spoiler ALERT: This article contains spoilers for the “Lantern” finale, now streaming on HBO Max.
Don’t fear, the finale of “Lantern” is here.
The season finale – or possibly the series finale, since HBO has not yet renewed the show – put an end to the mystery that arose from the show’s premiere as to who killed Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler). The episode, titled “Dirt and Stars”, also revealed the identity of the second Manhunter and how John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) becomes Earth’s only Green Lantern in DC Studios’ upcoming “Superman” sequel, “Man of Tomorrow”.
Courtesy John Johnson/HBO Max
The episode begins in 2016 in Rushville following the destruction of the city by the first Manhunter attack. Sheriff Kerry (Kelly MacDonald) finds Hal in the wreckage, and then it is revealed that she picks him up from prison in 2026, waiting for him with beer and flowers after he is released. With their feelings for each other blossoming, the two go out to dinner, filled with Rushville patrons who harbor hatred towards Hal. Kerry defends him in front of everyone, the two later sleep together and Kerry invites Hal to her son Noah’s (Shea Pritchard) football game. However, Hal’s house was bombed in the middle of the night, and he did not succeed in escaping. Hal wakes up on a strange lab floor with Noah standing over him, and explains that he has replaced Hal’s burnt skin using the same Manhunter technology that healed John in 2016. After much speculation online, Noah is the secret second Manhunter!
In the present day, on a planet destroyed by the Manhunters, John interrogates Sinestro (Ulrich Thomson) and learns that Noah freed the villain from prison. Sinestro reveals that he had used the fear gas from the planet to create a new, yellow ring for Noah. As comics 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 Jon a chance to charge his defective ring with the sinister, Yellow Lantern, but Hal’s hologram stops him, and they leave Sinestro marooned on the planet.
Courtesy John Johnson/HBO Max
When John returns to Earth Noah ambushes him, the two drive back to Rushville together. Noah reveals that he did not burn down Hal’s house, but says that he was the one who killed her. He claims that he could not let Hal reveal his identity as a Manhunter and Yellow Lantern to Kerry. Noah says he is trying to overcome his violent Manhunter programming, and tells John to kill him to save everyone from whatever he can. John does not answer, but lets Noah go and plays one last football game for Rushville.
Courtesy John Johnson/HBO Max
John joins Kerry at Noah’s game and asks her about her son being the Manhunter, leading her to believe she knew all along. Then, in flashback, we see the moments just before Hal is murdered and the truth is finally revealed. After Zoe Macon (Poorna Jagannathan) saves Kerry and replaces her severed finger years earlier with Manhunter technology, Kerry somehow becomes pregnant by Noah, who turns out to be a Manhunter like Zoe. Knowing Noah’s identity and fearing what he was planning, Hal confronts Kerry, telling her they can run away and protect themselves. Kerry refuses to go, and out of fear for him, shoots and kills Hal as he tries to console her by saying, “Oh my God, I love you.” In the present, John assures Kerry that he will not kill Noah, and instead lets her continue raising him (as he goes on to play football at the University of Nebraska).
Courtesy John Johnson/HBO Max
In the final moments of the episode, John calls Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion) in Rushville and shows him his “rejected” ring and lantern that he took from Hal. John names himself Earth’s Green Lantern in a sort of “independent contractor” role, and asks Guy to look after the stars while protecting the planet. Hal’s hologram appears and gives John some final words of wisdom, saying that he is ready to take up the mantle of Green Lantern. John tells the hologram that his last words to Kerry before his death were “I love you”, and the Hal replica repeats them faithfully to John.
Turning in his ring, John flies in and gives a bag of money as compensation to waitress Maggie (Hannah Christine Shetler), who lost her family in the Manhunter attack. At home she also has a touching reunion with her family, including her estranged mother Bernadette (Jasmine Cephas Jones). Finally, in a twist on the comics’ classic Green Lantern oath, Jon personalizes the phrase, emphasizing his new style of accepting his fears.
“In the brightest day / In the darkest night / I embrace my fears / I will do what is right / I choose this ring / I choose this fight / In service of the light of this lantern.
Courtesy John Johnson/HBO Max
Although there’s no information yet about “Lantern” season 2, despite the show’s strong ratings for HBO, we do know that Pierre will recur next summer as Jon in “Man of Tomorrow,” James Gunn’s “Superman” sequel. It might be an odd reunion with Fillion’s Guy Gardner, but we now know how Earth’s two Green Lanterns have decided to split their duties. How will things play out 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 get a cameo as the hologram Hal inside John’s ring? We’ll have to wait and find out when “Man of Tomorrow” continues the DC Universe story on July 9.