Episode 107: Back Door
Takes place 6-9 July 2012.
Short version
The Reach launch a counterattack by subverting local populations to protest against the war. Paul and Lantern Gozzi investigate, but while doing so, Paul is killed and Lantern Gozzi partially brings him back in a new body.
Longer version
With the Martians who have joined L.E.G.I.O.N. settled on Earth, Paul is summoned back by Vril Dox to respond to a Reach counterattack via social engineering and false flag attacks. Paul brings Lantern Gozzi along, offering to make her his acolyte and teach her his more exotic orange light abilities (particularly teleporting through the Honden of Avarice).
The two of them investigate a planet that has an active anti-war political movement, determining that the movement is receiving substantial donations that probably originate from the Reach, but through too many proxies to be worth tracing. However, they are able to locate and remove a centre of Reach activity in the system, and kill a scarab warrior.
They next track down a fleet of ships from a society that saw the Reach advance and chose to flee ahead of them, living in space full time and turning to piracy (including taking commissions from the Reach). The fleet tentatively agrees to work with L.E.G.I.O.N. rather than fight against them, but is then attacked by Reach forces, and Paul comes to their aid.
It turns out that the Reach ships are booby-trapped, carrying large amounts of volatile qwa-matter; when Paul destroys one, it erupts in a detonation that disintegrates his body and rings, and damages his soul. Lantern Gozzi is able to create a new body for him, and his soul finds its way back to it, but missing many of his memories and no longer having Orange Enlightenment.
In the Renegade timeline, the Renegade meets with Lex, only for their meeting to be interrupted by a version of Lex from Inviolate, who needs help to find his way back to his own universe. Later, the Renegade finds the recently empowered Hawk and Dove in order to meet with their sponsors.
The title likely refers to the Reach's underhanded and covert methods of fighting.
- Alternate Universe:
- We meet a new Orange Lantern, one sent to Earth 534834, a Marvel universe based around the 90's Marvel Cartoons. He uses an artifact called a Ka Stone to recharge and seeks out the X-Men for further training. Rogue turns out to be fascinated with him for the same reason his Avengers-Paul counterpart adopted a Young Rogue: he's capable of touching her without suffering the side effects. In fact, her words start lighting up blue with hope when she realizes this. He then provides her with a ring taken from the Mandarin, which lets her create touch-sensitive force fields of her own.
- The Renegade meets a version of Lex Luthor who wants to go back to his own universe (which appears to be the one that served as the staging ground for the assault on Krona).
- The Apprentice: Paul offers to make Lantern Vran Gozzi his acolyte, training her to achieve Orange Enlightenment and access the Honden of Avarice. All he wants from the arrangement is to know whether he's capable of teaching it — although if they succeed, then her help in fighting the Reach would certainly be welcome.
- Bar Brawl: The Renegade first meets Hawk and Dove after the brothers finish one of these.
- False Flag Operation: As one of their standard tactics, the Reach like to quietly hire mercenaries to pose as pirates and attack shipping, then publicly offer Reach assistance in stopping the threat.
- Instantly Proven Wrong: When Gozzi expresses skepticism that there is a human that can match Dox intellectually, she realizes how wrong she is when she looks up the files on the Sivanas.Gozzi: I'm… Scepti-. Oh.
Paul: Yeah, we get that a lot. And they've stopped shooting.
Gozzi: Do you intend-? Possumizer?
Paul: Don't try-. Huh.
Gozzi: Very few people will continue shooting when their weapons are clearly having no effect.
Paul: Yes, but-. No. I was going to say 'don't try to understand', but honestly? If you can? Please explain it to me. We'd really like to know. - Taking You with Me: Paul takes down a Reach ship that turns out to be loaded with a ridiculous amount of qwa-matter. The resulting epic explosion completely disintegrates his body and rings, and splits his soul between the material world and the Honden of Avarice.
- Tempting Fate: Gozzi takes the lead in the mission with Paul to look for Reach subversion, saying that there should only be "light infantry weapons at worst". This is right before a Reach Scarab attacks them.
- This Is Unforgivable!: Kalmin is outraged when he learns that non-q'ardajins are using qwa-weapons, something that culturally and religiously is something that only his species should do. This leads him to decide to kill Varnathon, the current leader of the q'ardajins."Varnathon is not q'ardajin. He is merely Qwardian. As are any who follow him."
