Part 1
A cosmic tribunal sends the Manhunters after Green Lantern. John is enjoying a peaceful day in his old neighborhood. Some of his teammates (J'onn J'onzz, Hawkgirl, Flash) try to intercept the Manhunters when they arrive on Earth but the tall robots are a little too tough for them. Superman shows up and manages to even things up but then Green Lantern shows up. He hands over his ring and allows the Manhunters to handcuff him without questions or explanations.
The Manhunters take Green Lantern to Ajuris 5 for trial. J'onn, Hawkgirl, Flash, and Superman figure out where he has been taken, thanks to J'onn's mental powers, and head to Ajuris 5. They are attacked as soon as they get close to landing on the planet. They fight off the attackers and make it to the site of the trial.
Evidence against Green Lantern is provided by a pirate named Kanjar Ro. He tells the story of how while pursuing Kanjar, Green Lantern inadvertently started a chain reaction that destroyed Ajuris 4. Three billion people lived on Ajuris 4. The Leaguers are convinced that it has to be a mistake but Green Lantern insists that it is true.
Part 2
Superman and Martian Manhunter leave to investigate. Superman is convinced that something isn't right. Flash and Hawkgirl stay behind. Green Lantern is ready to give up. Flash steps in to act as his lawyer but he is warned that if Green Lantern is found guilty then he will suffer the same fate as Green Lantern. Flash tries but he isn't a lawyer and with lines like "If the ring wasn't lit you must acquit," he doesn't make much progress.
Hawkgirl leaves the courtroom and goes looking for the Green Lantern Corps. She finds several Green Lanterns (Kilowog, Galius-Zed, Arkkis Chummuck, Tomar Re) in a bar. She gives them a piece of her mind and then gets into a fight with them. Several of them take her on but despite the fact that she isn't using her mace she is able to hold her own. Kilowog is the only one who doesn't join the fight and in the end he ends the fight by stepping in and insisting that they stop.
Superman and Martian Manhunter look for clues on the moon of Ajuris 4. Superman notices that the moon is still in the same orbit it was in before Ajuris was destroyed. That shouldn't be possible. They search around the moon and find some machinery that looks like a giant cloaking device. Kanjar Ro attacks them before they can examine the machinery. He buries them under a pile of rubble. Hawkgirl shows up in a "borrowed" spacecraft. She destroys Kanjar Ro's craft.
The Manhunters are seen plotting with Kanjar Ro before Kilowog goes to testify. After Kilowog's testimony a secret meeting of the Manhunters reveals that they have something up their sleeve. They want to break up the Green Lantern Corps and depose the Guardians of the Universe.
Kilowog testifies on John's behalf, as a character witness. It goes okay until the prosecutor cross-examines Kilowog. The Guardians of the Universe show up but even their testimony isn't enough. Green Lantern and Flash are sentenced to death. They are put in a sealed chamber. Poisonous gas is pumped into the chamber. At the last minute the Superman and Martian Manhunter return with Kanjar Ro.
Superman tears open the sealed chamber and rescues Flash and GL. Hawkgirl, still on the moon, destroys the cloaking device and Ajuris 4 reappears. Kanjar Ro confesses and reveals that the Manhunters are the ones who paid him to frame John Stewart. They go looking for the Manhunters only to discover that they have left Ajuris 5 and are headed to the home planet of the Guardians of the Universe, Oa.
The Justice League, the Guardians, and the other members of the Green Lantern Corps head to Oa. A big battle the Manhunters ensuses. The leader of the Manhunters siphons power off of the giant power battery and grows huge but somehow John defeats him by reciting his oath:
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.
This is a very good episode. Not my favorite but I would definitely rate it above 1.01 (Secret Origins). I like how and why the Manhunters were chosen to be part of this story. They are more specific and more interesting that the generic alien menace from the previous story.
This story was based on a story that ran in Justice League of America in 1977. There are some significant changes to the story but at it's core it is the same story. Green Lantern gets framed for destroying a world that was not destroyed. The Manhunters are the ones trying to get Green Lantern and the Green Lantern Corps blamed for the crime. Hal Jordan is the Green Lantern accused of destroying a world in the comic book. Superman and Flash are also in the JLA story but it is Barry Allen, not Wally West, but the rest of the cast is different.
See also my notes about the comic book story that inspired this cartoon:
- Justice League of America 140: No Man Escapes the Manhunters!
- Justice League of America 141: No World Escapes the Manhunters!
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