In last night's episode of Lanterns, Hal Jordan briefly visits Sinestro in his cosmic prison and is told that the only way for him to remain a Green Lantern is to kill John Stewart. He refuses, but seems somewhat intrigued by his former mentor's suggestion that he find a way to disgrace his replacement and get back into the good graces of the Guardians of the Universe.
Hal is clearly afraid that he's going to be replaced, but the straw that breaks the camel's back comes when he and John confront "Hector Hammond." The Green Lantern learns that John is working with the Guardians to betray him, but gives the former Marine a final chance while discussing the Manhunter's identity.
Hal figures out that it's Zoe, and realises John has been keeping her secret from him. With that, he crashes the car to, at best, incapacitate him and, at worst, kill him. Has his fear got the better of him?
Talking on the Lanterns: The Official Podcast, Lanterns writer and producer Breannah Gibson confirmed that Sinestro is manipulating Hal in their opening exchange.
"Sinestro is his teacher, and it doesn't matter how much older you get, somebody that you used to look up to, that mentored you, has the power to manipulate you and trick you into doing things for their bidding," she revealed, saying the car crash shows Hal at his "most selfish, most asshole."
"He knows that John knows it's Zoe. And then John lies. That's it for him. I think that's the final straw. And he's like, 'Sinestro was right,' which is a crazy thing for him to ever say," Gibson continued before revealing what exactly Sinestro's endgame is.
"Where Sinestro tells Hal, 'Use John, be vulnerable in front of him to get him close to you, and then you can betray him and find out who the Manhunter is and use that Manhunter as leverage to get on the Guardian's good side. Obviously, Sinestro's saying that to him because he's like, 'I can't have you not be the Green Lantern anymore. Who's gonna break me out of this jail eventually?' He's setting up the dominoes."
"He doesn't give a shit about Hal Jordan or John Stewart, really. He wants to get out of jail. And he's saying that transparently," Gibson said. "John wholly underestimates Hal in this moment, and he pays for it because he's hurt Hal so much that Hal reverts to this super selfish nature, feels immediately hurt, and John's doing the same thing to him that he did to Sinestro."
"So he's got to wrap this car around a tree and jump out, fly away, and he's going to now implement Sinestro's plan."
Between this and the episode's yellow title sequence, it appears Hal may be about to head down a villainous route. Whether he becomes Parallax, a founding member of the Sinestro Corps, or this is all a misdirect remains to be seen.
Still, with Sinestro believing Hal will eventually break him out, it's feasible that a potential Lanterns Season 2 could follow the villain creating his own fear-based Corps and squaring off with John. Hal may really be dead in 2026, of course, but something is exciting about the prospect of John having to fight a Hal who decimates the Corps and returns to Earth with the rings of his fallen Corps members.
Lanterns follows new recruit John Stewart and Lantern legend Hal Jordan, two intergalactic cops drawn into a dark, earth-based mystery as they investigate a murder in the American heartland.
Alongside Kyle Chander and Aaron Pierre, Kelly Macdonald, Garret Dillahunt, Poorna Jagannathan, Nicole Ari Parker, Jason Ritter, J. Alphonse Nicholson, and Jasmine Cephas Jones round out the cast.
Four episodes of Lanterns are now streaming on HBO Max.