Green Lantern: Rebirth
DC brings back Hal Jordan as Green Lantern of Earth and largely exonerates him of his past crimes in the 2004/2005 miniseries
Green Lantern: Rebirth (written by
Geoff Johns, and pencilled by
Ethan Van Sciver). It is revealed that
Parallax was actually an ancient yellow parasitic "spirit" dating back to the dawn of time. The sentient embodiment of fear, Parallax travels from world to world, feeding off the fear of sentient beings and causing entire civilizations to destroy themselves out of paranoia.
The Guardians of the Universe had successfully imprisoned Parallax within the central Power Battery on Oa. Parallax lay dormant for billions of years, its existence covered up by the Guardians to prevent anyone from trying to free it. Thus, it eventually came to be referred to as "the yellow impurity." This was the reason power rings were useless against the color yellow: Parallax weakened their power over the corresponding spectrum. Hence, only users who could master their fear could properly wield a power ring. When the renegade Sinestro was imprisoned in the Power Battery himself, his yellow power ring tapped into Parallax and awakened it.
Parallax then had psychically reached into Jordan's ring from its prison when he was at his weakest, causing increasing self-doubt and even causing his hair to turn white prematurely. Parallax's control over Jordan spiked with Jordan's grief over the destruction of
Coast City, when, for the first time since acquiring the ring, Jordan was afraid--of what would happen tomorrow. Jordan's subsequent murderous activity was the result. Hal's apparent killing of Sinestro is revealed as an illusion on Sinestro's part, created as the final stage of Jordan's susceptibility to break his will. Once Jordan had destroyed the Central Power Battery, Parallax escaped its prison and fully grafted itself onto his soul. With Parallax free,
Kyle Rayner's lacked the historical weakness against the yellow portion of the visible spectrum. Rayner discovers the truth behind Parallax at the edge of the known Universe, just as Parallax begins a battle with the Spectre for the continued dominance of Hal's soul.
The Spectre explains the entire story to Jordan: it drew in Jordan's soul in hopes of purging Parallax from Hal's body, and banishing it for all the fear it had created. Parallax briefly manages to take control of both Jordan and the Spectre, along with active Green Lanterns Guy Gardner, John Stewart and Kilowog, but after a fierce battle, Parallax is finally ejected from Jordan's soul and the other Green Lanterns are freed. The Spectre then departs to find himself a new host, while Ganthet guides Jordan's soul back to his own body, which had been preserved by the remnants of the energies Jordan had used to reignite the Sun during
Final Night.
With his soul and mind finally his own again, Jordan is resurrected and de-aged, again taking his place as a Green Lantern. Discovering Sinestro's deception and defeating him, Jordan and Kyle gather the other Green Lanterns of Earth, along with Kilowog. They are able to rescue Ganthet, whom Parallax had possessed after his expulsion from Jordan's soul, and imprison the parasite back in the Central Power Battery on Oa. Despite this re-introduction of the "yellow impurity", it is important to note that the power rings' weakness against yellow no longer applies, as experienced wielders are now able to directly recognize its source and overcome the inherent fear.
