The primary episode of Lanterns dropped a bombshell on the bigger DCU franchise, revealing that some of the beloved superheroes within the franchise was lifeless. When the physique of Kyle Chandler’s Hal Jordan was found at a soccer stadium in 2026, it set the stage for a very distinct thriller, one which despatched followers into overdrive with sufficient anger to energy a Pink Lantern battery. All of the episodes that adopted, although, have been centered on what occurred a decade earlier than this climactic second, retaining followers engaged with the thriller of the Manhunter and what occurred between Hal, John, and the Inexperienced Lantern ring.
This week’s episode of the present, although, may need very quietly made the thriller of Hal Jordan’s dying much more weird. As famous, although followers know Jordan has seemingly died within the current day, the bigger context of the present has been centered elsewhere, taking it off our minds as we mourn some. However in the latest episode, Hal had a particular dialog with Sinestro, one the place his mentor advised him that he ought to kill John Stewart, a job that Jordan himself refused as a result of he “isn’t evil,” implying that solely somebody with that alignment might perform a homicide.
Hal’s dialog with Sinestro is likely one of the most original moments in all of Lanterns, partially as a result of it rapidly turns into the sequence displaying off its Manhunter affect (the Michael Mann movie, not the alien they’re looking for) but additionally as a result of it reveals a lot about their relationship. Although Hal is the one who has put Sinestro behind bars on this unnamed Inexperienced Lantern jail planet, he nonetheless looks like one thing of a scholar to his outdated mentor.
The way in which that Chandler performs the scene is considered one of Jordan flipping forwards and backwards between uncertainty about his present state of affairs, but additionally placating his mentor to get what he desires out of him. It’s an interesting scene from a pure efficiency perspective, however the way in which that it makes Hal’s personal dying distinct is the quiet a part of all of it.
By refusing Sinestro’s concept that Hal ought to kill John, citing {that a} cold-blooded homicide would solely be accomplished by somebody evil, it places Hal’s personal dying into a brand new mild. Who might be round who could be thought-about “evil” and likewise wish to kill Hal Jordan? Instantly, the primary attainable reply to that is the entity they’ve been searching all season, the Manhunter. Nevertheless it additionally offers Lanterns the likelihood to flip Hal’s particular standpoint on its head by having somebody who is completely not “evil” be the one who kills him.
Who Killed Hal Jordan?
As famous, Lanterns could have confirmed that Hal Jordan dies in Rushville in 2026, however the sequence has spent most of its actual property so far centered on each the Manhunter thriller and the tug of struggle between Hal and John over who will nonetheless be Inexperienced Lantern when all is alleged and accomplished. To that finish, the record of suspects for who may need really killed Jordan has not been explicitly outlined. Maybe it’s the Manhunter; maybe a jealous individual with a grudge towards Jordan did it (we all know he’s not in style in Rushville, for instance), however his dying is confirmed too early within the present for it to be carried out by somebody that we haven’t seen.
There’s, after all, the twist that many DC followers are clinging to about Jordan’s dying: that it’s all a fake-out and he’s not likely lifeless. This largely looks like holding out hope fairly than any precise storytelling stakes that the sequence itself has been establishing, and given Jordan’s feedback this week, it’s beginning to look even much less probably.
That mentioned, this week’s episode of Lanterns provides one other dialogue alternate that may not seem to be it has significance to Jordan’s dying, however which might contextualize it even additional. We all know from the primary episode that there are greater than a dozen alien species on the market that may replicate human our bodies past detection, including that to one thing Jordan and Stewart say this week may make his dying a much bigger fakeout than we notice.
As the 2 Lanterns attempt to suss out the Manhunter, Jordan notes that they’re recognized for assessing threats and manipulating them to be able to get what they need. To that finish, is it attainable that Jordan isn’t lifeless, and in reality, the physique present in Episode 1 is a faux created by the Manhunter to be able to give Jordan a favor that places him of their pocket? This is likely to be a attain, nevertheless it actually places the thought of “evil” into perspective, particularly with how Jordan’s dying has been offered to date.
Lanterns is quietly placing all of the items of its story in place with each passing week. Although we all know the place it’s headed, because of Jordan’s dying within the first episode, the large image of your entire sequence has nonetheless not revealed itself simply but. We’re formally on the midway level, and the truth that new theories are nonetheless popping up makes this some of the thrilling DC exhibits in years.