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Off My Mind: One Green Lantern Per Space Sector Isn't Enough

Since space is infinite, why don't the Guardians expand the size of the Green Lantern Corps?

The Green Lantern Corps are the intergalactic police force for the DC Universe. The galaxy is divided into sectors, each with its own personal Green Lantern. Each Lantern is highly trained and possesses a power ring, perhaps one of the most powerful weapons in the universe. But is all of that enough?

Space is a big place. Even divided into sectors, we're talking about a large area for each Lantern to cover. Their power rings may keep them informed of where they are needed but is this really enough? Surprisingly, a thought from Larfleeze, the sole Orange Lantern controlling the power of Avarice, comes to mind.

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"You can only protect what you can hold." This can be taken a few different ways but what it comes down to is, can the Green Lantern Corps truly and fully protect their assigned sectors?

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Larfleeze is known for his greed over possessions but he has a good point. People are more likely to protect that which belongs to them. A person is more likely to go to extreme means to protect their family and private property. If they were assigned to protect something that didn't belong to them, how far would they be willing to go to protect that?

Greed and reward can be strong incentives. But that does not mean an Orange Lantern would be a better protector than a Green Lantern. Clearly, the Orange Lantern will only have one priority, him or herself.

We can assume the Green Lanterns are honorable and dedicated to their position. The ring choses them based on their worthiness. Their effectiveness comes into question over how much area are they assigned to cover? While there may be an extremely large number of sectors to patrol, having only one Lantern is far from practical. A Lantern may get immediate distress calls and might be able to cover incredible distances in a short amount of time but they cannot be in more than one place at a time.

We have seen newer recruits sometimes paired off with a veteran Lantern but how many Lanterns should a sector have? How would it be determined? Some sectors would most likely contain more danger than others. That doesn't necessarily mean that trouble might not venture into a more peaceful sector. Lanterns can always ask for back up from nearby Lanterns but what if they all have their hands full in their own sector? And wouldn't leaving their sector leave it vulnerable to other evil forces?

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If the Green Lantern Corps are responsible for protecting their own sector, how much liability do they have? If something horrific occurs and they fail to respond or prevent it, are they to blame? Can citizens of a sector file a suit against the Lantern and/or the Corps and Guardians? There's also the matter of how involved they should be. It's no surprise that Earth would have four Green Lanterns since so much trouble seems to originate and occur there. If the Joker set off a nuclear missile that destroyed most of Earth's population, is this something that the Lanterns should have prevented or is it merely Batman's fault?

Space is a large are and with the infinite number of planets, there's no reason the Guardians can't dramatically increase the number of recruits the Green Lantern Corps contains. It was Mogo that was in charge of all the rings of the fallen Lanterns and then sent out to new potential ones. If they truly wish for peace and protecting the Universe, they need to ensure that each and every sector is safe and secure. With the billions and billions of sentient beings in the universe, there is no reason why the Guardians can't appoint more Lanterns per sector. There's bound to be more worthy individuals in the universe. The Lantern Corps should not be limited to one per species (as the exception with Earth shows this is a good idea). The question is, where should they draw the line? How involved should they get with each sector's activities? Is having more Lanterns protecting each sector a good idea or should everyone just learn to take care of themselves?