After a series of uncharacteristic episodes in which Green Lantern had almost committed various crimes, he is brought before his fellow Green Lanterns for sentencing. The court of his peers is told of each incident: How Hal entered a bank, used his power ring to stun the tellers but left without taking any money; Hal almost bullied himself into not paying a $100 entry fee for a gallery; and finally how he procrastinated in saving a young man who had fallen out of a window. Deciding not to punish Hal because he had not actually done anything illegal, Hal demands that the other Green Lanterns punish him because he feels he has lost control. Putting it to a vote, they agree to do so, devest Hal of his Green Lantern emblem and power ring, seal him in a capsule and launch it into space.

While traveling through the void, the capsule is suddenly transported to the Antimater Universe and to the planet Qward, where Hal is brought before Sinestro. Sinestro explains that he escaped his imprisonment in his last encounter because he had a spare power ring hidden in the heel of his boot and manage to escape to Qward to plan a new revenge against the Green Lantern. He then explains he used a device to alter Green Lantern's personality so that he became selfish but couldn't push him into doing anything illegal.

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