When last we left Lanterns, John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) and Hal Jordan’s Halogram (Kyle Chandler) had ventured to the last alien world Manhunter Zoe Macon (Poorna Jagannathan) had destroyed. There, among ruins and the potent residue of the Manhunter’s tear gas, they discovered Sinestro (Ulrich Thomsen), last seen in a high-security space prison.
While an exciting tease of Lanterns‘ more cosmic potential, the sequence also left viewers with a ton of questions. How had Sinestro escaped? What was he doing on Antaan’s (Paul Ben-Victor) dead planet, and how did a portal wind up in Rushville? Plus, Lanterns had yet to answer the question that’s haunted it since the very beginning: Who killed Hal Jordan?
Thankfully, Lanterns also answers all these questions in its Season 1 finale, which nicely synthesizes its grander discussions of fear and family. If you’re afraid of spoilers, now would be the time to turn back. Otherwise, let’s get into it.
How did Sinestro escape from prison, and what is he up to now?
Credit: John Johnson / HBO Max
Before we get into Hal’s murder, let’s talk about the big, pink elephant in the room: Sinestro.
When John and Hal find him on Antaan’s planet, he’s working in a forge of some kind, where he’s created a brand new lantern. Unlike the lantern we’ve seen Hal use to charge his rings, this one is streaked through with yellow. The new coloration comes from the leftover fear in the planet’s water and air. While Sinestro insists this lantern will work like any other, the presence of yellow is ironically a red flag for any Green Lantern fan. On top of being associated with fear, yellow is tied to the villainous Sinestro Corps, as well as the cosmic fear parasite Parallax. With just a few streaks of yellow, Lanterns may be setting up its future antagonists.
But Sinestro isn’t forging the lantern for himself. He’s forging it for the person who broke him out of prison: Sheriff Kerry Kane’s (Kelly Macdonald) son Noah Macon (Shea Pritchard). How in the world was a high school football star able to break Sinestro out of space prison? The answer is, he’s no ordinary high school football star. Noah is also a Manhunter.
How is Noah Macon a Manhunter?
Credit: John Johnson / HBO Max
Noah is Lanterns‘ second secret Manhunter reveal, which comes as an extra shock because Zoe was supposed to be the last one. Plus, according to Antaan’s conversation with William Macon (Garret Dillahunt) in episode 5, it seems like Manhunters aren’t able to reproduce.
However, it appears that Zoe was able to use her Manhunter technology and a sample of Kerry’s body to create a new Manhunter. As Kerry tells John later in the finale, Zoe was supposed to grow back the finger Kerry cut off to save herself from the Gotham goons hunting her down. Instead, Kerry found herself pregnant, which was odd since she hadn’t been intimate with anyone in months. She gave birth to Manhunter Noah and tried her best to raise him to not be a monster.
What is Noah’s plan?
Credit: John Johnson / HBO Max
Despite Kerry’s best efforts, Noah found out who he truly was. (Remember Zoe telling him, “Don’t forget everything I’ve told you”? She was definitely giving him Manhunter tips.) As he grew up, he found himself caught in a classic battle of nature versus nurture: Should he succumb to his power-hungry Manhunter ways? Or should he remain good and caring, like his mother taught him? His stated interest in politics and even the president in episode 7 suggest he’s leaning towards the former. Yet his kindness to his fellow teammates, including drawing out his college football decision so more scouts could come see them play, highlights how there’s still good in him.
Realizing that he is in danger from the Guardians, Noah sought the help of the one person who’s ever killed a Guardian: Sinestro. He broke him out of prison and put him to work making the lantern as a contingency plan for his safety. He learned about Antaan’s planet and how to get there from Zoe, who would occasionally visit.
Hal found out about Noah’s Manhunter nature when Noah saved him from his burning house. He agreed to keep Kerry in the dark about Noah’s knowledge, but he couldn’t help but snoop around and go through Noah’s portal. John assumes that Hal’s meddling led to Noah killing him, but the truth is far more devastating.
Who killed Hal Jordan?
Credit: John Johnson / HBO Max
In a heartbreaking turn of events, it was Kerry, not her son, who killed Hal. She fired on him after he confronted her about Noah being a Manhunter, insisting that she get away from Noah before he enacted his plan.
After Lanterns spent the first part of its finale focusing on Hal and Kerry’s sweet relationship, the final killer reveal is an absolute gut punch, made all the better by Macdonald’s superbly layered performance. As Kerry tells John, she informed him about Hal’s death both because she thought he deserved to know, and because she wanted him to see Noah for himself. She wanted to know if she was raising a monster.
John doesn’t see it that way. As Noah opens up to him about his desire to buck his Manhunter “programming,” John recognizes a lot of himself in him. He thinks back to his traumatic childhood, a deeply regimented time of his life when his parents decided every step of his path. As he grew up, he found himself wondering what was truly him, and what was just his “repetition and training.” Noah is undergoing a similar crisis: How much of him is Noah, and how much of him is Manhunter instinct?
The fact that Noah is even grappling with this, John thinks, is proof that Noah’s on the right path. So, when Noah asks John to kill him out of mercy, John decides not to. Yes, this means there’s still a Manhunter running around on Earth. But he’s a Manhunter who’s trying to be something other than what people expect him to be, and that’s something John can relate to all too well.
Seeing himself in Noah, and seeing some of his own fearful mother, Bernadette (Jasmine Cephas Jones), in Kerry, John retaliates against neither one, believing that that’s what Hal would have wanted too.
How does John Stewart become a Green Lantern?
Credit: John Johnson / HBO Max
After leaving Kerry and Noah to celebrate his big football win and commitment to Nebraska, John still has some unfinished business to attend to. He summons Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion) to Rushville and tells him there’s going to be a change in Green Lantern management on Earth. From now on, Earth will be John’s domain, while Guy will still get to monitor the rest of Sector 2814. Naturally, Guy is ticked off, especially since John verbally eviscerates him and his gold tooth. He says that the Guardians won’t stand for this, but John knows otherwise.
Once Guy flies off, John is left alone with his ring, his lantern, and the Halogram. Both Hal and John know that once John charges his power ring with the new lantern, the Halogram will cease to exist. So begins a tear-jerking goodbye, one that ends with Hal telling John, “I love you too, Junior.” He’s come so far from throwing himself out of cars to teach John a lesson!
Aside from the heartfelt parting words, the biggest takeaway from Hal and John’s goodbye is Hal’s reminder to John: “Don’t be afraid to be afraid.”
The advice is a perfect culmination of John’s journey, from being horrifically trained not to feel fear to later accepting it and finding his own path. His new lantern, shot through with yellow fear, becomes the physical embodiment of that arc.
There’s only one thing left for John to do: recite the Green Lantern Corps oath and take on the role he spent so much of his life training for. But just like John’s decision to take over Green Lantern duties on Earth, he’s going to take the oath on his terms. His own oath goes as follows:
In brightest day, in darkest night,
I’ll embrace my fear. I’ll do what’s right.
I choose this ring. I choose this fight.
In service to this lantern’s light.
It’s an empowering conclusion to John’s complicated relationship with fear and the Guardians, made all the sweeter by him taking flight for the very first time. Between that and a scene of John reuniting with his family and embracing Bernadette, Lanterns closes the door on his painful journey to become Earth’s Green Lantern, and opens the door to a whole new chapter of John’s life.
Will there be a Lanterns Season 2?
Credit: John Johnson / HBO Max
HBO has not yet announced a Lanterns Season 2. However, even if the show doesn’t continue, this certainly isn’t the last we’ve seen of John Stewart. Aaron Pierre is confirmed to be reprising the role in Superman sequel Man of Tomorrow, out July 9, 2027. Perhaps we’ll finally get to see his suit!
If Lanterns does continue, there are several plot threads it could tug on. For one, Sinestro is still out there. Yes, he’s chained down on a desolate alien planet, but he’s also escaped from a seemingly inescapable alien prison. I’m sure we haven’t seen the last of him. Plus, given the emphasis on the yellow fear in John’s new lantern, Lanterns could begin introducing the Sinestro Corps, or even Parallax. There’s a whole lot of Lantern lore to explore, should Lanterns light up our TV screens again.
Lanterns is now streaming on HBO Max.
Source: https://mashable.com/entertainment/lanterns-ending-explainer-who-killed-hal-jordan
