{"id":9071,"date":"2026-09-15T18:45:40","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T17:45:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/?p=9071"},"modified":"2026-09-15T18:45:40","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T17:45:40","slug":"lanterns-dcu-dropped-big-clue-hal-jordan-death-clone-theory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/2026\/09\/15\/lanterns-dcu-dropped-big-clue-hal-jordan-death-clone-theory\/","title":{"rendered":"Lanterns just dropped a big clue about Hal Jordan’s death and it could change everything"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since the very first episode of Lanterns, we\u2019ve been left wondering: who killed Hal Jordan? But after the events of episode 5, we\u2019re now asking: is Hal really dead<\/a>? And there\u2019s a huge clue that suggests things might not be quite as they seem.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lanterns<\/a> 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<\/a>) and John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) as they investigate the strange events happening in Rushville.<\/span><\/p>\n

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. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"Zoe
Credit: HBO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He then grabs the ring from Hal and brings it to Lianna (Laura Linney), but rather than accepting his new position as the earth\u2019s Green Lantern, he decides he doesn\u2019t want it<\/a> – not in this way, and not after seeing what it\u2019s done to Hal. And so he leaves the ring and walks off, bringing that part of the story to a close<\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

The DCU<\/a> 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\u2019s death. <\/span><\/p>\n

As said, we already caught a glimpse of his death at the end of episode 1, when Kerry (Kelly Macdonald) shows John Hal\u2019s 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. <\/span><\/p>\n

But after what went down in Lanterns episode 5, there might be a very good reason not to take that body at face value.<\/span><\/p>\n

What if the body isn’t actually Hal Jordan?<\/h2>\n
\"Hal
Credit: HBO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There\u2019s a pretty convincing theory going around that the dead body John finds in 2026 isn\u2019t actually Hal at all<\/a>, but a Manhunter disguised as him – meaning the real Hal Jordan could still be alive.<\/span><\/p>\n

The biggest clue is what happens to Zoe. John shoots her directly in the head, but despite the fact she\u2019s a Manhunter, her body doesn\u2019t suddenly transform back into its real form. It\u2019s only when John cuts open her chest, removes her heart and it crystalises that he\u2019s able to prove what she really is.<\/span><\/p>\n

When we see Hal\u2019s body, he\u2019s also been shot directly in the head. His body still looks completely human, just like Zoe\u2019s does after she dies. But nobody has checked the one thing that could actually prove whether the body really belongs to Hal: his heart.<\/span><\/p>\n

Earlier in the season, Sinestro (Ulrich Thomsen) explains that Manhunters<\/a> are capable of replicating carbon-based lifeforms, but their crystallised hearts are the giveaway after they die. <\/span><\/p>\n