The Guardians and the Corps

I think that Geoff Johns has done a phenomenal job with reviving the entire Green Lantern Corps, bringing back and rehabilitating Hal, keeping Kyle alive, actually using John once in a while, and doing a surprisingly bang-up job of writing Guy. I love what he has done with Sinestro, he's brought back Arisia and heck, he's brought back the entire Corps...but what IS it with the Guardians?

Something is certainly up with those little blue dictators. They've become increasingly erratic, suspicious, power-hungry, and just MEAN! It didn't used to to be like this. They were aloof, certainly, a bit self-righteous and arrogant, but at least they seemed to be genuinely concerned about the welfare of the Universe and their Corps. If the situation called for self-sacrifice, they didn't hesitate to throw their wizened little bodies into the fray. They put up with ALL kinds of insubordination from the likes of Hal Jordan, because they recognized his potential. Heck, same thing with Guy.

Heck, I was even mildly fond of them in a way.

Now of course, I want them to die. Slowly and in great pain.

Johns of course has been building this up since the very beginning of Rebirth. He brought in all the other color corps, and the whole range of emotions, and it was revealed that the Guardians are afraid of emotion. That seems to be the crux of the whole problem. The Guardians are just rotten with Fear.

Could this be a consequence of having Parallax in the Central Battery all those years? It certainly corrupted Sinestro, who seems to be doing pretty well, now that he's away from its influence, and back to being a GREEN Lantern. The whole point of the eligibility for being a Green Lantern, in addition to Will Power, and a FINE behind, is the ability to overcome Fear. The Guardians, unlike their Corps, don't seem to have that ability any longer.

Waaaaaay back in GL #12, I think it was, when Hal and Guy go off to Biot and find the Lost Lanterns, the Guardians are plotting about how to make the rest of the Universe afraid of them. Then Scar gets infected, and betrays them all, then the rest of the emotional entities are running around and possessing the Guardians, and the Lanterns that are still standing at the end of the Green Lantern War, realize that something is terribly terribly wrong with the Guardians. They're Afraid.

Afraid of their OWN Corps, not to mention all of the others. Which presumably is the rationale for dumping their Corps and getting something that will obey them without question. They tried that with the Manhunters, they tried it again with the Alphas. Is this then, going to be the Next Big Thing for the Green Lanterns? It seems to be going in that direction. I rather hope, that Ganthet and Sayd will be able to get back together. I'd like the remaining Guardians to be purged of their Fear, and go back to being relatively benevolent little blue Munchkins. Probably because I'm a sap, and I adore a happy ending. And because I feel a bit sorry for them.

But boy, do they need a spanking.