Previously on Justice League:
Stop.
You are the Green Lantern known as John Stewart?
- I am. - Your ring.
Welcome to Ajuris-5, John Stewart.
There.
That's where he is.
What is this? Some kind of trial?
I was on my way to sell weapons on Ajuris-4.
I figured he was gonna try to stop me, but his aim was off. Way off.
Three billion. That's how many were on that planet.
That scum's an obvious liar.
Nobody's lying.
I did it. I'm guilty.
Three billion gone. I can't believe it.
Neither can I. I want to take a closer look at what happened.
Why? John admits he's guilty. No one's disputing the facts.
Maybe I am. J'onn, I need you to come with me.
Flash, Hawkgirl, can you buy us time in court?
You're asking the world's fastest man to slow things down? Won't be easy.
So, what do you expect to find on this moon?
I don't know. There's something bothering me.
- Just call it a— - An intuition?
Exactly.
John Stewart you may now question your accuser.
No questions.
None? Don't you intend to defend yourself?
No, I don't.
I object!
You call this a trial? I say it's a joke.
Are you out of your mind? What do you think you're doing?
Prepare to be dazzled.
Remove him!
Listen to me. For something this important, you've gotta hear both sides.
Flash, I told you not to get involved.
They're railroading you, pal.
Hey!
Wait! This being may have a point.
We don't want any lingering doubts about our final judgment, do we?
Of course not. But who would speak for John Stewart?
Don't you have lawyers here?
We solved our lawyer problem a long time ago.
However, you could speak for him if you wish.
But be aware, if you lose...
you'll share the same penalty as the accused.
The same penalty? You mean—?
That's crazy!
No. That's how we solved our lawyer problem.
- What's your answer? - Don't do it.
You think I'm gonna sit back and watch while you play martyr? I'll defend him.
Very well. Proceed.
Right. Sure.
But first, I'd like to say a few words about...
about habeas corpus. Yeah, habeas corpus.
And ipso facto and Phi Beta Kappa.
Waiter, another round.
Why aren't you at the trial?
We couldn't stand it anymore.
John Stewart's made us all look bad.
So much for the vaunted loyalty of the Lantern Corps.
Don't get so high and mighty. If you're smart, you'll stay away from him too.
Otherwise, you'll wind up reeking of his stench yourself.
Cowards!
My friends, please!
No weapons! No weapons!
You think I need this mace to take you down?
No more. Hawkgirl's right.
John Stewart's one of us. And I'm gonna help him.
Have you asked yourself why this rush to judgment?
If the ring wasn't lit, you must acquit. And furthermore—
Enough! You're just wasting time.
Who, me?
Out of my way.
Now what? - Uh, looks like we got a surprise witness.
Surprise witness? He was nowhere near the crime.
What kind of witness can he be?
A big, scary one.
See anything wrong with this picture?
Where do I start? The loss of life, the echoes of our own pasts.
- No. Not up there. Down here. - It can't be.
But it is. This moon is still orbiting a planet which doesn't exist.
It should've flown into space when the planet was destroyed.
But it didn't, did it?
The Thorians would've got me if it hadn't been for John Stewart.
He saved my life and risked his own to do it.
That's the kind of guy he is.
Thank you, Kilowog.
John couldn't have asked for a better character witness. Your turn.
Kilowog, can you tell me exactly what a Green Lantern does?
That's easy. We catch bad guys.
Commendable. But how do you know who the bad guys are?
How? I just know.
So you're saying you use your obviously superior intellect...
to routinely sort out matters of life and death?
I didn't say— I mean— Well, yeah. Kind of.
And then you and the other Green Lanterns enforce these decisions...
with those incredibly deadly rings?
Well, I guess you could put it that way.
Who said you could do this? Who gave you the right?
We did.
J'onn, I hope you're doing better than I am. All I see are craters.
Well, I have found something.
But I'm not sure what.
Any idea what this thing does?
When I was a child on Mars, we had small toys called illusitrons.
They could project crude images over objects and even empty space.
You think this is a larger version?
The engineering principles appear to be the same.
So it's an illusion.
It would explain why this moon's orbit has remained intact.
But who—?
The secret will stay buried with them.
This moon is filled with surprises.
I followed him here from Ajuris-5.
I had to borrow one of the defense force's fighters.
So he's behind all this?
Not exactly.
It is time, brothers.
Time to avenge a thousand years of grievances.
Time to regain our power and dignity.
Our plan has worked flawlessly so far.
We've sown dissension among the Lantern Corps and stained their reputation.
Beyond that, we've succeeded in luring the leaders of our most hated enemy...
away from their home planet of Oa.
Yes, they're here! The Guardians!
Destroy! Destroy them all!
No, my brothers. Not here. Not now.
Our destiny lies elsewhere.
But rest assured. The Guardians will burn. For we are the Manhunters!
No man escapes the Manhunters!
It's true that we Guardians control the Lantern Corps' power source.
But the individual Lanterns have complete autonomy.
So if one of them does something wrong, it's not your fault.
You misunderstand.
We give them autonomy because we trust their experience and—
No other questions.
How much more must we hear? We demand an immediate judgment.
I object!
Overruled!
Having heard all the facts, we will now consider.
- I did everything I could. - I wish you hadn't.
That was fast.
The facts are clear.
John Stewart is guilty.
Do you wish to make a statement before we pass sentence?
No.
Very well. The sentence is termination.
For you and your advocate.
Whoa. Time-out!
I want an appeal.
Will you show some dignity for once in your life?
This isn't right. We can't just sit here!
We have to. Think of the others like us.
We all need to be held accountable. We have too much power not to be.
Stop!
How dare you?
John's innocent.
That's your cue, Hawkgirl.
Hope you can hear me.
Loud and clear.
Ajuris-4 was never destroyed.
It's right where it always was. It was all an illusion...
a frame-up, as they say on my planet.
You!
Why'd you do this to me? Why?
For— For money.
- Whose money? - The Manhunters.
Come on!
GL!
We're too late. We have to go back immediately.
Not so fast.
- What's going on? - We don't have time for this.
- Where are the Manhunters? - Headed back to Oa.
Back to Oa? They've been there before?
- Yes. We created them there. - Say what?
It was before the Lantern Corps.
We thought robots would make good peacekeepers, but they were flawed.
They couldn't understand the subtle gradations between good and evil.
- Why didn't you decommission them? - We reprogrammed them for lesser duties:
Tracking. Hunting. Guarding. They didn't seem to object.
Not out loud anyway.
Don't let up, brothers. They are weakening.
They can't hide in there forever. Rip it open.
Rip them to—
They can't stop us, brothers. No one can.
Got your back.
Look out!
Use the gun! The gun!
You three take the north tower. Kilowog and I will take the south.
Manhunter, stop!
Not until we've regained what is rightfully ours.
- Yours? - The power the Guardians stole from us.
It was never yours. It was always the Guardians'.
And they betrayed us, just as they betrayed you.
This power's our destiny!
No!
Now I am the power!
All is lost.
Not while I'm standing.
In brightest day, in blackest night No evil shall escape my sight
Let those who worship evil's might
Beware my power Green Lantern's light
We chose wisely when we offered you the ring.
Thank you, John Stewart.
You're some fighter, lady.
But we already knew that, didn't we?
John, good work.
I guess we were wrong about you, John.
We should have known better.
Yeah, you should have.
Are you all right, John?
You believed in me even when I didn't believe in myself.
Hey, what are friends for?
Let's go home.