Emerald Knights - Story

Story

The main thrust of the story deals with a much younger Hal having to come to grips with the new reality he's in; specifically, the fact that he's (at that time) one of the most reviled villains, and that his friend Ollie Queen is dead. The other heroes are also unnerved at seeing their comrade back in prime condition and without any of the taint of the villainy his future self did. Kyle, for his part, mixes feelings of awe - at being teamed with 'the greatest Green Lantern' - and self-pity, as he now feels that he's being pushed out of the limelight.

Hal winds up having some solo adventures in Kyle's time, including fighting Kalibak, another of Darkseid's sons, when Kalibak tries to challenge Hal to prove his own skill, and Vince Hardy, an old acquaintance who Hal knew during his fighter-pilot days. Hardy had fought against Hal for control of a fighter jet they were test-piloting, which Hardy intended to sell to arms dealers, but Hal fought him off and crashed the fighter jet, which resulted in him being discharged due to the need for a scrapegoat for the lost plane, since Hardy had escaped during the fight. Hardy now intends to send a plane to Seattle with a bomb supplied by The Eden Corps, a group of radical environmentalists who were responsible for Ollie's death. Teamed up with the current Green Arrow, Connor Hawke- although he is shocked to learn of Connor's connection to Oliver-, Hal first loses his ring to Hardy, but eventually gets it back and saves the day with Connor's help, Hal preventing the plane from crashing into a mountain before capturing Hardy. The two later visit Ollie's grave, reflecting on how they each feel like they have lost him twice, given the limited time Connor spent with him and the fact that Hal comes from a time before his friendship with Oliver was as close as it would become later.

The last two issues deal with Kyle vs. Hal vs. Hal. Parallax (before the events of Zero Hour #0), was jumping through space-time when he notices a disturbance and investigated. Sensing his past self in a time when he shouldn't have been there, Parallax intends to send Hal back to his proper time. Kyle fought against Parallax, but is unable to stop Parallax and Hal from squaring off against each other. After Parallax and Hal fight each other to a standstill- even travelling all the way back to Coast City mere seconds before it was destroyed as Parallax attempts to win Hal over-, Kyle intervenes yet again. Kyle explained that both men had to go back to their proper places in time - and what's more, they had to have no knowledge of these experiences. Hal refuses to go back if it meant that he would turn into Parallax, but Kyle explained that Hal had to go back- and Parallax had to go back, despite the fact that he would be defeated- because Parallax was needed to stop the Sun-Eater during The Final Night.

Acknowledging that he is proud have him carry on the Green Lantern tradition, Hal hugged Kyle, whispering to him "You'll know what to do with it", before all three joined forces: Parallax would be responsible for returning everyone to their proper place in time, Hal's ring would wipe his and Parallax's minds of these events, and Kyle's ring acted to boost their power. With both Hal and Parallax back in their proper time - Hal having defeated Sinestro on his own and Parallax revealing himself as the main villain behind Zero Hour - Kyle reflects on recent events with Jen, his girlfriend... before revealing that Hal gave Kyle a copy of his Green Lantern ring.