Since the very first episode of Lanterns, we’ve been left wondering: who killed Hal Jordan? But after the events of episode 5, we’re now asking: is Hal really dead? And there’s a huge clue that suggests things might not be quite as they seem. Lanterns has spent most of its first season jumping between timelines. While the present day mystery takes place in 2026, the bulk of the story so far has unfolded ten years earlier, following Hal (Kyle Chandler) and John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) as they investigate the strange events happening in Rushville. In the latest episode, Zoe Macon (Poorna Jagannathan) is finally exposed as the Manhunter they’ve been searching for, and so John shoots her in the head before removing her crystallised heart. Credit: HBO He then grabs the ring from Hal and brings it to Lianna (Laura Linney), but rather than accepting his new position as the earth’s Green Lantern, he decides he doesn’t want it – not in this way, and not after seeing what it’s done to Hal. And so he leaves the ring and walks off, bringing that part of the story to a close. The DCU series is now free to explore what goes down in the present day, which is confirmed in the episode 6 preview, showing John investigating Hal’s death. As said, we already caught a glimpse of his death at the end of episode 1, when Kerry (Kelly Macdonald) shows John Hal’s frozen body in the stands at Rushville High School, with a gunshot wound to the head. More importantly, his Green Lantern ring is nowhere to be seen. But after what went down in Lanterns episode 5, there might be a very good reason not to take that body at face value. What if the body isn’t actually Hal Jordan? Credit: HBO There’s a pretty convincing theory going around that the dead body John finds in 2026 isn’t actually Hal at all, but a Manhunter disguised as him – meaning the real Hal Jordan could still be alive. The biggest clue is what happens to Zoe. John shoots her directly in the head, but despite the fact she’s a Manhunter, her body doesn’t suddenly transform back into its real form. It’s only when John cuts open her chest, removes her heart and it crystalises that he’s able to prove what she really is. When we see Hal’s body, he’s also been shot directly in the head. His body still looks completely human, just like Zoe’s does after she dies. But nobody has checked the one thing that could actually prove whether the body really belongs to Hal: his heart. Earlier in the season, Sinestro (Ulrich Thomsen) explains that Manhunters are capable of replicating carbon-based lifeforms, but their crystallised hearts are the giveaway after they die. Episode 5 has now actually shown us what that means in practice – you can apparently be staring directly at a dead Manhunter and have absolutely no idea. So until somebody cracks Hal’s chest open and checks, we can’t be certain it’s him. There’s another detail that potentially supports the theory too. When John discovers Hal’s body, his Green Lantern ring is missing. If the corpse is a Manhunter impersonating him, that could explain why. Of course, there’s one pretty massive hole in all of this. Zoe was supposed to be the only Manhunter left, and episode 5 ends with John very conclusively killing her. So if she isn’t impersonating Hal ten years later, who is? Well, that’s where another theory comes in. Zoe might not have been the only Manhunter A separate theory has been circulating that Noah Macon (Cary Christopher) could secretly be another Manhunter – or at least something Zoe created with her powers. Credit: HBO In episode 5, we find out Zoe once saved Kerry’s life and she later says she gave her a “miracle”, a word often used to describe a child. What if Noah himself is one of those miracles? Some fans have taken this theory one step further: if Zoe really did have the ability to create Noah, she could’ve also created the body everyone believes is Hal. As one Redditor wrote, “If Zoe can regrow a finger, I’m guessing that’s how she ‘grows’ Noah. Tin foil hat (mostly because I want Hal to retire with Carol and not die) but maybe the Hal body is also a clone?” Wild? Yes, but it would explain an awful lot. That said, there could just be another, far less fun possibility: Hal really is the person sitting dead in those stands. For now, this is all just speculation, but the timing of these reveals is certainly interesting. No doubt we’ll find out more when episode 6 drops on HBO Max on Sunday, September 20. For all the latest film and TV updates and hot takes, like our Facebook page. Featured image credit: HBO Post navigation Next story
