#It's not shown in this piece but he has a prosthetic arm for instance

[cosmicraelum]

Oc brainworms. Take a cheeb of my boy Alois!

(I ramble about him just a lil' bit in the tags)

[toastedseavegetable]

(receipts under the read more)

Part One:

The starting idea behind this piece was wondering about this panel 

(Green Lantern (2011) #5). 

In relation to this panel 

(Green Lantern (2005) 63) and other instances of the skeleton-hand construct, including Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #4 and Green Lantern: Rebirth #3.

Sinestro’s detonated two GL rings. This piece is a suggestion for how the first detonation may have been the incident which cemented the image of a skeletal hand in his mind. This is mostly going to draw from the Goeff era onwards, since it’s a pattern found in the last 20 years. But, some of the basic assumptions about his character are grounded in early canon. Believe me, I dearly love the rampage, get put in prison, repeat until I die tactic that Sinestro employed in the before times.

Started with thinking about the fact that he’s done this twice. Sinestro is exactly the kind of person who doesn’t often make the same mistake twice. In spite of regular imprisonments by the same people, he always has a different angle of approach for antagonizing the Guardians or Hal in particular. And as he mentions to Parallax, 

(Sinestro #8) he does tend to push the limits of any barrier to him until he’s aware of where those limits lie. That, however, only explains one detonation. He should have had the chance to notice the breaking point the first time. 

So, the first time was most likely an accident, surprising him enough to fail to notice that breaking point when it was reached. It must have happened quickly enough that he had no time to respond to the warning for exceeding ring limits 

(Green Lantern (2005) #26). (Either that, or there was no warning instituted until this incident, but there’s no evidence either way on that count.)

A good fit for that kind of scenario would be a time when he had the ring, but before he’s been mentored. We have a look at the first time he uses a ring (in Green Lantern (2011) #23.4), so that’s out as the first detonation. However, there are two canon predecessors to Sector 1417,  this bug dude, Prohl Gosgotha

(Green Lantern 80th Anniversary Special) and an unnamed alien from Green Lantern Corps #222. 

One potential resolution to that discrepancy, is that after being summoned to Oa the first time, Sinestro turns down the ring. He’s an especially railroad-life-purpose sort of person, and he’s shown to be dedicated to his anthropological work. In addition, we’re aware that Sector 1417 was an especially poorly protected Sector before his time as a GL 

(Green Lantern Files and Origins 2005), since there were oppressive systems in place before his time which necessitated his interference. It’s likely that he just plain doesn’t respect the GLs as an organization. Put all that together, and he may not have been interested in answering to the Guardians initially.

So, it’s possible that he’s chosen twice, the second time being a surprise. A bright glowing object descends out of space in front of him, and he instinctively digs his heels in, in anticipation of the need to react. The force of his will detonates the ring. 

Part Two:

Okay, I hear you thinking about the prosthetic construct Soranik puts together in Green Lantern Corps (2006) #19. 

That would seem to indicate that Sector 1417 doesn’t have the tech to replace someone’s hand when it gets completely disintegrated like this. On the other hand, we have The Green Lantern Season 2 #7, in which Hal literally comes back from the dead on account of current medical tech. 

So, we’re getting some variety to the in-universe medical tech. I’m gonna plead the fact that Sinestro’s been disintegrated pretty often in his life, and he’s doing fine. It’s possible for his hand to be either regrown or synthetic.

Even if you buy that, you might be thinking of another notable instance of a detonated ring. What about Rigen Kale? When his and his partner’s rings detonate, they come apart in a more conventional explosion, and end up embedded in his arm 

(Sinestro Annual #1). To this point, I’ll note Rigen Kale’s ring was detonated from an outside force, which is something we’ve seen in other instances. There’s no on-panel example of a ring exceeding its limits that I can find. We know enough to guess it would be somehow destructive, and would presumably take the ring out in the process, but not necessarily in a shattering effect. I’ll plead artistic license for the incineration effect here.

Alright, but why haven’t we seen any example of a ring detonating? A rookie shouldn’t have been able to kill the ring like that by accident. In the original context, the fact that he’s detonated the rings twice before is pretty clearly supposed to be an example of what sets Sinestro apart from other GLs, considering that Hal isn’t aware of it as a feature and he’s exactly the one that tends to push those limits most of the time. It’s a clear, quantifiable difference which might contribute to the reputation Sin eventually gets as the greatest GL. He has a higher baseline level of will than average, not undermined by any self doubt. Having a ring break on first contact is an unusual incident, setting the tone to his sure to be spectacular career as a GL.

What is Abin doing here? Don’t I know GLs aren’t allowed in one another’s sectors before Abin dies? 

(Green Lantern (2005) #34) In that same panel, we get the information that there’s a time limit on the territorial edict. Considering that dead GLs bodies ended up in the crypts on Oa, and that some GLs probably die with a dead ring, there’s got to be some kind of protocol for interfering in other sectors to resolve cases like that and retrieve their bodies. 

One Green Lantern dies before their ring goes offline, Abin gets drafted to collect them, and finds this kid he’s met once before half incinerated and brings him to medical somewhere. That also sets Abin up to play a more direct role in Sin’s origin. Sinestro’s not so much impressed with the Guardians or the Green Lanterns in general, but with Abin in particular, which also helps to flesh out their often indistinct friendship.

And of course, the ring detonations taking out one of his hands is a good visual metaphor for the whole

(Sinestro #1) loosing everything to being a ring-wielder that’s going to come later. 

In Conclusion:

OK, that was a lot of leaps in logic, but it outlines my thinking with this piece.

TLDR: Sinestro incinerates his hand during one of two ring detonations during his time as GL. The image of a skeletal hand is immediate enough in his mind to be accessible for absent minded constructs years later. Abin and he are reintroduced under more personal circumstances when he rescues him.

(or Sinestro just uses these hands because skeletons are a universally understood symbol of death, which is spooky, which is perfect for a YL, IDK. Bless.)