There’s a lot going on in the first episode of HBO‘s Lanterns, titled, appropriately both to being the first episode and that Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) is a test pilot, “Pilot.” But the biggest mystery isn’t the one that takes place in the 2016 timeline, it’s what happens at the end of the episode. Spoilers past this point, but who killed Hal Jordan? And Is Hal really dead?
We went extremely in depth on all of this in our Lanterns Episode 1 recap and review, but to break down what we see at the end of the episode a little further… While the bulk of the premiere is spent in 2016 (with a prelude in 1996), at the end we flash forward to 2026. John Stewart (Aaron Pierre), now sporting a goatee, is driving through the snow to Rushville, Nebraska. Something clearly went down there, as a structure on the side of the road has been blown to smithereens; though whether it’s recent or happened in 2016 is TBD. John, also, has clearly been driving all night, and is sipping coffee to prove it.
Also? He’s driving, not flying, and as we see later he’s not wearing the Green Lantern ring. He meets up with Sheriff Kerry Kane (Kelly MacDonald), who, yes, is likely related in some way to both Kate Kane (aka Batwoman) and Bruce Wayne (aka Batman). They exchange pleasantries about her son Noah, who is now high school quarterback and All-State, before heading into the football field. We find out that whatever happened, only the groundskeeper knows. They head to the bleachers, where Hal is sitting, frozen, in the same spot where John found him earlier in the episode, back in 2016.
He’s been shot in the head, frozen blood trickled down his face. And just like John, he’s not wearing the Green Lantern ring. The camera zooms out, and that’s where the episode ends! So, let’s answer those questions as best we can in reverse order.
Is Hal Jordan Dead On Lanterns?
Sure looks that way! I think it’s pretty safe to say that yes, Hal Jordan is dead in the 2026 timeline of Lanterns, though we’re going to be spending plenty of time in 2016, so the show is far from done with Kyle Chandler. Additionally, he’s been active since about 1986, so in terms of DCU TV shows and movies, while he probably won’t be popping up in the future (more on that in a sec) there’s plenty of real estate to explore Hal further in a second season of Lanterns, a flashback movie, whatever.
The second part of this is that in the episode we meet what John calls a “Hal-o-gram,” aka a version of Hal’s consciousness fused with the sentience of the Green Lantern ring, backed up around 2006. Based on how John interacts with it, this seems to be one of those “hard light holograms” you hear so much about in science fiction. So we could see this version of Hal again. Heck, they could even do the classic “Hal’s consciousness in an android body” thing that you’ve seen in a million sci-fi shows before.
And there’s one other possibility. John specifically tells Kerry in the episode there are 14 alien races that can pose as human beings so effectively no Earth machines can detect them. In the trailers, we’ve seen that Manhunters — robots who pre-date the Green Lantern Corps and can look like anyone — will pop up. So could this be an alien or Manhunter posing as Hal? Possibly!
But for the moment, based on the events of the premiere, it seems much more impactful if whatever Hal and John do in Rushville in 2016 causes Hal’s death in 2026. I’m sticking with: yes, Hal is dead. The questions are why, how, and who killed him? So let’s explore that last one.
Who Killed Hal Jordan On Lanterns?
Every good mystery presents all the clues you need in the first chapter. Is Lanterns a good mystery? We’ll have to wait seven weeks to find out, but let’s assume it is and break down the suspects from there.
The obvious suspect is Will Macon (Garret Dillahunt), the guy who owns half of Rushville and is running his own anti-alien militia. He’s been set up as the villain of this season, so why wouldn’t he be the one to do the deed? One reason is: it’s too obvious. And as a backup, Macon is working for someone else, or so he says… Which means he’s a sub-boss, not the final boss of the show.
An out there possibility? Zoe Macon (Poorna Jagannathan), Will’s wife who John banged in the back of her truck. She seems to know a lot about Green Lanterns when she and John chat in a bar pre-banging, and also doesn’t seem to think too kindly of Hal. Would that lead her to kill him? Maybe… She’s definitely playing the femme fatale of this particular piece. But I’m a little more bullish on the idea that she is the secret person Will is working for, versus her being the one who killed Hal.
I’ve got an even more out there possibility, though: John Stewart Sr. (J. Alphonse Nicholson) killed Hal. We know actor Sherman Augustus is playing the older version of John Sr., and based on a phone call John has with his dad early in the episode, John Sr. knows about the whole Green Lantern in training thing, and seems very invested in it. We also got to see that unhinged scene at the beginning of the episode where John Sr. shot an apple off John’s head to teach him about not having fear. This is definitely a reach, but if you introduce a character with a gun at the top of the episode and someone has been shot in the head at the end of the episode, you can put two and two together there.
Add in that it looks like John is not Green Lantern in 2026, and potentially having John Sr. being furious at whatever Hal did in 2016, he could have killed him and took the ring for his son. If so, versus it being some massive intergalactic conspiracy that led to Hal’s death, it’s one guy with a gun upset about his son. That seems way sadder, and way more on target with the sorts of things writer Damon Lindelof and Tom King do on a regular basis.
Am I right? Way off? We’ll know more once October rolls around.
Lanterns Premiere Dates And Episode Guide:
New episodes of Lanterns premiere Sundays on HBO and HBO Max at 9 p.m. ET. Here’s what we expect from the full list of episodes in Lanterns with premiere dates.
- Sunday, August 16, 2026: Lanterns, Episode 1
- Sunday, August 23, 2026: Lanterns, Episode 2
- Sunday, August 30, 2026: Lanterns, Episode 3
- Sunday, September 6, 2026: Lanterns, Episode 4
- Sunday, September 13, 2026: Lanterns, Episode 5
- Sunday, September 20, 2026: Lanterns, Episode 6
- Sunday, September 27, 2026: Lanterns, Episode 7
- Sunday, October 4, 2026: Lanterns, Episode 8 *Season Finale*
Where To Watch Lanterns
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