Lantern Finale: Hal Killer, Manhunter Revealed, Sinestro’s Yellow Lantern

SPOILER ALERT: This article contains spoilers for the “Lanterns” finale, now streaming on HBO Max.

Don’t worry, the finale of “Lanterns” is here.

The season finale — or perhaps the series finale, since HBO has yet to renew the series — ended the mystery posed by the series premiere over who killed Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler). The episode, titled “Dirt and Stars,” also revealed the identity of the second Manhunter and explained how John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) becomes Earth’s only Green Lantern in DC Studios’ upcoming “Superman” sequel, “Man of Tomorrow.”

The episode begins in 2016 Rushville, following the town’s destruction during Manhunter’s first attack. Sheriff Kerry (Kelly Macdonald) finds Hal in the wreckage, then it is revealed that she picks him up from prison in 2026 after his release, waiting for him with beer and flowers. As their feelings for each other blossom, the two go out for dinner, filled with Rushville patrons with a lingering hatred for Hal. Kerry defends him in front of everyone, the two later sleep together, and Kerry invites Hal to her son Noah’s (Shea Pritchard) soccer game. However, Hal’s house is firebombed in the middle of the night and he is unable to escape. Hal wakes up on the floor of a strange laboratory with Noah standing over him, explaining that he replaced Hal’s burned skin using the same Manhunter technology that cured John in 2016. After much speculation online, Noah is the second secret Manhunter!

In the present day, back on the planet decimated by the Manhunters, John questions Sinestro (Ulrich Thomsen) and learns that Noah freed the villain from prison. Sinestro reveals that he harnessed the planet’s fear gas to create a new yellow ring for Noah. As comic book fans know, Sinestro is the creator of the Yellow Lanterns, an evil group opposed to the Green Lanterns who derive their power from fear. Sinestro offers John the chance to charge his spent ring from the sinister Yellow Lantern, but Hal’s hologram stops him and they leave Sinestro marooned on the planet.

Noah ambushes John upon his return to Earth, the two return to Rushville together. Noah reveals that he didn’t burn down Hal’s house, but says he was the one who killed him. He claims he couldn’t let Hal reveal his manhunter identity and the Yellow Lantern to Kerry. Noah says he’s trying to overcome his violent Manhunter programming and asks John to kill him to protect everyone from what he might do. John doesn’t answer, but lets Noah go play one last football game for Rushville.

John joins Kerry at Noah’s game and asks her if her son is a manhunter, convinced that she knew all along. Then, in a flashback, we see the moments right before Hal’s murder and the truth is finally revealed. After Zoe Macon (Poorna Jagannathan) saved Kerry and replaced her finger cut off years ago with Manhunter technology, Kerry became pregnant with Noah, who turned out to be a Manhunter like Zoe. Knowing Noah’s identity and fearing what he was planning, Hal confronted Kerry and told her they could run away and protect themselves. Kerry refused to leave and, in her fear, shot and killed Hal as he tried to reason with her, saying, “Damn, I love you.” In the present, John assures Kerry that he will not kill Noah and lets her continue raising him (while he continues to play football at the University of Nebraska).

In the final moments of the episode, John calls Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion) in Rushville and shows him his “unauthorized” ring and lantern that he took from Hal. John calls himself Earth’s Green Lantern, in a sort of “independent contractor” role, and tells Guy to look after the stars while he protects the planet. Hal’s hologram appears and gives some final words of wisdom to John, saying that he is ready to take on the mantle of Green Lantern. John tells the hologram that his last words to Kerry before his death were “I love you”, and Hal’s replica sincerely repeats them to John.

With his ring powered up, John flies over and drops a bag of money as compensation to waitress Maggie (Hannah Christine Shetler) who lost her family in the Manhunter attack. He also has a touching reunion with his family back home, including his estranged mother Bernadette (Jasmine Cephas Jones). Finally, in a twist on the classic Green Lantern oath from the comics, John personalizes the phrase by emphasizing his new acceptance of his fear.

“In the brightest day / in the darkest night / I accept my fear / I will do what is right / I choose this ring / I choose this fight / in service of / the light of this lantern.”

While there’s no news yet about “Lanterns” season 2, despite the show’s good ratings on HBO, we do know that Pierre will reappear as John in next summer’s “Man of Tomorrow,” the sequel to James Gunn’s “Superman.” It may be an awkward reunion with Fillion’s Guy Gardner, but we now know how Earth’s two Green Lanterns decided to split their duties. How will things happen when the two heroes come face to face? How will they team up with Superman, Supergirl and the fledgling Justice League when the alien Brainiac attacks? And could Chandler make an appearance as the hologram Hal in John’s ring? We’ll have to wait and find out when “Man of Tomorrow” continues the story of the DC Universe on July 9.