‘Lanterns’ Series Finale: Unraveling the Mystery of Hal Jordan’s Killer

Lanterns delivered alien revelations and grounded truths in the season one finale.

Created by Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof and Tom King, the HBO superhero series follows experienced Green Lantern Hal Jordan and his new recruit John Stewart as they investigate a murder on Earth, only to find themselves in a much wider conspiracy.

- READ MORE: ‘Lanterns’ review: buddy-cop drama is worlds away from Ryan Reynolds’ comic book disaster

Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre lead the show’s cast, alongside Kelly Macdonald, Garret Dillahunt, Poorna Jagannathan and Ulrich Thomsen.

All eight episodes of Lanterns are available to stream on HBO Max.

Who is the second Manhunter in Lanterns ?

Zoe (Poorna Jagannathan) was the first alien Manhunter revealed earlier in the season, but it was her grandson Noah (Shea Pritchard) who was outed in the finale.

In the episode, we learn Noah broke the disgraced ex-Green Lantern, Sinestro (Ulrich Thomsen), out of prison and confined him to an island on a dead planet, so he could forge him a lantern. Noah wanted to obtain a ring and a lantern to murder the Guardians who had ordered John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) to kill his grandmother.

Noah had previously revealed his identity to Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) after the teen saved his life, and asked Hal to keep his identity a secret, because his mother, Kerry (Kelly Macdonald) is under the impression that he’s unaware of his Manhunter nature. Hal agrees, but continues to observe Noah by venturing through a portal to the dead planet, where he encounters his old mentor Sinestro. This was the last time Sinestro saw Hal alive.

Who killed Hal Jordan?

While Sinestro believes Noah killed Hal because he broke his promise to leave him alone, John discovers the truth from Kerry. In a flashback sequence at the football field, we see Hal goes to Kerry and tells her that Noah knows his identity as a Manhunter, and says they need to flee before anything bad happens. Kerry, however, is unwilling to let go of her life in Rushville and, in a panic, draws her gun and shoots Hal.

Kerry confesses to John outside the football field, shortly after Noah had asked John to kill him. Noah’s mother admits that she called John to investigate Hal’s murder because she wanted him to assess if Noah was as monstrous as the rest of his species. John tells Kerry he won’t kill Noah, believing he has overcome his true nature because he relinquished the ring and tried to take the fall for Hal’s death. However, despite telling Kerry this, John doesn’t seem convinced.

John doesn’t arrest Kerry for the murder either, recognising that it isn’t what Hal would have wanted.

What happens in the final scene of Lanterns?

In the closing scene, John reunites with Earth’s current Lantern, Guy Gardiner (Nathan Fillion). Gardiner notices John has Hal’s ring, along with the “unsanctioned” lantern built by Sinestro. John tells Guy he’ll be the new Lantern monitoring Earth, while Guy can take responsibility over off-planet issues within his jurisdiction.

Guy is resistant to the move, but backs down and flies off – presumably aware of the power John wields, and because Guy wouldn’t be the Green Lantern now if John hadn’t turned down the role to begin with.

The finale ends with John blasting up into the sky, establishing his position as Earth’s new Green Lantern – albeit with some inevitable complications to come.

The post The ending of ‘Lanterns’ explained: who killed Hal Jordan? appeared first on NME .

_Originally reported by [NME](https://www.nme.com/news/tv/lanterns-ending-explained-who-killed-hal-jordan-3972201?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=lanterns-ending-explained-who-killed-hal-jordan)._