Lanterns Episode 1 Ending Explained: Hal Jordan Shot in 2026 and the Mysteries Across Three Timelines

Lanterns has finally arrived with episode 1, and it brings a devastating mystery in 2026: someone has shot Hal Jordan. There was a crazy rumor going around about this show, and it turned out to be true. But before we get into the ending, I want to tell Hal fans two things. First, don't worry: the show is working with you, and this is part of the journey. Second, I want to share exactly when I fell in love with this show.

As you may know from my spoiler free review, I have seen seven of the eight episodes. I don't want to ruin them, so I have to walk a very fine line here. Let's just say this is a show with two leads throughout the season, and Hal Jordan is in every single one of the seven episodes I have seen. How can that be? Remember that the show runs across three timelines: 1996, 2016 and 2026.

The hologram and Hal's smooth takeoff were my early flirtations with Lanterns

I had a couple of flirtatious moments before I fully fell for the show. I liked the hologram, which I believe is new to Green Lantern mythology, although it is based in the comics. Coast City was destroyed in the Parallax situation, and Hal recreated the city and its inhabitants using his ring. Obviously that wasn't a good idea, because those individuals were sentient. I'm not a Green Lantern fan, so I've been getting into it, but this hologram isn't that.

The hologram also isn't green, which I put down to the show not being able to afford it. That's okay. I think the writing and the acting are so good that I can get past the show being somewhat low budget. When I saw the hologram, I thought it was the greatest idea ever. I also loved when Hal effortlessly took to the air. They don't have a lot of VFX, but when they do, they use them well, and I think it was the smoothest takeoff I've seen in movies or TV. Sometimes takeoffs happen so fast you barely see them, and sometimes you get funny ones like Homelander, but this looked really good and realistic.

I also thought it was funny and clever when John, who does not have a ring, had to fly commercial and rent a car to catch up with Hal. I love stuff like that, and there is a lot to really like about this episode.

The Harry Potter interrogation scene is where I locked in

The moment I really locked in and thought this was really good was the interrogation scene. I had wondered whether this first episode should have a big shock and awe finale, and I think it kind of did, emotionally and in terms of the cleverness of the writing. I think it ends very strongly.

When Hal asks the suspect "Where did Harry Potter go to school?" it's Warner Brothers synergy, but it is also a real life interrogation trick to root out spies. A spy learns everything to do with their cover story, but not the pop culture or societal aspects of the place they are infiltrating. We're talking about aliens in this context, and I think that use of real life technique makes the comic book space feel more real. Hal puts it beautifully: "You learn all the specifics, but you don't learn what everyone else just knows."

The scene works from the big moments to the smaller ones, like when the sheriff asks if they should run and John Stewart mutters that it's too late. It was so good. Hal, much like someone with a cell phone, hasn't charged his ring recently, but our cowboy style Hal has just enough charge left to contain the blast. Kyle Chandler's Hal relies a lot on his gut and his luck, and the latter runs out in 2026.

Mystery one: young John Stewart is trained to have no fear in 1996

This first episode establishes two big mysteries, and I would argue three, one for each timeline. In 1996 we see John Stewart as a child who is not only a fan of Hal Jordan but seems to be getting training to have no fear, with his father helping him. It's absolutely nuts, but in the best DC and HBO way.

I like this real world commentary, because I think it parallels actual parents who train their children from a very young age to be prodigies in sports. If superheroes exist, why wouldn't some parents do the same there? I'm thinking of Richard Williams with Serena and Venus, and Earl Woods with Tiger. These are examples of Black families doing that, and applying it to the Stewart family is, I think, very interesting commentary. As I said in my spoiler free review, though, I'll be very interested to see how Black audiences react to these story points.

Clearly the training worked, because in 2016 John Stewart is training with Hal. How did that happen? That is mystery number one.

Mystery two: a football game shooting brings Hal to Rushville in 2016

In 2016 there is a shooting at a school football game, and it feels a little Watchmen to me, a little out of time, the way Dr. Manhattan would announce what year it is and where he is standing. We find out the shooting is indeed Hal's jurisdiction: extraterrestrial, meaning aliens. The sheriff is at first quite reluctant to believe that, and that's the beauty of the script. It's Hal's show, so he's probably right, but I think there's just enough doubt to keep it interesting.

I like how Hal begins to figure it out. I don't like surprises that happen just because the script decided to make them happen without doing any work to establish them, and that's not this show. When you look back, the seeds are planted, which is really impressive writing. Hal points out that this is a mass shooting and no one is upset about it, because nobody knows the victims. That's a really good first clue.

The town, Rushville, Nebraska, turns out to be extremely important, because this is where the ring first took Hal. I love that as a fighter pilot he could tell the speed and direction he was traveling in, and that's how he figured out where he was. It is also where he met Abin Sur, the previous bearer of the ring, who died shortly afterwards. Hal has so many great lines in this episode, and Kyle Chandler delivers them all beautifully. Hal has had his hologram keeping an eye on Rushville because he thinks suspicious activity might come up, and there's another reason too, which I'll get to.

Hal's hologram hasn't been backed up in 10 years, and that is brilliant for John Stewart

The hologram is an AI copy of Hal's consciousness within the ring, which he is supposed to back up regularly. He hasn't backed it up in 10 years. Classic Hal, as we're learning. I think it shows he's not only forgetful, but that maybe he doesn't want a copy of himself running around and feels this is good enough. He's not too happy about John Stewart tailing him either.

It's also great for John as a character. Ten years earlier is closer to the time John idolized Hal Jordan, so it almost creates a devil and an angel for John, and they're both Hal. On one side is the childhood hero version who still loves his job, loves life and loves himself. On the other is the jaded Hal who does not like John. I think it's a beautiful idea that John has to deal with both of them.

The hologram also says that lanterns don't have trainees for their own sector. File that under mystery number one: not only how does John become Hal's trainee, but why is he Hal's trainee?

Mystery three: someone shot Hal Jordan point blank in 2026

Now for the devastating mystery three. In 2026, someone has shot Hal Jordan, which again feels like Watchmen, and I love it. I wonder if that was Tom King's idea or Damon Lindelof's. Watchmen is really celebrated as a comic but never did particularly well with the mainstream, and comic people love it, so I love that element in this show.

Someone shot Hal point blank, standing right in front of him. Who could do that, and how? Hal seems to be sitting in the same spot we saw him in 2016, and that has to mean something. Clearly Hal hasn't seen John Stewart in a very long time, and kudos to the actors for selling the passage of time; it does feel like 10 years later. John grew the goatee from the animated series, and it looks really good.

We also discover Hal doesn't have his ring. I love the shot where John wipes the snow from his hand. Did someone take it? That shouldn't be possible. The ring should go to the next bearer, which should be John. So where has John been, why aren't they together, and what happened between these two men? That's mystery number three. Even though I'd spent only an hour with Hal, I really did feel so sad to see him sitting there alone in the snow.

Why Hal Jordan fans should give Lanterns a chance

I know a lot of Hal Jordan fans are probably disgusted by this development right now, but I beg you to give this show a chance. In the back half of the season, when they really start to dig into mystery number three, the show levels up like you wouldn't believe. It's some of the best superhero storytelling I've ever seen, and it would be a shame to miss that.

We have mysteries one and two to solve first. I'm going to work very hard not to spoil or even hint at anything, because I want you to see the mysteries unfold and play the game of forming your own theories. My one tip is to pay attention to every single thing that happens and every single thing that is said, because this show doesn't waste anything.

Take Hal's story about how he got the ring. It seems to have a lot of flourish and colorful aspects, but every single thing Hal says is crucial for multiple reasons. One part that caught my attention the first time I saw the episode is that Hal says Earth didn't have a Green Lantern before him and was not being protected by the Guardians. So Hal has always wondered why Abin Sur was even there.

The sheriff, a rancher's militia and a mysterious benefactor

The bulk of this episode takes place in 2016 in Rushville, where Hal clearly has a crush on the sheriff, and I think she likes him. I love when Hal says it's the way she hates me; I feel it too. But she's married into a family with a lot going on. The father runs a big ranch and has put together a militia, and his son is both his lawyer and the sheriff's husband. They have a son, and considering the flirtation between Hal and the sheriff, when I first saw him I wondered if that was Hal's kid.

The family has a mysterious benefactor, and they get Hal out of jail. Hal jokes that when someone hands him hundreds of thousands of dollars with no strings attached, they tend to be the bad guy, and the son replies that there are strings: they want him to come to dinner. Hal needed a lawyer because he intentionally got himself into a bar fight so he'd be arrested and could interrogate the suspect the sheriff wouldn't let him see. Boy, does she end up with police station rubble on her face.

The rancher, and maybe his benefactor too, doesn't want Earth to be colonized by aliens, because history has shown colonization never goes well for indigenous people. Hal says space is pretty peaceful, and the rancher asks why there are space cops, then. Touché. He believes aliens are not only coming but already here, and that the aliens shot at the football game were the advance team. Did you notice that in 2026, as John drives into town, the ranch, or at least its entrance, has been destroyed? The plot thickens.

John Stewart's night with the rancher's wife makes me suspicious

John Stewart also sleeps with the rancher's wife. I wonder how audiences will feel about having John hook up with the grandma; I think it's an interesting choice. I also don't like this actress very much. All the other actors feel very dynamic and very HBO, but for some reason she feels CW to me. In John's defense, she came on to him, and he didn't know she was married or who she was. I love that Hal is impressed he managed it within 24 hours.

I am suspicious of her, though, because that was very easy. Is this a honey trap set by her husband? And how much did she hear of Hal and John's conversation at the bar? Maybe they shouldn't be talking about such things in public.

This establishes that while John is very by the book, he can cut loose when he wants to. Being rigid is a choice he makes, not something he has to be. I thought it was kind of cool when he lit her cigarette with the ring Hal has him looking after while Hal is in jail. So yes, they are stuck sharing one ring.

A lone Green Lantern and the Men in Black parallel

What surprised me about the Green Lantern Corps on this show is that for all these years Hal has been asked to police a whole sector by himself. Again, I'm not a big Green Lantern fan and don't read many of his comics, if really any, but I've always been under the impression he's more of an enforcer, more about power like Superman, not out solving mysteries like Batman. And Batman doesn't work alone: even without Robin he has Jim Gordon, and Alfred is always helping him. Real life detectives work in pairs too.

So do the Men in Black, which I think this show borrows from heavily, and I think that's a brilliant idea because it makes the Corps easier to understand. Green Lantern fans might hate the parallel, but for someone the idea never really sparked for, it makes me like it more.

I'm not quite sure how Hal has been effective over the years without John, apparently making everything up as he goes. We don't see him talking to other Green Lanterns, even through the ring, and he's not talking to the Guardians, though John apparently is. Hal doesn't seem to need to report to them. I guess they really don't care about Earth. Or do they?

Why Hal stopped wearing the suit, and why the ring runs out so fast

I loved seeing Hal at the roadside food stand where he's a celebrity. I like getting John's origin story while hitting the ground running with Hal; we don't always need an origin story, and we can pick up the important parts, like Hal telling some of his at the bar. Surrounded by all those fans, though, I think it also showed how lonely he is.

I also loved the answer to why he doesn't wear the suit anymore, a question a lot of people asked about the trailers. The show compares it to older workers: when you start a job you want to impress people and prove you're worthy, but once you've been there a long time, know you're good and feel underappreciated, you just don't care anymore. Plus, Hal is stuck working alone, so who is he putting the suit on for? It reminds me of Hal as Earth's IT guy, only called when there's a problem, then back to his desk downstairs alone.

Beyond the job itself, I think the qualification, no fear, makes both Hal and John very lonely. As the sheriff points out, you only have no fear if you have nothing to lose. They both have nothing and nobody. I also love that you have to remember to charge the ring, though it's crazy that it seems not to hold a charge for long. The suspect notes it has been about 48 hours, and I'd have expected a week, a month or even quarterly. How do you fly around space with that? Some Green Lantern fans who like the fantasy elements might not like it, but as someone who likes realistic superhero stories like Batman and Watchmen, I'm all over this.

Kyle Chandler's Hal and Aaron Pierre's John are pitted against each other

I love Kyle Chandler's Hal Jordan and Aaron Pierre's John Stewart so much. So why is Hal pushing John so hard? We know from the trailers he's worried John is his replacement, but I think there's more. I don't think Hal trusts John, because John is always talking to the Guardians. I also think John is disappointed that Hal doesn't like him and isn't quite what he expected. They say never meet your heroes, and I think that dynamic is there.

Brilliantly, conflict is built into their relationship not only from a story perspective but by the Guardians within the story. They should be partners, but instead they're pitted against each other. John is Hal's ghost of Christmas past, and Hal is John's ghost of Christmas future: Hal sees in John what he once was, and John is scared he might become Hal. Neither likes what he sees. And I don't think they like sharing one ring, but who would?

There is more commentary on John as a Black man when he tells his dad Hal is pushing his buttons and his dad says they can't afford to lose their cool. I'm curious how Black audiences and fans of these characters feel about that. The show also reverses the Men in Black dynamic, so it doesn't feel like a ripoff: Hal is the loose maverick and John the hardcore prodigy. I loved when Hal smiled while being arrested, and John makes me feel calm and protected, like I'm in good, strong hands.

They seem to be each other's only friends, and despite the fighting I think deep down they like each other and wish they hadn't been pitted against each other. If only they'd let their guard down and talk. Making John an artist surprised me; my first reaction was "whoa that's Kyle's thing." But I think the goal is to make both Lanterns as dynamic as possible. I don't know if there's room for Kyle, especially with Guy Gardner coming up. And I think Aaron Pierre felt like John Stewart right away and becomes more so as the season progresses. I'd say get to at least episode three before making a judgment call.

Do you have theories percolating already about the three mysteries, or do you need a little more convincing?