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Spoilers follow for Lanterns Episodes 1-7.
Lanterns, am I right? While the HBO series set in James Gunn’s DC Universe was divisive among some fans at the outset – what with the whole killing off Hal Jordan in the first episode situation – it has become increasingly buzzy with each passing week, with showrunner Chris Mundy and his fellow creators Damon Lindelof and Tom King building mystery upon mystery over the course of the first season.
And now, as we head into the season finale this weekend, there are a ton of questions that need to be answered. We’re breaking down the biggest ones we have right here, but please comment below and let us know what other questions you might have regarding Lanterns Season 1… and the possible answers and theories you have as well!
Who Killed Hal Jordan?
Assuming, of course, Hal (Kyle Chandler) even is dead (see below for more on that), there are obviously several possibilities as to who could’ve put a bullet in the ex-Green Lantern’s head in the 2026 time period. The chief suspects seem to be:
- John Stewart
- Sheriff Kerry Kane
- Noah Macon
- Hal himself
John Stewart
Taking these one at a time, it seems pretty unlikely that John (Aaron Pierre) would’ve killed Hal. For starters, he’s one of our two lead characters, and while both of these Lanterns can be sort of assholes – especially to each other – they’re still ultimately meant to be figures who we sympathize with and want to cheer on. But even beyond that, it doesn’t make much story sense for John to have done this; he essentially already “beat” Hal during the events of Episode 5, leaving him a broken man without the ring and only the consequences of his own actions left to face up to. By the time we catch up with John, now an architect and businessman, in 2026, he clearly still harbors a lot of feelings about his past as a Lantern, but needing to kill Hal is not one of them.
Sheriff Kerry Kane
Kerry (Kelly Macdonald) on the other hand, well… as much as we love her, the good sheriff has been known to keep secrets from our heroes in the past. And while I buy that she and the post-prison, repentant Hal had a thing going, as well as that she is truly gutted by his death, that doesn’t mean that their relationship would’ve kept her from doing the deed if it was necessary for a greater cause. Let’s not forget, Kerry was saved by Zoe Macon the Manhunter (Poorna Jagannathan) back when she first arrived in Rushville while on the run from Gotham City. And it was during that encounter that she essentially swore her allegiance to Zoe. So if there is still some contingency plan in place for Zoe, even though John killed the Manhunter in 2016, there’s every reason to believe that Kerry would still be instrumental in keeping that plan on track…
Noah Macon
Which brings us to Kerry’s son, Noah (Shea Pritchard). There sure seems to be something fishy with this kid – the dude went and copped out on the college hat ceremony after the whole town showed up for it with bated breath! He also, you know, had a grandmother (step-grandmother, but still) who was a Manhunter. We’ll talk more about him below, but he’s high on the list of suspects.
Hal Himself
Look, Kerry told John how, after he got out of prison, Hal was on a relentless mission in Rushville to make up for the disastrous events that landed him behind bars in the first place, knocking on doors and offering his help and such. Is it out of the realm of possibility to think that in order to keep the town safe this time – or maybe even to make up for what happened to the town 10 years ago in 2016 – that he would take his own life if need be?
That is, assuming he actually did die…
Wait, But Is Hal Really Dead?
I’ve already talked about this before, but it’s very much not out of the realm of possibility that Hal isn’t even dead. Maybe he’s just “dead-ish” even? We already know that the show is full of aliens who walk around posing as humans, which means that the body we’ve seen could just be an alien that took Hal’s form. It’s also possible that Hal is regenerating from the wounds that killed him. Yes, it’s a crazy sci-fi concept, but John previously got a total skin graft after Zoe let him burn in that car fire and, as many eagle-eyed fans have pointed out, the trailer for the season finale shows a similar circular mark on Hal’s inner arm that John had after that Manhunter Miracle Medicine. Zoe explained to John that basically her tech required a skin sample (pulled from that spot on his arm) in order to repair/replace his burned skin, so perhaps the same methodology is being used to fix Hal… albeit it would have to unscramble his shot-up brains in this case. Or maybe the dead body was just a clone spawned from that same technology?
Why Can John Stewart Create Constructs Without the Ring?
Remember in Episode 2 when John tried to fly, but instead he created a cute little green bird construct? And the bird still existed and followed him around, even when he didn’t have the ring on? This was the first – but not last – indication that John has some kind of, well, super superpower that other Green Lanterns don’t. The Halogram is very impressed by this ability in Episode 7, when John summons him without the ring, saying “Bravo… it’s goddamned incredible!” It’s nice to get compliments from your seemingly dead mentor’s hologram.
'Bravo… it’s goddamned incredible!' -The Halogram
But that still doesn’t answer how he’s able to do it. Presumably, John’s extraordinary ability to Green Lantern without a Green Lantern ring is tied to his extreme potential and the frankly insane training during his childhood by his we-need-a-new-word-for-helicopter-parents parents. Don’t forget, Sinestro (Ulrich Thomsen) told Hal from Space Azkaban that the second greatest threat Hal was facing was the Manhunter, with the implication being that the greatest threat was John. And what could be more powerful than a Green Lantern who doesn’t need the ring… or the Guardians for that matter?
Is Noah Macon Part Manhunter?
Again, this perfect Rushville all-state quarterback has got to have something going on beyond being a perfect Rushville all-state quarterback. The hat ceremony thing, which I previously mentioned, was just weird (and also rude), but also, with such a short season, why would the show’s writers introduce the aged-up version of Noah in Episode 6 if he wasn’t going to be important in some way? In Episode 5, his step-grandmother/Manhunter Zoe tells the young Noah (Cary Christopher) to remember what she taught him… and that’s the same episode where everything goes to hell in a handbasket in town. We know Zoe meticulously planned her own protection by essentially drafting half the town to work for her, including Noah’s mom, so it only makes sense that she would have Tony Soprano/Batman-style contingency plans upon plans upon plans, including what would happen if she was killed. But then again, are we sure it was even Zoe who actually died in Episode 5? Could Noah be Zoe!?
What’s the Deal With Sinestro on That Dead Planet?
Man, speaking of really holding your fire until the end of a short season. Sinestro, discussed here or there and seen briefly in Episodes 2 and 4, finally shows up at the end of Episode 7, seemingly stranded on the dead world that John and the Halogram have traveled to via portal… but apparently meant to be an important part of the season finale. Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion) had previously said that someone broke Sinestro out of the Guardians’ prison, and that Hal was a likely suspect if not for the fact that he was also in (Earth) prison. (And by the way, the timeline here is a little wonky because Guy tells John this info in an almost whispery, gossipy way, as if it’s breaking news, but meanwhile we know Hal has been out of prison for about a year – and is believed to be dead – at that point. Which would mean Sinestro must’ve broken out of Space Azkaban at least a year ago.)
So how does Sinestro popping up on that alien planet connect to everything? This is the same world that Antaan (Paul Ben-Victor) and his people hailed from, a race that was virtually wiped out by the Manhunters. It’s also the world that Hal left a portal to in his storage unit, which he apparently wanted John to find. Did Hal want Sinestro and John to team up for some reason? Neither is a particular fan of the Guardians, so could Hal perhaps be orchestrating some kind of Oan revolution from beyond the grave… one last “f you” to the powers that be?
What Did Kerry Get Up to in Gotham That Was So Bad?
We saw in flashback how Kerry would’ve been killed by a pair of scary dudes who had tracked her from Gotham City to Rushville, if not for the timely intervention of Zoe. After being saved by Zoe, she essentially began a new life in the town and eventually became sheriff (and a secret surrogate of Zoe’s). As IGN’s Jesse Schedeen has previously pointed out, Kerry’s name is also a big Batman clue: the Kane family are related to Bruce Wayne, as Martha Wayne was originally Martha Kane. Kathy Kane and Kate Kane, depending on when you were reading comics or watching CW shows, were both also Batwoman. So assuming the name of this character is not an accident – and not much on this show is – we’ve gotta wonder how a high-falutin’ member of the Kane family could fall in with such a rough element that she would’ve been killed if not for a Manhunter. It seems unlikely that Lanterns Season 1 will have time to dig further into this topic, but if the show moves forward with a Season 2, perhaps we’ll learn more about Kerry’s history… and maybe even any rich, famous, orphaned, dressed-in-black cousins she might have back home?
Remind Me: What Exactly Has Been the Order of Succession for Earth’s Green Lanterns?
This one’s easy! In 1986, Abin Sur crashed on Earth, and his ring almost went to John Stewart’s father, but Stewart Sr. couldn’t cut it, so instead Hal Jordan inherited the Green Lantern mantle. Hal was Earth’s Lantern for the next 20 years, until the disaster in Rushville when John took the ring from him. But he rejected the Guardians’ offer to become the new Green Lantern. It was around this same time that the gym teacher named Guy Gardner became the new Green Lantern, and continues to be through 2026. (Also, for comics fans, it seems that Alan Scott – the Golden Age Green Lantern – never took the mantle… in this timeline anyway.)
What questions do you have heading into the Lanterns finale? Let’s discuss below!
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