WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Green Lantern #4 by Geoffrey Thorne, Tom Raney, Marco Santucci, Michael Atiyeh and Rob Leigh, on sale now.

DC's Guardians of the Universe are as old as time. Despite their diminutive statures, the little blue immortals are the long-time leaders of the Green Lantern Corps and were once credited with creating the multiverse. Throughout their long lives, the Guardians have faced great adversity. At one point, Hal Jordan killed almost all of them as he was corrupted by Parallax. But after "Emerald Twilight," the sole surviving Guardian, Ganthet, and Kyle Rayner eventually brought a new generation of Guardians into being. Sadly, the Guardians are once again on the brink of extinction in Geoffrey Throne, Dexter Soy and Marco Santucci's ongoing Green Lantern series.

In Joshua Williamson, James Tynion IV, Scott Snyder, John Timms and Alex Sinclair's Infinite Frontier #0, Ganthet and the other members of the Quintessence -- DC's most powerful assemblage of cosmic heroes -- are brutally slain by Darkseid, whom they thought they had successfully imprisoned. Later, in Geoffrey Thorne, Dexter Soy and Marco Santucci's Green Lantern #1, the Guardians gather with the Green Lantern Corps and sentients from across the galaxy to welcome Oa into the United Planets. A Guardian named Koyos addresses the crowd to express the Guardians' gratitude, but he is assassinated by a terrorist from Gemworld before he can finish his speech.

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Koyos, a Guardian of the Uinverse is killed while the Green Lanterns look on

The Guardians and the Lanterns have a funeral for their fallen comrade, but before they have time to properly mourn, the central power battery explodes leaving Green Lanterns across the universe powerless and throwing the Guardians into a sort of suspended animation. Jo Mullein, whose ring is still functioning, returns from the far sector to find Oa in disarray. In Green Lantern #4, she learns that the Guardians of the Universe may already be dead or in the process of dying. Doctors are unfamiliar with their ancient physiology, so they are at a loss as to how to accurately measure their health or treat their mysterious ailments. But the destruction of the central power battery has put all of their lives at risk.

The death of the Guardians could spell disaster for the DC Universe. They have been working to promote peace and order since the dawn of time. Without their guidance, the already scattered Green Lantern Corps will struggle to get back on their feet, and the already tenuous alliances between the members of the United Planets could fall to pieces. After the Quintessence, the Guardians of the Universe are the most knowledgeable and influential group of beings in the cosmos. If they die, DC's cosmic heroes will be rudderless in an increasingly chaotic multiverse.

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Guardians of the Universe in suspended animation on Oa

On the other hand, the Guardians' power has decreased since the discovery of the Omniverse. The chaotic nature of this new understanding of the nature of reality has severely undercut their life-long quest for order, and casts some serious doubts as to whether or not a sense of order is even a reasonable or worthwhile pursuit. It may be that this new iteration of the multiverse calls for a new type of leadership. In Green Lantern #3, John Stewart discovers that the Guardians have been unaware of the plight of several planets in the dark sectors which have been traumatized by an interplanetary war for years. The fact that they missed an event of that magnitude implies that their spheres of influence are shrinking. Perhaps the Guardians are less essential than they let on.

Whether the power of the Guardians of the universe is of a pragmatic or ceremonial nature, their deaths will certainly represent the end of an era, or several eras in the DC Universe. Their leadership has prompted innumerable heroes to embark on adventures across time and space. While they may not be as essential to the security of the cosmos as they once were, they will be undoubtedly difficult to replace.

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