am I: Although theoretically subject to the Flame of Py'tar, Despero acts like a messianic figure towards his subjects.
- Hammerspace: When John hands Katma her ring she seemingly stashes it in a pocket, except she's wearing a "priestess" outfit with a waistband consisting of literally nothing more than two thin strips of cloth, leaving it a mystery as to where it could've gone.
- I Have You Now, My Pretty: Implied when Despero captures John, Katma and Hawkgirl near the end.Despero: The wings give her an exotic quality, wouldn't you agree? I don't think I'll put her in the army. I have just the place for her: As one of my personal attendants.John Stewart: Don't even think about it!
- He's Back!: John was unable to use his ring after his first bout with Despero. In the climax, after Despero brainwashes Katma and threatens to have his way with Hawkgirl, John musters up his will once more that he calls his ring back to him, ready for a rematch.
- I Fight for the Strongest Side!: A member of the resistance movement later gives up hope and betrays them by giving up their location to Despero. When Despero asks him what he has to gain from such betrayal, the Kalanoran cites this trope. Amused, Despero accepts him among his forces.
- Karma Houdini: Radocko never meets any onscreen justice for betraying the resistance to Despero.
- Kick the Dog: Despero commands a failed subordinate to go into the desert without provisions and await a redeeming vision from Despero, then says that the man won't be returning, revealing that he'd given false hope and condemned him to a slow, painful death for failing.
- La Résistance: The Kalanorans form an underground resistance movement to Despero's rule.Green Lantern: I should've guessed...There's always a resistance, isn't there?Shiftler: "When there's oppression, there will always be," I believe the saying goes.
- Levitating Lotus Position: Despero when in his throne room. Martian Manhunter adopts it at the end, as Green Lantern is transporting them out in his ring-bubble.
- The Lifestream: The Flame of Py'tar is the soul of the planet Kalanor.
- Oh, Crap!: Gallius Zed barely got the second word out before he and Arrkis get vaporized.
- Old Flame: Sparks are still flying between John and Katma when they reunite, though they ultimately go their separate ways again.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The Flames of Py'tar reaches out to J'onn, leading the latter to jump into its fiery pits and get possessed.
- Percussive Maintenance: The resistance teleporter's fluctuating power levels are stabilised by a timely punch.
- Psychosomatic Superpower Outage: John's first encounter with Despero somehow messed with his head, leaving him unable to use the ring. Katma starts retraining him, and he ultimately recovers himself just in time to save her and Hawkgirl.
- Religion of Evil: Despero's cult suggests one, but the entity they're worshipping isn't evil, and eventually turns on them.
- Shout-Out:Katma Tui: It's time to relearn what you've learned.John Stewart: Now you sound like Yoda.
- Made even better when, at the climax, John recalls his ring to his hand in the same manner as Luke's lightsaber in The Empire Strikes Back.
- Katma's Stripperific "undercover" outfit is like Princess Leia's metal bikini, only even more revealing.
- Despero’s backstory in this episode reads like a dark retelling of Paul Atreides from Dune.
- Teacher/Student Romance: between Katma and John while she was training him.
- Third Eye: Despero has one in the middle of his forehead which channels Py'tar's power. Curiously enough, when J'onn is channeling Py'tar he develops one temporarily.
- Unwanted Rescue: Katma sees John's rescue attempt as an insult to her self-reliance and a danger to her undercover operation (and in fact, she ends up having to rescue him).
- When Elders Attack: While Flash and Kilowog are searching John's apartment for his battery, John's little old landlady comes in and, perhaps alarmed by Kilowog's appearance, thinks they're alien invaders and starts whacking them with her broom. The Flash jokes that they should call her if they ever need a replacement for Hawkgirl.
- When Trees Attack: How the Py'tar strikes against Despero and his men.
- The Worf Effect: Despero's minions are shown overwhelming no fewer than four Green Lanterns, killing two, to establish their threat.
- World-Healing Wave: When the Flame of Py'tar is finally freed, it unleashes a wave of greenery across the planet in this manner which even turns the agents of Despero in space into trees.
- You Have Failed Me: An especially nasty example. After the mooks fail to capture the rebel base, their officer asks Despero what he must do to atone. Despero tells him to go out into the desert with no provisions and not return until he gets a vision from his lord. After the mook thanks him for his mercy and leaves, Despero says that the officer won't be back. So, he basically planted false hope so that the guy will die a more lingering and soul-crushing death.
