‘Lanterns’ Reveals the Manhunter’s Identity in Shocking Twist

We are halfway through the inaugural season of Lanterns, and we’ve finally learned the answer to one of the show’s biggest questions. We saw Hal and John at odds and brought back together, only to be at each other’s throats once more. Despite some pretty big revelations, the episode still felt focused on character, something that has helped separate it from a run-of-the-mill affair. We know more about Hal, John, and even the villainous William Macon, even if HBO gave in to fear by not allowing him to fully hang dong onscreen, but I digress. This week, we learned the identity of the Manhunter.

The show kicked things off by finally letting us see the conversation between Hal and his former mentor, Sinestro, that was teased two weeks ago. It’s really fun to see Sinestro and Hal interact like this, but I’d be lying if I said I haven’t been a little underwhelmed by him so far, especially considering that he’s listed as a main cast member. It’s only been four episodes, so there’s still time for him to do more, and I’d bet dollars to donuts that Sinestro and his imprisonment will tie into the Guardians and their plans.

Sinestro tells Hal that he should kill John Stewart, but first, he must trick him into thinking he trusts him. But Hal doesn’t take the advice too well, as he realizes that’s what Sinestro did to him. The next day, John is visited by the Laura Linney Guardian, who orders him to recite the oath the next time he’s wearing the ring, which will make it his, not Hal’s. It’s a pretty villainous turn for Linney’s character, though not that surprising if you know the Guardians,

John and Hal, with the support of Sheriff Kane, tunnel into Macon’s ranch, trying to find the building they think houses the Manhunter, but it’s got something else instead: alien weaponry. Pretty suspicious for folks who hate aliens! John and Hal are captured after Macon’s men’s weapons neutralize the power ring, and Macon forces John to draw him nude while his wife, Zoe, and Hal watch. There, Macon calls the person who gave him the weapons his “boss.” He also makes it clear he knows Stewart has been shtupping his wife, Zoe, which happens again later in the episode.

Stewart and Zoe end up having a heart-to-heart post-coitus, where she explains that she can’t really share everything she knows with John, something that sets off his… Lantern sense? Detective sense? Green intuition? Anywhoo, Zoe leaves, and her car is blown up by a space beam, which leads to one of my favorite Hal moments so far, as he emerges from his hotel room and urges John to point in the direction of the weapon instead of giving directions.

Hal finds a satellite, and, with the help of Sheriff Kane, they trace it back to Atlas, a company owned by Hector Hammond, and I’d like to commend the show for hooking me like an absolute sap with that name drop. Hammond is a big-time Green Lantern villain, and I thought the show had managed to cast him without revealing who was playing him (Peter Sarsgaard played him in the 2011 film). But alas, it was a red herring, as the man they found was just pretending to be Hammond and was actually working for the Manhunter. But who is the Manhunter?

When driving away from the fake Hammond, Hal and John chat, with Hal figuring out not only that Zoe is the Manhunter, based on John not freaking out when she “died,” but that also meant John knew the alien’s identity and didn’t share it with Hal, something he did not care for, as he jumps from the driver seat of his car once again, which got a big old laugh outta me, and left John to crash into a telephone pole. It was a pretty thrilling ending to a great episode.

I’ll be honest that I wasn’t 100 percent sure Zoe was the Manhunter, even though they were talking about it, but it was confirmed in the Making Of special that followed the episode. Regardless, the show still has plenty of questions left to answer, like why the Manhunter is hiding from the Guardians to begin with, especially if it’s so powerful. Before we learned the alien’s identity, Macon revealed that the Manhunter had healed the town and him in exchange for protection from the Guardians, but I’m not buying that story completely.

Macon may be doing that for the Manhunter, but Linney’s Guardian showing a more antagonistic side this episode made me think she’s involved somehow. I may be giving the show too much credit, but we know Linney basically learned about racism when trying to recruit John’s father. She could then use that to her advantage, helping Macon and his crew in their quest to hide the Manhunter, because if they do, then the universe doesn’t know that Sinestro was right and that the Guardians created the Manhunters, which led to the deaths of millions, if not billions.

Yes, Sinestro began the episode by claiming that if Hal brought the Guardians the last living Manhunter, they would be happy with him, but Hal also tells John not to trust the Guardians, and let’s face it, Hal shouldn’t be trusting Sinestro, either. It could also be a situation where Linney is more of a rogue Guardian, something that has happened plenty in the comics, and is on her own mission. With four episodes left, it just seems silly to think that one of the more central mysteries has been solved, especially when the show gave us another big tease of what’s to come.

Folks involved with the show have claimed that the show is important to the DCU as a whole, and there was a significant nod to that this week. Hal, while explaining how lonely he is (something that’s established several times this episode), notes that there is only one human Green Lantern. That’s a big deal given that another main cast member on the show who hasn’t seen much play is Guy Gardner, a human GL who made his debut in 2025’s Superman. He’s yet to show up on the show, but which timeline will he appear in?

The bulk of the show takes place in 2016, and while he could be introduced, we’ve seen a preview where he notes that he first met Hal when Hal was in a prison cell. He’s explaining this to John Stewart, who is sporting a goatee, so it likely takes place in the present-day timeline. So, what happened between then and now that made the Guardians deputize another human Green Lantern? And did they do that because they thought the universe needed more protecting, or were they trying to clean up a mess made by one of their own?