Lanterns Finale Explained: Noah Is the Manhunter, Carol Killed Hal, and John Takes Earth

The Lanterns finale finally reveals that Noah is the Manhunter and that Carol is the one who shot Hal Jordan. It also sends John Stewart to claim Earth as his own beat. We had been saying since episode 1 that Noah was the Manhunter, and as I said after the reveal, "I cannot believe that we actually got one fan theory right."

Episode 8 also explains what Sinestro was doing, why Hal asked John not to tell anyone he was in Rushville the night he died, and how John finally learns to fly. Later in this piece I will get into the threads the season leaves open, from the hologram to Parallax.

My Guess Is That Hal Took the Fall for the Rushville Attack

We open in 2016, right after John left Hal at the motel. Carol asks Hal if it was worth it, the same question Hal put to John in episode 5. Hal tells her the outcome is basically a win for the Guardians. Earth's courts will find him guilty of reckless endangerment, and that solves their problem of getting rid of him. It feels like you can already see the ring's influence starting to leave him. Broken and beaten, Hal gets a moment to realise what he has done.

The show does not say much about the prison sentence. From Hal's line acknowledging the deaths in the town, I'm guessing he took the fall. I also think it covers up Zoe's attack and protects the people left in Rushville. The Guardians tried to bury the Manhunters too, so Hal was the perfect fall guy. That is what makes him a hero. It's a lot like the ending of The Dark Knight.

It is still a bit crazy to me that Carol basically blames Hal for everything. She was Zoe's muscle for years and helped her keep control of the town, knowing Zoe planned to kill everyone. The townsfolk were not innocent bystanders either. Zoe had dirt on everyone, and they were covering up bodies for her before Hal and John ever arrived. That includes sweet old Bitsy.

Schlitz, a Storm and a Hostile Diner Greet Hal in 2026

We jump to 2026 as Hal leaves prison. We theorised last week that he could have been sent to Belle Reve, where Lex Luthor is doing time, but this looks like a normal prison in Nebraska. Carol is waiting with a six pack of Schlitz. It was once the top selling brewery in the 1950s but declined after a 1970 recipe change and was sold to Pabst in the 80s. The brand was retired earlier in the year, with the last batch brewed in May. I feel it shows how much Carol has fallen for Hal. She tracked down one of the last cases of his favourite beer.

The landscape shots matter too. The sun rising over Rushville symbolises a new beginning, while a sunset shot shows a storm coming in. To me, that teases things will not stay quiet in Nebraska.

At the diner, the whole room stares Hal down. I'd guess almost everyone there was in Zoe's Manhunter cult in some way, so I wouldn't be too quick to point fingers. It's similar to how John placed all the blame on Hal, and here the townspeople are doing the exact same thing, disregarding how their own actions aided Rushville's destruction. Hal takes it, not because he thinks they're right, but because he is taking responsibility for his whole life. He used to push people away out of fear of losing them. He said in his eulogy it was always easier to fly than stay on the ground. Now he can't fly away from his problems. The town's hatred runs to leaving filth on his lawn, which, as Hal says himself, takes some time and effort, and Hal adds that he knows it was Bitsy.

Carol Stands Up for Hal Before Noah Is Revealed

One thing I love is that Carol defends him. She tells Rushville she lost more than anyone, yet she forgives Hal, and he deserves peace. Off the top of my head, I think that bar his dad, she's the only person who has ever defended him. Almost every time anyone in the show refers to Hal, it is negative. Back in episode 1, she clocked that Hal wasn't fearless because he was brave, but because he was lonely. The hologram admitted last week that this was true.

Their relationship grows. Carol doesn't want Noah to know they are together, but Hal is pretty sure Noah already knows. She invites Hal to one of Noah's games as a couple. That is sweet, but it carries a dark undertone, because we know the stadium is where Hal will die.

On game day, Hal dances around the house to Nick Lowe's 1979 song Cruel to Be Kind while getting Earl's food ready. Then a Molotov cocktail smashes through the window and traps him inside. He wakes in a concrete room with the same scar John got from Zoe's healing in episode 5, next to Zoe's cocoon. Noah kneels beside him. He wishes he could have saved Hal without revealing what he is, and says his mom can't know, because she doesn't realise he knows what he is. My big question is whether he healed Earl as well.

We Called Noah as the Manhunter

We joked about Noah being the Manhunter from the moment we saw him, but I only started taking it seriously after Zoe's cryptic message to him in episode 5. The biggest hint for me was Noah wanting to get into politics in episode 6. I was half joking when I said it would be the perfect career path for a Manhunter, and it turns out it is. Damon Lindelof did something similar in Watchmen, with a senator's son eyeing Dr. Manhattan's powers and the White House.

Out of all our wild theories and comics research, we got the biggest reveal right, and it had nothing to do with the source material. I still think some of the diversions were intentional, to stop us looking too hard at Noah. The shot closing the scene, with Noah's face half in shadow, symbolises the duality of his identity.

Sinestro Builds Noah a Fear Lantern

In the present, Sinestro tells John that Noah broke him out of prison and brought him to the dead world. Noah has been using his grandmother's tech, including a portal Zoe built to visit the world she destroyed because she felt guilty. I saw similarities with Carol, who also returned to the scene of the crime. I think it shows not everything Zoe told John was a lie. She just couldn't overcome her programming.

Sinestro calling Zoe the grandmother caught my ear. If you put a space in the middle, it could be a play on the leader of the Manhunter cult from the comics, who came to Earth during the Middle Ages, recruited humans, and developed technology to take revenge on the Guardians. That is clearly a path that could lie in front of Noah. She may even have created him as a fail safe.

After John waterboards him in the lake contaminated with fear gas, Sinestro reveals Noah wanted a lantern much like Hal's, powered by fear. Sinestro insists it can recharge John's ring, but the hologram stops him. The pair are basically the angel and devil on John's shoulders. Charging the ring means losing his mentor, but refusing means a fight with the Manhunter could be badly lopsided.

Sinestro calling fear the evolutionary intelligence feels like a subtle nod to Parallax, the entity of fear. We theorised last week that Zoe's fear gas could be some form of Parallax. In the comics it spreads fear until planets destroy themselves, which is pretty much what happened here. It's entirely possible the gas was part of Zoe's deal with Sinestro. In the comics, Parallax was imprisoned in the Central Power Battery, causing the yellow impurity. If Sinestro has contained Parallax in this lantern, that is bad news for John. It would explain why he seems to hold his breath as John goes to recharge.

Hal Refused to Kill Noah, but the Hologram Says Charge the Ring

Hal had followed Noah to the slaughterhouse, found the portal and met Sinestro, who urged him to kill Noah. Hal refused, thinking Noah might not have to be a genocidal android. Sinestro tries to win over the hologram, which tells him he always talks too much. I find it so funny how transparent Sinestro is when he switches to John.

John works out that Noah wanted the lantern for revenge on the Guardians. Asked why Noah didn't just take Guy Gardner's ring, Sinestro says it is because Noah has feelings, which he sees as weakness. John refuses the lantern and they leave Sinestro to rot. On the way back, the hologram changes its mind. Hal asked John to keep his visit quiet to protect him, it says, and the line comes bluntly: "Charge the ring or die." The dilemma is whether John gives in to fear or appeals to Noah's humanity.

Noah's Car Ride With John Ends in a Request for Mercy

Noah is waiting at the slaughterhouse, beats John and takes the ring. In the car, he asks why John killed Zoe. John says Zoe wanted him to, which could explain her smile. It's a lot like Butcher and Hughie in The Boys. Noah doesn't buy it, and I can't believe I'm saying this, but I agree with the Manhunter. Still, I don't think John is fully manipulating him. This is probably what he has told himself for 10 years.

At a crossroads, both physical and symbolic, Noah drives to the stadium. He says he didn't burn Hal's house, but admits he killed Hal to stop him telling Carol about the portal. He nearly cries, which shows he has a conscience. John says that after a long time he couldn't tell where he ended and his programming began, but if he could ask who he is, he could answer it. We said in episode 6 that if Noah was the Manhunter, he would be the perfect parallel to John, and saving him could ease John's guilt over Zoe. Add it to the theory confirmed pile.

Noah admits he wishes he had a normal life, but the other side of him gives him ideas about power. Then he sets the ring on the dashboard. Our Lord of the Rings talk has been about resisting temptation, and I guess that makes Noah like Gandalf, maybe. He then asks John to kill him after his last game, for the same mercy he showed Zoe. That a Manhunter would accept death shows Noah is more human than machine, at least for now. I actually think this is one of the most original ways to defeat a comic book threat we have ever seen.

Carol Shot Hal the Night He Asked Her to Run

At the game, Carol stands alone facing the bleachers where Hal sat. Like Hal, she kept everyone at a distance out of fear of losing Noah. John glances at the sky as he approaches, which I feel calls back to his belief that birds were the Guardians watching him. Carol mentions satellite camps, an interesting choice given Zoe's satellite lasers, though I'm definitely overthinking that.

John says his mother held her breath his whole childhood, and that Carol must have been scared for Noah daily. She admits she was terrified. In flashback, Hal tells her he knows what Noah is. Carol says Noah is the only one, and that after Zoe regrew her pinky she came out of the procedure pregnant. It's a bit like Looper, with Emily Blunt raising the Rainmaker. It seemingly implies Noah is at least somewhat human. Hal says they must leave, mentioning a friend in Guadalajara. That could be a nod to Kyle Rayner, but I feel it's more likely a luchador from Guadalajara who goes by the Spanish name of Green Lantern. Carol spirals and shoots him mid confession of love.

This confirms what we raised about Carol's episode 6 conversation being a confession. To be fair, there were about three characters left. It also shows the real Hal wanted to protect Noah, not kill him.

John Tells Guy Gardner Earth Is His Beat

Carol says she needed to know if she was raising a monster. John tells her Noah gave up the ring and killed Hal out of love, and that his fear of himself shows he could be good. Carol touches Hal's shoulder in memory, then watches Noah throw the winning touchdown.

John summons Guy, who notices the spray painted graffiti on his signal we spotted a couple of episodes back. John says the ring is his, then dares Guy to take the unsanctioned lantern. Guy backs off, which surprised me after Superman, and could show he knows John is better. John says the Guardians chose Guy because he does whatever they say. Guy can take the stars; John will take the dirt of Earth. His message invokes the Manhunter's crystallized heart he handed over, and the Guardians' mistake. He also tells Guy to lose the gold tooth.

Hal's Final Words and John's New Oath

The hologram returns and says John didn't need him. Hal's gut tells him John will be better at the job than he ever was. His last advice is not to be afraid of being afraid, the lesson we theorised John would learn. When John says Carol's last words were I love you, Hal replies, "I love you too, Junior." That got to me a bit.

John puts something in Hal's vault, gives Maggie her cash with a note reading "I'm still sorry," and embraces his family, who have inherited Earl. His new oath vows to embrace his fear, and he flies at last. I thought this was an excellent way to bring John full circle.

The Hologram, Sinestro and Noah Could All Return

I don't think the hologram is gone. We can't trust Sinestro, and John created a bird construct in episode 2 without the ring. In Green Lantern: War Journal, John recharged a dead ring with his own will and brought his sister back as a sentient construct, which they could do with Hal.

If the lantern holds Parallax, charging it could free it, maybe with John as host, as Hal was in the comics. Sinestro has a forge and could build a yellow ring. I would be shocked if he isn't the main threat next. I'm assuming John locked the portal in Hal's vault.

As for Noah, I honestly don't know, but I stand by the golden rule: "Never trust a robot." He has the cocoon, the satellite lasers and the fake Hector Hammond are unaccounted for, and I do think there could be other Manhunter babies. I think the Guardians might honour John's deal, but they will have something up their sleeves.

I really enjoyed this finale. I didn't like the start of the season, but I felt it was the perfect slow burn, and Kyle Chandler was awesome as Hal. I haven't been too hot on the DCU, but I'd say it's my favourite project so far.

Do you think Noah will stay good, or will his programming win out?