WARNING: The following article contains major spoilers for Hal Jordan and The Green Lantern Corps #48 by Robert Venditti, Rafa Sandoval, Jordi Tarragona, Tomeu Morey and Dave Sharpe, on sale now.
The Green Lantern Corps often rely on each other's strengths to persevere and push past obstacles. After all, combined willpower is crazy powerful, especially when it drives an army as dedicated to justice as the GLC. However, with the rise of the Darkstars, a longtime rival to the Corps that has been reactivated as space’s most lethal police force, the Lanterns have been forced to resort to desperate measures.
As a result, the Green Lanterns have recruited villains to work alongside them, such as General Zod and Hector Hammond, as well as a couple anti-heroes in the Yellow Lantern Arkillo and Orion of New Genesis. This is because the Darkstars are going across the cosmos executing villains and this wave of bloodshed will eventually come knocking on everyone's doorsteps.
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As strong as this uneasy alliance is, though, the might of the Darkstars is proving to be too much, forcing the Lanterns to think even further outside the box. And Kyle Rayner duly obliges as they wage war on the Darkstars' headquarters, using one of the most powerful constructs he's ever created: an EVA-01 construct which seems ripped straight from the Evangelion franchise.
Hal's plan with the alliance is simple: As the Darkstars attack Mogo, home of the Lanterns and the Guardians, in order to kill their prisoners, they'll sneak in on Space Sector 0001 and hit their enemies where it hurts the most: The Darkstars' control center. This is where the brains behind the operation, the Controllers, are housed as they use the Darkstars to cleanse the galaxy.
It's a two-pronged approach which sees Hal infiltrate the Controllers' lair, with Hammond backing him up. The telepath is proving to be more foe than friend though, prodding at Hal's recent dilemma which saw him actually want to kill as well. This opening has been created as Guy Gardner, with a jeep construct; Orion, on his signature space bike; Arkillo, wielding the power of fear; and Zod, using his Kryptonian powers, lure out the Darkstars trying to protect their base.
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Kyle, however, stands out, as he's embedded inside his EVA-01 construct, equipped with its iconic blade, chopping down the villains. He rampages through the Darkstars, although as sturdy as this construct is, he's outnumbered and isn't utilizing lethal force like his opposition. In other words, he really is holding back for the greater good as he doesn't want to sink to the level of the Controllers.
Of course, Kyle forming the battle-ready construct shouldn't come as to much of a surprise given his past as an artist and one of the most creative Lanterns out there. Plus, he's to mention in the past he's expressed an affinity for Japanese culture, manga and anime in particular, in the past.
In the Evangelion universe, EVA-01 was a prototype unit powered by souls, a rare item that could operate independent of a pilot. In short, this pseudo-sentience allowed it to become even more powerful in the field of battle, which made people view it as an anomaly.
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Just like Kyle's creation, it could have regenerated broken limbs, and even had hues of green on its armor, which Kyle takes to the next level here. That said, the alliance definitely needs Hal to act as quickly as possible to end the Controllers' mission because as Kyle noted in the fight, no matter how much firepower they're packing, the Darkstars consistently have had way more in their arsenal.