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Spoilers follow for Lanterns Episodes 1 through 6.
When Lanterns, the latest DC Universe show, debuted on HBO last month, it immediately hit many fans where it hurts with the revelation that Hal Jordan – the Green Lantern that so many of us grew up with – was being killed off. It was the first episode of his show, and there he was with a hole in his head, half frozen. What the heck!
Which isn’t to say that Kyle Chandler’s take on the character was a one and done. No, thanks to Lanterns being set across multiple time periods, we’ve been able to zero in on his relationship with his successor, John Stewart (Aaron Pierre), in the 2016 era, plus we’ve seen some of the character’s earlier exploits as well, albeit briefly. But, of course, the 2026 time period features a dead Hal, including his funeral in Episode 6, “Bad Optics.”
But here’s the thing: Are we really sure Hal Jordan is dead? This is a superhero show, after all, albeit one gussied up like a rural crime thriller. We’ve still got two episodes left, and there are some clues that Hal maybe, just maybe, isn’t gone yet. Let’s take a look…
The Show Has Already Had a Bunch of Aliens Posing as Humans
Think about it: Everyone from Poorna Jagannathan’s Zoe Macon to Paul Ben-Victor’s Antaan to freaking Laura Linney’s character are aliens (or alien constructs) disguised as humans. And they’re just the examples who are played by noteworthy actors!
Usually we’ve only seen these extraterrestrials in their human forms, with the exception of Linney’s Lianna – who’s one of the Guardians of the Universe who created the Manhunters and the Green Lantern Corps, by the way – when she briefly shape-shifted into her true form earlier in the season.
The point is, Lanterns is full of characters walking around looking like and pretending to be something they are not. Is it so far-fetched to think that Hal’s dead body isn’t the real Hal? The last time we saw him alive was right after John punched him out in the diner, and Hal was clearly scared of something at that point, a state of mind we’ve never really seen him in on this show before. This wors- for-wear version of Hal pleaded with John to not reveal to anyone that his former mentee had been there, so there was obviously something going on that had Hal worried. Did he know he was about to face certain death, and he didn’t want John to be implicated in it? Or perhaps Hal knew there was some kind of bigger plan afoot that would involve the faking of his death, and he still didn’t want John to be connected to it?
Is it so far-fetched to think that Hal’s dead body isn’t the real Hal?
The bottom line is someone like Hal, with his decades of experience and otherworldly connections, could surely figure out a way to fake his own death with a duplicate alien body if he wanted to. And speaking of friends in high places…
Hal’s Old Buddy Sinestro Just Broke Out of Space Jail
In this week’s episode, it’s confirmed the Green Lantern of 2026 is definitely not John Stewart, but rather Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion), who visits John while he’s stuck in a jail cell in Rushville, Nebraska. During their not-at-all contentious chat, Guy reveals that Hal’s old mentor, and former Green Lantern himself, Sinestro (Ulrich Thomsen) has been broken out of “Spazkaban” – aka Space Azkaban (!)... basically the Guardians’ version of prison for the worst of the worst. And not just that, but Guy says that the first suspect for who might’ve helped Sinestro escape would’ve been Hal Jordan, if Hal didn’t have an alibi – namely being in jail himself on Earth. The only problem with that logic is it assumes that was the actual Hal who was in jail!
We first met Sinestro, albeit briefly, at the end of Episode 2 when Hal flew to space to talk with his old frenemy and try to pump him for information about the Manhunters. It was during that discussion – as we would later learn in Episode 4 – that Sinestro gave Hal some interesting advice, as he pointed out that John’s fearlessness would also mean he’d be “arrogant, overly confident, [and] thus blindly oblivious to your true intent.” It’s almost like Sinestro was giving Hal a roadmap as to how he could pull the wool over John’s eyes.
The obvious read here is that Hal took this advice and that’s what led to the disaster in Rushville in Episode 5, but could it be that he was playing a much longer game? After all, the writers wouldn’t just tell that Sinestro broke out of jail, only to then just drop that story thread, right? So whatever’s going on with that character, it would seem odd for it to not involve Hal…
There’s Something Fishy About Sheriff Kane’s Son Noah Macon…
So many secrets in this town! First there was the reveal that Kelly Macdonald’s Sheriff Kerry Kane had some kind of a dark past in Gotham City, and became – along with much of the town’s population – a member of Zoe Macon’s covert protection force as a means to escape that history. Zoe herself had the whole “I’m actually a Manhunter” thing going, and then there are all those aliens disguised as humans who we already talked about. But now, in the 2026 timeline, we also have to wonder what the truth is regarding Noah Macon (Shea Pritchard).
A high school football star that the whole town seems to be interested in, it’s obvious that the teen is a gifted athlete. He also seems to be a… great person, writing to FEMA over and over again until they repaired his school. (“He’s a natural-born leader,” his mom says.) And while Zoe wasn’t a biological relative as far as we know, she was his grandmother by marriage.
The timing is certainly right for Zoe to have somehow created him when Kerry moved to Rushville. Is Noah also a Manhunter, if that’s the case? If this theory does pan out, I’m still not sure how it would connect to Hal faking his death… unless Hal has joined Kerry as a member of the Manhunter protection force (MPF?), and somehow this is all a ruse to draw out whatever Manhunter threat might still be out there.
It’s Halogram Time
You know, there’s one other possibility here, which is that, yes, Hal Jordan is in fact dead. But if we ever do get more Lanterns – we know a Season 2 is in the works, even if it hasn’t been officially greenlit yet – it could be that Kyle Chandler’s holographic version of Hal – his “Halogram” – would just be a way to keep the actor around, even if the actual Hal is dead and buried (in his suit but without his ring, of course).
The Halogram is one of the funnest aspects of the show, and he also represents a kinder, gentler version of Hal, which would give Chandler a different aspect of the character to play in a new season. Plus, he gets all the good lines…
To quote the Halogram, “Goddamit!”
Talk to Scott Collura @scottcollura.bsky.social, or listen to his Star Trek podcast, Transporter Room 3. Or do both!
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