Lanterns season finale breakdown: Who killed Hal Jordan? Does John Stewart keep the ring?

[#item_full_content] [[{“value”:”The season finale of HBO Max’s hit DC Comics series Lanterns dropped Sunday (Oct. 4) night, closing out some excellent symmetry to the series premiere that launched the mystery that would drive the entire first season: who killed Hal Jordan? And just as importantly: how does John Stewart end up with a working Green Lantern ring after all that (since we already know he’ll be showing up in the Superman sequel Man of Tomorrow)?
Well, we finally have all the answers.
**Spoilers ahead for “Dirt and Stars,” the Season 1 finale of Lanterns**
First up, the murder mystery ended with a fake out, and a final twist. I was curious if they could land the killer reveal in a way that fit the vibe of the show. Thankfully, they pulled it off. As some suspected all along, Sheriff Kerry Kane (Kelly Macdonald) killed Hal. But it’s the motivation that really pays off the season’s Manhunter arc.
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As many fans also theorized, Kerry’s son Noah Macon is a Manhunter (which seemed fairly obvious back in 2016, when Zoe was talking to him all cryptically a few episodes ago), which is what led Kerry to murder Hal when he found out. We get to see the murder play out via flashback: Hal’s house is fire-bombed, and Noah rescues him, using Zoe’s regeneration tech to heal him. But in doing so, he has to reveal his secret identity as the last Manhunter in Rushville.
Hal follows Noah, and realizes Noah is the one who broke Lantern baddie Sinestro out of space prison (presumably with the portal hole, a plot point that isn’t majorly explained), and stashed him on the dead planet with the crazy-making water and fog. While there, he had Sinestro build him a Lantern to charge a ring, looking to harness the yellow power of fear as part of his Manhunter programming.
Hal goes to tell Kerry everything so they can figure out what to do. She knew Noah was a Manhunter but didn’t think Noah actually knew (and had no idea he was cooking an intergalactic power play). When Hal pushes the issue that they have to do something immediately to get away and try to stop Noah, be it taking him to a secluded planet or something else, she snaps and shoots him. He falls into a seat in the stands, exactly where we found him frozen in the series premiere.
Noah is a Manhunter, presumably playing QB at Nebraska
John pieces this all together, with the help of the Hal-ogram and Sinestro (who he waterboards a bit to get some intel). John takes the unsanctioned Lantern. But when he returns through the portal, Noah gets the drop on John, and lies and takes the blame for killing Hal in an effort to protect his mother. Noah takes the ring, and the Lantern. But after grappling with his humanity and programming, he decides to try and do good after a long chat with John.
He leaves the ring and Lantern with John, and asks John to kill him — because he doesn’t believe he can overcome his programming. John confronts Kerry and she confesses to killing Hal, and offers to turn herself in. But John tells her Hal wouldn’t have wanted that, so the murder remains officially unsolved.
As for Noah, John decides that show of human self-awareness means he has a chance to live a normal life — but Earth will need a Green Lantern who is aware of the potential threat he poses and in a position to act if needed. So he keeps Hal’s old ring and the unsanctioned Lantern, and creates his own oath to become essentially a free agent Green Lantern protecting Earth. We don’t see what’s next for Noah, but presumably he accepts that scholarship to Nebraska and is off playing QB in the Big Ten next season.
John Stewart: freelance Green Lantern
John uses the Green Lantern signal in Rushville to summon Guy Gardner back for a pow-wow, and tells him he can have the rest of the space sector — but John is taking over as Earth’s Green Lantern. Guy is understandably not pumped about this deal, but doesn’t seem confident enough to make a move on John in the moment to stop him. John also sends a veiled message through Guy to the Guardians referencing his Manhunter history, which could presumably be enough for the Guardians to turn a blind eye to John becoming a rogue Green Lantern.
We get a final goodbye between John and the Hal-ogram, before it is presumably deleted once John took his oath and charged the ring (with him essentially taking over the ring as its primary user, erasing Hal’s backup). That said, I’m hopeful maybe John was able to subconsciously preserve the Hal backup, somehow. We’ve already seen him do impossible things with the ring before, after all?
The closing scene is one we’ve been leading up to from the jump: John finally learns how to fly, taking off through the sky and flying through the lingering projection of the Green Lantern signal still in the sky above Rushville. We see John return home to his family, greeting his brothers and finally closing with an embrace of his mother.
Fade to black.
Up next? John Stewart will return in Man of Tomorrow in 2027.
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