The season finale of Lanterns arrives on HBO next Sunday, and a first look at the episode has just been released. In it, Sinestro tells John Stewart that "fear can be the most powerful force in the universe," potentially hinting at the formation of the Sinestro Corps.
Short of a huge misdirect, we also get what feels a lot like confirmation that Sinestro "[knows] a way" to bring Hal back from the dead. Is there a clone of Hal somewhere out there? It certainly seems that way based on the Manhunter-related mark on his arm, though that will raise the question of what the point of this whole story has been if the former Green Lantern is resurrected and sticks around as John's mentor.
The promo ends with Hal giving John a pep talk; could this be the moment that he takes flight and embraces his future as a Green Lantern? If that is the plan ahead of next summer's Man of Tomorrow, then the finale has a lot of heavy lifting to do.
In an interview with Deadline, Aaron Pierre opened up about how "The Jordan Boys Legacy" further explores the dynamic between John and Hal:
"We used to describe each other as these characters, like two dogs who lived in the same household, who, at home, they would maybe fight and tear each other apart, but when they were going for maybe a walk, and another dog entered the equation, bam, they were a unit, and there was nothing you could do to disrupt or destroy that unit. They become dangerous when they’re together. The dynamic is unbreakable, and as soon as they’re on their own, they’re tearing each other down and apart."
"I think his understanding of who Hal is certainly evolves over the course of the series. I think that there is a very there’s a very sincere respect and a mutual brotherly love there between the two of them. I think a truth that John understood at a certain point in the series [is that] he’s never gonna fully know Hal, but what he can do is understand who Hal is fundamentally at his core, at least. He may never understand all of the nuances of who this individual is, but he can discover who this man is at his core."
"And once that curiosity was satisfied, I think he was very at peace with everything that the two of them had been through — the highs, the lows, the in-betweens, the moments that felt like purgatory. I think he just finds peace with it, because he knows who this individual is at his core, no matter what decoration or nuances surround it."
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.
Seven episodes of Lanterns are now streaming on HBO Max.