Blue Hope (JLA: KOR Episode)

Blue Hope is the 4th episode of Justice League: Knights of Rao.

Featured Characters

 * Knights of Rao (first appearance)
 * Blue Lantern / Collin Hill (first appearance) (flashback and main story) (joins team)
 * The Emerald / Dionne Stewart (first appearance)
 * Galaxor / Mitchell Davies (first appearance)
 * Indigo Lantern / Amber Lang (first appearance)
 * Long Shadow (first appearance)
 * Terra / Tara Markov
 * Toymaster / Hiro Hamada
 * Justice League
 * Batman / Bruce Wayne
 * Flash / Barry Allen
 * Geo-Force / Brion Markov
 * Green Lantern Corps
 * Aya (first appearance) (flashback and main story) (joins team)
 * Hal Jordan
 * Guy Gardner
 * John Stewart
 * Kyle Rayner
 * Lana Lang (first appearance)
 * Star Sapphire Corps (first appearance)
 * Carol Ferris (first appearance)
 * Ruby the Red Fox (first appearance)
 * Stargirl / Courtney Whitmore
 * Supergirl / Kara Zor-El
 * Wonder Woman / Diana of Themyscira

Supporting Characters

 * Blue Lantern Corps (first appearance)
 * Adara (first appearance)
 * Arisia Rrab (first appearance)
 * Brother Warth (first appearance)
 * Mala (first appearance)
 * Saint Walker (first appearance)
 * Solovar (first appearance)
 * Superman / Clark Kent / Kal-El
 * Lois Lane
 * Green Lantern Corps
 * Boodikka (first appearance)
 * Guardians of Oa
 * Ganthet (first appearance)
 * Sayd (first appearance)
 * Ranakar (first appearance)
 * Kilowog (first appearance)
 * Tomar-Re (first appearance)
 * Indigo-1 (first appearance)
 * Kobla Vud (first appearance)
 * Space Cabbie (first appearance)

Villains

 * Appa Ali Apsa (single appearance) (flashback and main story) (removed from the Guardians of Oa)
 * Scar (single appearance) (flashback and main story) (removed from the Guardians of Oa)
 * Manhunters (first appearance)
 * Red Lantern Corps
 * Atrocitus (first appearance)
 * Sinestro Corps
 * Sinestro (first full appearance)
 * Bolphunga the Unrelenting (first appearance)
 * Lobo
 * Project Cadmus Manhunter (single appearance) (destroyed in this issue)
 * Vandal Savage (mentioned only)

Other Characters

 * Mark Hill (single appearance) (flashback only) (death)
 * Victoria Hill (single appearance) (flashback only) (death)

Summary
While Terra looks after and trains Collin Hill, a young boy who has joined the Blue Lantern Corps to overcome the loss of his parents and his brother's disowning of him, Hal Jordan and Carol Ferris work with the Justice League on battling Manhunters attacking Washington D.C. while they try to figure out why their Power Rings keep recharging themselves without the need of their Batteries. Unknown to them, Superman, still determined to forgive himself from his failure, had joined ranks with the Blue Lantern Corps and is working hard to show the pure hearted innocents the meaning of Hope. At the same time, Tara's friends Amber Lang and Dionne Stewart work to stop a potential disaster which Appa Ali Apsa and Scar plan to cause for the Guardians and the Green Lantern Corps.

Plot
It all starts with a flashback (narrated by Saint Walker) of one week ago telling about Collin Hill, a 9 year old boy who was just orphaned by Vandal Savage's attack in the congress and disowned by his heartless older brother. Sensing that the boy was in great need of Hope, Adara, the Guardian Entity of the Blue Lantern Corps, appeared next to him in the form of a peacock and bonded him with a Blue Lantern Power Ring, which also led the boy to a lifetime of a superhero. Scene shifts to Present day, on which Hal Jordan is standing alone and struggling against two of his deadliest and most hated adversaries: Sinestro and Atrocitus. Just as the two rogue Lanterns were gaining the upper hand and his Ring was almost out of power, Jordan's ring surprisingly recharges itself into optimal levels enough for him to subdue the two villains and perform a Green Lantern maneuver he never tried before (he even creates a Blue Lantern construct among his Green constructs), forcing Sinestro and Atrocitus to retreat. And even Hal wonders to himself how he even did this.

Terra is in Odym, where she is meditating with Superman before returning to her headquarters, where she and Toymaster train Mitchell Davis / Galaxor, an old friend of Hiro's and a Australian young hero who idolized the Justice League since he was a child and was given by S.T.A.R. Labs' scientists an super soldier serum and armor which gave him superpowers, and Long Shadow, a teenage-looking Super Soldier produced by Project Cadmus whose life was saved by Toymaster. Terra is informed by her friends Amber Lang and Dionne Stewart that they have spotted a Blue Lantern in Coast City and she goes there to find him. In the Watchtower, as Batman and Wonder Woman work to find clues about where Superman has gone, Jordan is having a talk with fellow Green Lanterns John Stewart and Lana Lang about what happened and finds out that his wife Carol Ferris' Star Sapphire Ring is in the same condition. They are then visited by Blue Lanterns Saint Walker and Brother Warth, who are searching for the new Blue Lantern who received his ring. Just then, the Lanterns and the Justice League are alerted about Manhunters attacking Washington D.C.. Meanwhile, Dionne (who is also a Green Lantern like her father John Stewart known for the identity of the Emerald) and Amber (who is a member of the Indigo Tribe) secretly go to Oa, where they are aware that two of the Guardians of Oa have secretly gone rogue.

Terra eventually finds Collin defeating a Project Cadmus-made Manhunter attacking downtown Coast City and, impressed with his performance and dedication, invites him to train with her and her teammates. He accepts, although he is persuaded to train with the Blue Lanterns, including Superman, who is working to redeem his failure on Earth by helping honorable warriors in the Galaxy battle greedy foes (as shown when he saves Space Cabbie and one of his warrior passengers from getting captured by Lobo and aids volcanic warrior Kobla Vud on defeating alien bounty hunter Bolphunga the Unrelenting), and his adviser Solovar, who joined the Corps after saving some of the humans on Earth from his former kingdom of Gorilla City (currently ruled by Gorilla Grodd). In Oa, Amber and Dionne spy on Guardians Appa Ali Apsa and Scar, who are secretly working with the Sinestro Corps and the Red Lantern Corps to regain control over the Manhunters. The two girls record everything with their rings before the two rogues leave. Just then, they also sneak into Scar's lab, where they find an A.I. which was secretly created by Scar using a fragment of the Green Lantern central battery.

Just as they both activate it, the A.I. regains its lost memories and shows some sympathetic gratitude for the two girls. Superman is aware of what Terra's friends are doing and, knowing that the Green Lantern Corps will be extinguished if Apsa and Scar are not stopped, decides to help the two girls while Collin, after finishing training with Terra and the Blue Lantern Corps, and Arisia Rrab go to Earth to help the Justice League. The Guardians of Oa continue observing the events on Earth as Apsa and Scar are ambitiously expecting to see the human Lanterns fail. Just then, Dionne passes the recorded conversation between the two Guardians and the Rogue Lanterns to the other Guardians, including Ganthet and Sayd, who quickly turn on Apsa and Scar. The two rogues attempt to fight back, but are subdued by the combined efforts of the two girls as well as Superman and Amber's Indigo Tribe mentor Indigo-1. The rogue Guardians are stripped off their powers and sent to prison while Ganthet allows the A.I., whom Dionne names "Aya", to join the human Lanterns so that they can teach her more about the universe and thanks Amber and Dionne for their help. Back on Earth, the Justice League and the human Lanterns struggle against the Manhunters until Arisia and Collin arrive, causing the power rings of the Green Lanterns and Star Sapphires to be super charged on the same level Hal and Carol's rings were before and successfully end the Manhunter threat. As the League thanks the Blue Lanterns for their help, Saint Walker and his fellow Lanterns return back to Odym while Collin regroups with Terra's team. Hal and Carol assume that their rings' condition was really the presence of Blue Lanterns on Earth after all and feel hopeful to see them again. Batman and Wonder Woman silently deduce that Superman may be with the Blue Lanterns as well since it was the Man of Steel who founded the Corps.

Voice Cast

 * Ashley Johnson as Terra / Tara Markov
 * George Newbern as Superman / Clark Kent / Kal-El
 * Grey DeLisle as Wonder Woman / Diana of Themyscira, Aya
 * Kevin Conroy as Batman / Bruce Wayne
 * Dana Delany as Lois Lane
 * Jason Marsden as Geo-Force / Brion Markov
 * Tara Strong as Supergirl / Kara Zor-El, Star Sapphire Corps
 * Eric Bauza as Toymaster / Hiro Okamura
 * James Arnold Taylor as Saint Walker, Galaxor, Blue Lantern Power Rings, Adara
 * Alan Tudyk as Brother Warth
 * Tom Kane as Solovar
 * Colleen Villard as Blue Lantern / Collin Hill, Indigo Lantern / Amber Lang
 * Kimberly Brooks as The Emerald / Dionne Stewart
 * Catherine Taber as Arisia Rrab
 * Sam Riegel as Kyle Rayner
 * Natalie Lander as Stargirl / Courtney Whitmore
 * Richard Epcar as Ganthet
 * Phil LaMarr as John Stewart
 * Jennifer Hale as Lana Lang, Mala
 * Wally Wingert as the Flash / Barry Allen
 * Travis Willingham as Kobla Vud, Green Lantern Power Rings
 * Danielle Nicolet as Indigo-1
 * Misty Lee as Sayd
 * Jason Spisak as Space Cabbie
 * Troy Baker as Sinestro, Long Shadow, Manhunters
 * J. B. Blanc as Atrocitus, Lobo
 * Steve Blum as Bolphunga the Unrelenting, Sinestro Corps Rings
 * Brian George as Appa Ali Apsa
 * Nika Futterman as Scar