WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Tales from the Dark Multiverse: Blackest Night #1, from Tim Seeley, Kyle Hotz, Dexter Vines, Walden Wong, Danny Miki, David Baron, Allen Passalaqua and Tom Napolitano, on sale now.
The romance between Mister Miracle/Scott Free and Big Barda has been taken to new heights thanks to the recently concluded Mister Miracle miniseries by Tom King and Mitch Gerards. There, we saw them navigate the catacombs of marriage, parenthood and even family dynasty due to their connections to Apokolips.
In the Tales from the Dark Multiverse: Blackest Night one-shot, however, Scott's put to an even greater test regarding what he would do for his wife, and in the process, he becomes the most sympathetic traitor ever in this dark corner of the DCU.
When the White Lantern Sinestro, Lobo and Dove meet Scott, it feels like destiny as they're all the cogs Mister Miracle needs to undo the Black Lantern problem sweeping across the cosmos. He has tech in the form of a vest that could reroute the power of life from within the Source Wall, using Dove (a being of pure light) as a conduit to spill the Creation Wave over all of reality. This energy would cure the Black Lanterns and bring them all back to life, including Big Barda.
It sounds like a foolproof plan and one he researched thoroughly, as he'd do anything to bring the love of his life back following Nekron's victory in this Elseworlds tale. However, by the time they start the procedure at the Wall, Darkseid arrives as the avatar of Nekron and the embodiment of Death.
Scott's dad is officially the Lord of the Black Lanterns, sporting Death Beams instead of Omega Beams, wielding the Grim Reaper scythe of Nekron and beckoning the rebels to join his army. Darkseid warns them this mission will be futile and a melee ensues, with Lobo ripping the Anti-Life master's eyes out. As Sinestro and Scott hold off the Black Lanterns, though, just as Dove's about to unleash the Wave, Darkseid makes a big play with Barda at his side.
He warns Scott that he miscalculated; once the Wave's unleashed, it will purge the galaxy by turning all the Black Lanterns to ash. Sinestro, connected to the Life Entity, reluctantly confirms there has to be a resetting, a "clean slate" so a rebirth could occur in its purest form. A broken Scott is now thinking twice and Darkseid -- the man who knows his son best -- starts preying on these emotions, egging him to turn on his friends. The tyrant indicates if they succeed, there'll never be another chance at reviving Barda, but should the Wave be stopped, he and Scott could figure out a way for them to be together. However, it might not be in life because as Darkseid is presumably speaking about turning Scott into a Black Lantern.
As much as one might hate that Scott's listening to his dad, you do feel for him and sympathize with his dilemma. All he wants is his wife back and here, Darkseid's dangling this glimmer of hope as Scott looks Barda in her lifeless eyes. And so, in a shocking move, with his will shattered, Scott places his hands on Dove's neck, snapping it. This sends Lobo into a fury as she was the last remnant of hope, and he punches through Scott's gut, killing him as Sinestro scrambles to formulate a new plan. Scott doesn't even get a chance to be resuscitated because the White Lantern uses Lobo as Dove's replacement to cleanse this reality of Darkseid and all the Black Lanterns.
It's a very heartbreaking read, and while you might not condone what Scott did, you can't help but empathize and understand his actions. Love makes people make dumb decisions sometimes and with the fate of the universe hanging in the balance, Scott, hoping for some sort of miracle, made the wrong one. In the aftermath, everyone paid the ultimate price because Sinestro's use of Lobo still ended up condemning this reality to bloodshed.