The closer we get to the end of Lanterns, the closer we get to the end of the line for Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler). In the very first episode of the DC series, we learned that Hal would be the victim of a murder in 2026, which slapped a hasty expiration date on his time in the DCU. It also set the stage for a murder mystery that Hal’s one-time mentee, John Stewart (Aaron Pierre), would eventually have to solve.
With Lanterns’ first arc concluded and only three episodes remaining, the series is finally circling back to that tragic tease from its first episode. This week, Lanterns jumps from 2016 to 2026, and with that jump, it has a lot of new information to brief us on. As these new episodes take place after the events of Superman, we know that Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion) has been serving as Green Lantern since Hal was demoted and John refused to inherit his ring. But what have the two been up to since? John, bless him, has finally taken control of his life. Hal’s, on the other hand, took a tragic turn before he bit the dust.
Spoilers ahead for Lanterns Episode 6.
Where has Hal been the past 10 years?
John might have refused his invitation to join the Green Lantern Corps, but Episode 6 proves how good a call that might have been. When we catch up with him in 2026, he’s become a prolific architect, creating a firm with one of his older brothers. Hal’s life, meanwhile, only went downhill after what happened in Rushville. He was forced to take the fall for the town’s destruction, even though it was mostly the fault of its lone Manhunter and the aliens sent to hunt her down.
Hal was apparently serving a 10-year sentence in jail while John was reclaiming his life. The specifics of his conviction aren’t ever explained: as usual, Lanterns treats crucial context like a conversation we’ve already heard before. All the show thinks we need to know is that Hal took the fall, returned to Rushville after his sentence, and began a relationship in earnest with its sheriff (Kelly Macdonald). His life and legacy were effectively ruined, which brings some angst to his reunion with John. But it also makes his eventual demise — which goes down just hours after John punches him in the face — that much more depressing.
As John and Sheriff Kerry cobble together plans for an impromptu funeral, Hal’s fall from grace steadily comes into clearer perspective. John squats at Hal’s house, where Hal’s strange pet plant, Earl, still waits for Hal to return. Earl and Kerry seem to be the only two mourners. According to Kerry, half of his neighbors openly despised him. What became of Rushville is just as tragic: the town never truly rebuilt after Zoe’s satellites destroyed it, but many of its victims also never left.
Why Rushville?
Why was this the place Hal returned to after serving his sentence? Kerry tells John that he essentially came back to court her — but is that really the only reason?
John discovers a storage unit with a strange memory cube inside. Only Hal’s unique voiceprint can unlock it, which kickstarts a properly intriguing mystery for Lanterns’ final episodes. Does it have anything to do with Sinestro (Ulrich Thomsen), who Guy reveals was sprung from his prison on Oa? With John securing Hal’s old Green Lantern ring at the end of this episode — all to retrieve his Halogram — we can trust that he’ll eventually get to the bottom of it all. How it all connects to Hal’s murder remains to be seen, but there’s a reason for this lore drop here and now, and it may very well inform the future of this corner of the DCU.
