Lanterns Episode 5: John Stewart Rejects the Ring While Kerry Kane's Gotham Clues Point Toward Batwoman

John Stewart just rejected the mantle of Green Lantern following a brutal, all-out episode that felt like a finale, even though three episodes remain. And on top of that, there is a real possibility that Kerry could be Batwoman.

Before getting into the recap, I want to dig into who Kerry Kane actually is and how she might connect to the DCU's Batman corner, because what looked like fun nods at first started adding up the more I looked at it.

Kerry Kane's 2007 Arrival on the Run Raises a Falcone or Maroni Crime Family Theory

The episode opens in 2007, showing Kerry Kane arriving in town for the first time while on the run from some kind of organized crime situation. The men sent to kill her were dispatched by an unnamed boss, and I am thinking these guys could be working for either the Falcones or the Maronis, the two infamous crime families from Batman lore, since Kerry is from Gotham.

The name Kane itself carries weight. It is not only the surname of Bob Kane, who created Batman, and Gil Kane, a co-creator of Hal Jordan's Green Lantern, but Kane is also a name I see as deeply tied to Gotham and Batman's history within the fiction itself. We already know from earlier in the season that Kerry has mentioned both a Barbara and a Jim back in Gotham, which naturally brings to mind Jim Gordon, the police commissioner, and Barbara Gordon, his wife and daughter, with Barbara Gordon going on to become Batgirl.

Batwoman in the comics is Kate Kane, Bruce Wayne's cousin, and Bruce's mother Martha's maiden name was also Kane. Both Batwomen I am aware of, Kate Kane and the original Batwoman Kathy Kane, have first names starting with K, just like Kerry. I don't think it's a coincidence that we have a character surnamed Kane from Gotham who isn't related to those Kanes, and I don't think it's a coincidence that her name starts with a K either.

The Falcone or Maroni Feud Theory and Whether Kerry Kane Is a Fake Name

If Kerry is part of that well-to-do Kane family, you could imagine some kind of war breaking out between the Kanes and the Falcones or Maronis, maybe over shady, corrupt dealings gone wrong. The men hunting her mention that her father snitched, so perhaps he got tangled up with the Maronis or Falcones over money, got caught, and ended up ratting them out, which is why they have now come for him and his family in payback.

I initially wondered if Kerry Kane might be a made-up name, especially since she wants the men hunting her to believe she is dead. We see the Manhunter let one of those men go after taking his pinky, telling him to spread the story that Kerry is dead, and it would be strange to go by a public name like Sheriff Kerry Kane if you're supposed to be believed dead. But in this episode we see Kerry introduce herself as Kerry to the Manhunter directly, so maybe she made the name up on the spot, or had already decided to use it while living in hiding.

Comic Book Parallels Between Kate Kane and Kerry's Hunted Backstory

To be clear, I am not saying Kerry Kane is the DCU's Batwoman, but there are coincidences beyond just the name and the Gotham connection. In the comics, Kate Kane has been hunted by criminal gangs before. In one story she is dishonorably discharged from the military, something she would have in common with John Stewart, and that discharge leads to her being attacked in the streets by a gang until Batman swoops in to help fight them off, which inspires her to become a vigilante.

There is an even bigger comics story where Kate Kane is pursued by a group called the Religion of Crime, led by her own twin sister, a cult and criminal cartel built around a crime bible that calls for sacrificing Kate to destroy Gotham. This is a very lived-in universe, much like how Hal Jordan was already established as Green Lantern by the time we met him. Maybe we'll learn Kerry was once Batwoman, or maybe we'll see her become Batwoman later, though I'm doubting the latter given the actress playing Kerry is 50 and reports point to this Batman being in his late 30s.

The Manhunter's Backstory Parallels Kerry's Own Life on the Run

I loved the parallels drawn between Kerry and the Manhunter in this scene, with the Manhunter herself being chased and wanted dead. The Manhunter talks about someone giving her a chance, which we later learn was Evan Sir, the Green Lantern who brought her to Earth to save her from the Guardians. Being the only person in the galaxy who knew where she was, the Manhunter returned the favor by killing him because she couldn't risk him having a change of heart and ratting her out later.

This backstory explains why the town is in such good shape, with an empty hospital and general prosperity, because the Manhunter provides miracles in exchange for protection and loyalty from the townspeople. They do whatever she asks not purely out of fear, though there is some of that, but mostly because of what she gives them in return, like curing cancer and keeping people healthy. In a lot of ways, she's like their god.

Hal Jordan Leaves John Stewart to Burn Alive in the Car

In the previous episode we learned that both Hal and John know the truth about the Manhunter, and Hal is angry that John hid it, though John insists he wasn't hiding it, just unsure. We then see Hal jump out of the car again, and something genuinely disturbing happens next: Hal leaves John in the car to burn. The script includes a deliberate line where John tells his mother on the phone that he isn't sure Hal intended for him to get burned like that, since the car hadn't caught fire when Hal was still there.

I think that line is there for a reason, meant to signal to the audience that Hal didn't leave John there to die, even though it's fair to ask what else he thought was going to happen. We know deep down Hal finds John impressive, so maybe he thought John would get out quickly and that wrecking the car was just meant to keep him sidelined long enough for Hal to do what he needed to do, not to actually blow up or catch fire. It was reckless regardless, and John has every right to be angry at Hal for leaving him there.

Hal then returns to the water tower and summons an earlier version of himself via the ring, and it's notable that younger Hal says he likes John while older Hal is busy crashing John into a telephone pole during their fight. There's a real sense of selfishness and self-preservation in Hal wanting to distract everyone, including the aliens pursuing the Manhunter, so he can capture her himself and bring her to Oa to prove he deserves to keep his ring. We also see an interaction between Hal and Kerry that makes clear she's protecting the Manhunter while knowing full well how dangerous she is, and there seems to be some history between Hal and Kerry that isn't fully explained, maybe from a fling during Hal's early time in that town after first getting the ring, though I'm honestly not certain.

John Stewart Kills the Manhunter and Earns the Ring After Being Burned Alive

John gets burned alive in that car, which is brutal to watch and something genuinely painful for him to go through, but the Manhunter heals him afterward and he finally receives the ring. What follows is a big, brutal fight between him and Hal. Separately, Hal's own fight with the Manhunter's men and the cloud of darkness inside the water tower, night vision goggles included, was really well done.

Back to John: he kills the Manhunter, which is difficult for him given the connection they had. There's a striking moment where, seen through the crosshairs, the Manhunter smiles at John because she knows she's about to be shot and knows it's over. That scene shows John doing what he feels he has to do, proving he really is the weapon the Guardians want him to be, someone who completes the mission regardless of how he personally feels about it, echoing back to that earlier interview in the abandoned mall.

John Stewart Rejects the Ring After Confronting Lianna Over Hal's Betrayal

John brings the ring to Lianna, the Guardian, and when she asks about Hal Jordan's status and John says he's alive, her expression suggests she was hoping John had killed him instead. John then delivers a speech about how Hal betrayed everything, the oath, his code, all of it, in order to keep the ring. In that moment, I think John realizes he never actually wanted the ring himself. It was his mother and father who wanted it for him.

Having seen what the ring and its power can do, how it can corrupt someone like Hal, I think John realizes he has essentially been used as a weapon, a human version of a Manhunter in the Guardians' eyes, and he rejects it all. That rejection, in my view, is exactly why he's such a strong candidate for the ring, the same way the best people to hold power are often the ones with no interest in holding it. We already know Guy Gardner eventually becomes Green Lantern, and John Stewart does too, since he's confirmed as the Green Lantern in the upcoming Superman film Man of Tomorrow, so it will be worth watching how the next three episodes get him there.

Responding to Criticism That the Show Doesn't Feel Like a Comic Book Series

I am loving this show, and while there's a loud minority of people who hate it for reasons I understand all too well, there's also a smaller group whose objection isn't political. Their argument is that it doesn't feel like Green Lantern, doesn't feel like a comic book show, and instead feels embarrassed to be one.

To that, my honest response is that I don't see it. This is a show about aliens hunting an android in small-town Nebraska while two space cops with a magic ring try to stop them, and they get attacked by clouds of darkness. In my opinion, that is a very comic book premise, and a very Green Lantern one.

What do you make of the apparent history between Hal and Kerry, and do you think Kerry Kane has any real connection to Batwoman?