{"id":871355,"date":"2026-10-05T08:06:14","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T08:06:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/871355\/"},"modified":"2026-10-05T08:06:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T08:06:14","slug":"lanterns-finale-where-john-stewart-hal-jordan-ended-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/871355\/","title":{"rendered":"Lanterns Finale: Where John Stewart, Hal Jordan Ended Up"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\t[This story contains major spoilers for the Lanterns<\/a> season one finale, \u201cDirt and Stars.\u201c]<\/p>\n

\n\tFor a Lanterns season one finale that ends with John Stewart taking flight as his own brand of Green Lantern, it\u2019s a rightfully grounded affair until then.<\/p>\n

\n\tThere is no otherworldly threat for the sake of obligatory spectacle, a welcome change of pace from the superhero genre\u2019s oft-reused playbook. Instead, it remains focused on the ever-evolving relationship between Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) and John (Aaron Pierre)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThere was never a version of the finale that was more action-oriented,\u201d Lanterns showrunner Chris Mundy<\/a> told moderator Mallory Rubin of The Ringer during the finale press conference, which featured the creative brain trust alongside stars Pierre and Chandler. \u201cIf we landed it emotionally with [Hal and John], we would\u2019ve done our job. [Action for action\u2019s sake] would\u2019ve been distraction and incident instead of emotion.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tStructurally, co-creator Damon Lindelof<\/a> considers episode five\u2019s \u201cBattle of Rushville\u201d to be this series\u2019 version of the CGI slugfest and sky-beam invasion we\u2019ve seen time and time again.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIf we had to make a two-hour Lanterns movie, you would have to have a bombastic third-act action set piece \u2014 and then two or three minutes of coda,\u201d Lindelof said. \u201cWe got to do that [coda] over the course of [the last] three episodes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tCo-creator Tom King<\/a>, who originally pitched the series\u2019 earthy, True Detective-like spin on Green Lantern lore, added: \u201cOne of our sticking points from day one was to avoid clich\u00e9s like they\u2019re the plague. They make it boring and give you that superhero exhaustion we\u2019ve seen a thousand think pieces about. So it\u2019s not what you expect, and that\u2019s entirely what this show has been.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tGetting into the weeds of plot, the finale begins with an addendum to episode five, as Sheriff Kerry Kane (Kelly Macdonald<\/a>) arrives at Rushville\u2019s demolished motel to find a defeated Hal Jordan still lying in the rubble following his confrontations with John and Zoe (Poorna Jagannathan<\/a>). He has already accepted that he\u2019ll be sent to prison for reckless endangerment, allowing the Guardians of the Universe to carry out their long-standing plan to permanently replace him as Earth\u2019s Green Lantern.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe narrative then jumps forward to an earlier point in 2026 to track the burgeoning romance between Hal and Kerry. Hal\u2019s decade\u2019s worth of prison letters clearly had a profound effect on her, because she makes sure to pick him up after his 10-year sentence with a six-pack of Schlitz in hand. But Hal\u2019s return to Rushville with Kerry is met with the coldest of welcomes, including ongoing acts of vandalism against his rental. After all, his selfish desire to retain his Lantern status not only got locals killed, but presumably also brought an end to the 30 years of good health and prosperity Zoe had provided in exchange for the townsfolk protecting her Manhunter identity.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tKelly Macdonald\u2019s Kerry Kane and Kyle Chandler<\/a>\u2018s Hal Jordan n Lanterns\u2018 season one finale.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJohn Johnson\/HBO Max<\/p>\n

\n\tDuring a hostile dinner date, Zoe stands up and tries to appeal to the fellow patrons\u2019 better angels in regard to Hal. She points out that he\u2019s trying to make amends every day by being of service to the community in any way he can. That plea falls on deaf ears, as Hal\u2019s rental home \u2014 a different one from the one John later stays at \u2014 is eventually set ablaze by arsonists. Hal immediately grabs his extraterrestrial flower pet, Earl, and heads for an upstairs exit, but the staircase collapses, leaving the fates of Hal and Earl up in the air.<\/p>\n

\n\tHal suddenly wakes up on the floor of a slaughterhouse that now houses Zoe\u2019s leftover Manhunter technology, which heals and regenerates damage done to still-living tissue. Her grandson, Noah Macon (Shea Pritchard), then steps forward to reveal himself as a Manhunter. He rehabilitated Hal\u2019s charred body just as Zoe did for John following the burning car accident that Hal engineered. Noah asks Hal to keep the exchange secret, since his mother, Kerry, is still under the impression that he does not know his true nature as a Manhunter.<\/p>\n

\n\tIf you\u2019re like me, then you probably wondered whether Noah also had to re-skin Earl following the house fire. We knew he somehow made it out alive since John reunited with him after Hal\u2019s death. Fortunately, Rubin read my very specific question aloud to the panel for clarity. Apparently, many other journalists had submitted a similar query about their concern for Earl.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThat\u2019s an excellent question that I\u2019ve never considered. Someone went deeper than we did, and we thought we went deep,\u201d Mundy said mid-laugh. \u201cI don\u2019t think Earl needed to be re-skinned. I don\u2019t think Earl goes down that easily.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tLindelof continued, \u201cI think Earl is pretty resilient. The botanical creatures of the galaxy can grow their own skin, I would imagine. Earl probably has the thickest skin of anybody on the show.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter the slaughterhouse, the episode cuts to Antaan\u2019s (Paul Ben-Victor) home planet, which Zoe had annihilated prior to her Rushville arrival in 1986. The scene resumes episode seven\u2019s cliffhanger involving Sinestro (Ulrich Thomsen), John and the holographic version of Hal, dubbed \u201cHalogram.\u201d The disgraced former Green Lantern had been recapping the same Hal-related events we\u2019d just seen visualized so that John can continue piecing together the puzzle surrounding his mentor\u2019s murder.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt was Noah who broke Sinestro out of his previous Oa prison so that he could forge the teen a ring-charging lantern while imprisoned on Antaan\u2019s planet. After Noah saved his life and revealed himself, Hal still couldn\u2019t resist surveilling the young Manhunter. He then discovered that Zoe had left him a portal to the aforementioned planet that had caused her so much guilt and anguish. Hal stepped through it to find Sinestro inside his newest island prison, and the two caught each other up to speed on the circumstances that led them there. It was the last time Sinestro saw his former prot\u00e9g\u00e9 alive.<\/p>\n

\n\tSinestro posits to John that Noah killed Hal for not honoring their agreement to leave him alone, and while John deduces that Noah wants a ring and a lantern to kill the Guardians who ordered John to assassinate his grandmother, he isn\u2019t fully satisfied with that rationale for killing Hal. He then departs with Halogram for Rushville, where Noah\u2019s boot awaits him. In the process, Noah seizes the ring and lantern from John, acquiring everything he needs to go after the Guardians.<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter giving him a beating, Noah has John drive him to his final high school football game. He wants to know why John killed his grandmother, but John reveals that she wanted that outcome. Her death would drive away all of the outside agitators and leave Noah\u2019s secret identity in peace. Noah then tearfully takes the blame for killing Hal, fearing his mom would find out about his Manhunter activities from Hal. As Sinestro had also theorized, Noah admits to wrestling with his synthetic nature versus his human nurture. John relates to him by sharing how he\u2019s dealt with overcoming his own unique programming.<\/p>\n

\n\tNoah proceeds to weigh his two paths. There\u2019s one where he plays college football at the University of Nebraska and gets married. Then he\u2019s tempted with another where he maximizes his abilities to achieve fame, political power and military capabilities. However, he chooses neither. He relinquishes the ring and lantern, and asks John to euthanize him after he finishes playing his last game. Conflicted, John seeks Halogram\u2019s counsel, but he\u2019s not responding.<\/p>\n

\n\tJohn then approaches Kerry at the game about Noah\u2019s secret, prompting her to finally spill her guts after all this time. Hal had also confronted her at the football field about Noah\u2019s true nature, forcing her to recount how, upon making her bargain with Zoe in episode five\u2019s 2007 flashback, Zoe\u2019s alien tech gave her far more than a new pinky finger. She walked away as the expectant mother of a baby Manhunter, believing she could love him enough to combat his innately dangerous wiring.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tAaron Pierre<\/a>\u2018s John Stewart and Kelly Macdonald\u2019s Kerry Kane in Lanterns\u2018 season one finale.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJohn Johnson\/HBO Max<\/p>\n

\n\tHal blindsides her with the revelation that Noah does in fact know he\u2019s a Manhunter and that he\u2019s planning what we now know to be a revenge mission against the Guardians. Fearing for their safety, Hal says they must get out of Dodge before trouble comes, but Kerry doesn\u2019t want to accept that her Rushville life is over \u2014 so much so that she draws her weapon in a panic and shoots Hal as he says, \u201cGoddamnit, I love you.\u201d Kerry immediately regrets the impulsive decision.<\/p>\n

\n\tJohn can\u2019t understand why she\u2019d call him to investigate Hal\u2019s murder if she\u2019s the one who did it. She explains that what she really wanted was for him to assess whether Noah is as monstrous as the rest of his kind. John determines that Noah has fought off his intrinsic qualities because he sacrificed the ring and covered for his mom out of love. Kerry is then alarmed when John announces that he\u2019s not going to kill Noah like he requested. He wants to believe this kid can fight the good fight against his worst self, but he knows deep down the jury is still out.<\/p>\n

\n\tKerry offers to turn herself in for Hal\u2019s murder, but John refuses to honor her request out of deference to what Hal would\u2019ve wanted. The last we see of the broken Macon family is them briefly reunited to celebrate Noah\u2019s victory and his commitment to the Nebraska Cornhuskers.<\/p>\n

\n\tJohn makes his way into town to signal Guy Gardner. Guy shows up to see Hal\u2019s ring on John\u2019s finger and protests that John removed it from Hal\u2019s corpse after guilting Guy into stealing it from the Guardians. John clarifies that he needed it to solve the mystery of Hal\u2019s heroic death. Guy takes further issue with John\u2019s \u201cunsanctioned\u201d lantern, and John then informs Guy that he\u2019ll be taking on earthbound Lantern responsibilities from this point forward. He proclaims himself to be a solo act who operates without a higher command calling his shots.<\/p>\n

\n\tGuy stresses that the Guardians are going to send an army to deal with this matter, but John relays a coded message basically telling them to leave him alone. It\u2019s likely a reminder that he did their dirty work by delivering Zoe\u2019s crystallized heart, and that, as their first choice to replace Hal, he\u2019s earned some grace. Guy flies off with his tail between his legs, insisting that their business isn\u2019t settled.<\/p>\n

\n\tAt long last, Halogram reappears after Guy exits, admitting he\u2019s been listening to everything that\u2019s transpired since they parted ways after deserting Sinestro. (Notably, he didn\u2019t gloat that he was right about Kerry being his real self\u2019s killer.) Backup Hal first rattles John by pointing out the risky roll of the dice he\u2019s taking with Noah. He then gives him some final reassurance that he\u2019s going to be a better Lantern than he ever was and that it\u2019s finally time to pair himself with the ring. John has been hesitating all episode because Sinestro confirmed that Halogram will cease to be once John syncs the ring with the new lantern. Halogram then spells out the theme of the season by saying, \u201cDon\u2019t be afraid to be afraid.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBefore they part ways, Halogram has one more joke up his sleeve. He lies to John and pretends that he glitched during the part of Kerry\u2019s story in which she quoted Hal\u2019s last words as she shot him to death. So John repeats those words, \u201cI love you,\u201d and Halogram milks the moment with, \u201cAnd I love you too, Junior,\u201d before winking goodbye. It\u2019s a punchline, but an emotionally resonant and valid one, even if Halogram didn\u2019t personally share as much history with John as his real counterpart did.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt was painfully exposed. It was a purely honest, open moment, and it was a joyous thing to be able to do on screen,\u201d Chandler recalled. \u201cIt was easy to do with Aaron, because, although I really don\u2019t like him very much, I knew I was getting paid.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAs Chandler just showed, he and Pierre constantly ribbed each other throughout the filming and promotion of the show. But certain scenes, like the final goodbye, stopped them in their tracks because of the weight of the moment.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cKyle believes he made me cry on that day, but I think I made him cry,\u201d Pierre said. \u201cWe\u2019ll have to let the episode air and see what the verdict is.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tAaron Pierre\u2019s John Stewart and Kyle Chandler\u2019s Hal Jordan in Lanterns\u2018 season one finale.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJohn Johnson\/HBO Max<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the end, John takes the leap to become his own Lantern, one who doesn\u2019t answer to overlords of any kind. He even rewrites the Green Lantern oath to account for his newfound embrace of fear. Oddly enough, that advice didn\u2019t just come from Hal. Sinestro also informed John\u2019s decision to use fear to his advantage, unlike the traditional Green Lantern modus operandi. The lantern that John acquired from Sinestro is even infused with fear-based elements from Antaan\u2019s planet. Last but not least, John also restores relations with his parents, allowing his mother, Bernadette, to exhale after years of estrangement.<\/p>\n

\n\tUnlike the other major story points discussed so far, John\u2019s revised oath was not decided on until the writers were breaking the finale in the room. Will purists object to John rewriting the oath in such a significant way? Mundy remembered the writers being \u201ccrazily nervous\u201d about the choice until writer Justin Britt-Gibson put things into perspective by saying, \u201cWe\u2019re not rewriting it; we\u2019re remixing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen you look at all the hierarchies John has served \u2014 his demanding parents, the Guardians, the Marines, the Green Lantern Corps \u2014 Lindelof stated that he has to finally exist on his own terms. \u201cWe were definitely nervous and scared about doing it, but we started to say, \u2018If we\u2019re not afraid of doing an idea, then we probably shouldn\u2019t do it,’\u201dhe added.<\/p>\n

\n\tLindelof continued: \u201cIt just felt right, and we understood that it\u2019s probably going to be the thing that divides the fandom, et cetera.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tKing then followed Lindelof by explaining why the Green Lantern oath doesn\u2019t technically apply to John. \u201cJohn is not a hundred percent a Green Lantern anymore. He has an unsanctioned lantern that has a bit of yellow and a bit of fear in it,\u201d King said. \u201cSo he\u2019s not saying the same oath as every other Green Lantern \u2014 just like a Yellow Lantern or an Orange Lantern says something different. John is this utterly unique creation that he chose for himself. So getting his own unique oath seemed to line up very much with the lore and where we\u2019re going from here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tKing believes such creative license ultimately honors the Green Lantern authors that preceded the Lanterns team. \u201cNone of them said, \u2018I just want to copy the person before me.\u2019 So to honor that legacy and creativity, you have to push the ball a little farther,\u201d King said.<\/p>\n

\n\tCertain corners of the internet did not react well to Hal Jordan, historically the most popular Green Lantern, being murdered in the series premiere. Personally, I never sweated the story choice because Halogram seemed like a permanently clever way of keeping Chandler employed in the DCU going forward. But now that Hal\u2019s backup consciousness has been overwritten with John\u2019s, many Hal Jordan fans will likely cling to Sinestro\u2019s offer back on Antaan\u2019s planet to bring him back to life \u201cfor real.\u201d Still, it was likely a desperate gambit from a manipulative alien who would do or say anything to free himself from his newest prison.<\/p>\n

\n\tAnother question of mine made the cut at the press conference regarding what alternate routes and destinations were considered. \u201cI don\u2019t think there was ever really another ending,\u201d Mundy said in response. He did recall writing some unfilmed material that enabled John to catch Bernadette up to speed on Hal, but then Lindelof chimed in to make clear what everyone wanted to know. There was never a resurrection in store for Hal, something a number of fans felt was signed, sealed and delivered based on the early 2000s comic Green Lantern: Rebirth.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe ending of the pilot is that Hal Jordan is dead, and in the very early days, we knew that we didn\u2019t want it to be a fake-out,\u201d Lindelof said. \u201cIn order for all of the emotional progression to feel real and earned and lived, we were sticking to that, and there wasn\u2019t going to be a rug-pull.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAs for other potential candidates to kill Hal, Mundy nominated Kerry during the early stages, and she stuck from then on. The more important issue was portraying Kerry\u2019s wrongful act without the audience losing sympathy for her and her precarious situation as a loving mother to a Manhunter. \u201cWe wrestled early with the idea of not wanting her to feel duplicitous. Was there a way for her to love Hal and also kill him?\u201d Lindelof said. \u201cAnd as three married men [co-writing this show], we were like, \u2018Absolutely! 1,000 percent.\u2019 The show started to become less of a whodunit and more of a why-done-it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tMundy\u2019s season-two writers room has been underway for several months now. He told THR during the August press junket that he\u2019d soon be going in to pitch season two to DC Studios brass James Gunn and Peter Safran. But as of the evening of Oct. 4, no official green light has been announced, nor did the finale press event address the future. That said, a recent report that the series averages 19 million overall viewers per episode bodes well in this era where even renewed shows are no longer safe. Time will also tell how Skydance\u2019s impending acquisition of Warner Bros. Television, HBO and DC Studios affects matters.<\/p>\n

\n\tPerhaps the most impactful line of the series thus far was Hal\u2019s final line in his self-written eulogy, which John read aloud at his funeral: \u201cI hope I mattered.\u201d As co-writer of that sixth episode, Lindelof adds further context that gets to the heart of what Lanterns season one hoped to accomplish. \u201cWhat I think Hal is saying is, \u2018I hope I mattered to you.\u2019 And that\u2019s transmitting directly to John.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHal wasn\u2019t intending to satisfy vanity or ego.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s not, \u2018I hope I mattered because I saved the world from a giant fucking alien starfish. It\u2019s not, \u2018I want there to be statues built of me. I need my name to be on an arch or monument,\u2019\u201d Lindelof explained from Hal\u2019s perspective. \u201cIt\u2019s just, \u2018I hope I\u2019m remembered and that I had a significant role in your life.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tLindelof concludes with a fitting sentiment: \u201cI hope that the audience feels like the show mattered and that Hal mattered to them as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t***
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