The ‘Lanterns’ Mid-Season Trailer Is Here To Give You More Questions

Wondering and theorizing about how Lanterns will shake out story-wise has been a real blast. I love me some comic books, have read lots of Green Lantern comics, and have gleefully used what I’ve learned to speculate. I’ve mostly been wrong, and that’s okay! Because while hypothesizing is plenty fun, this show is great, and every decision they’ve made has been phenomenal. And at the end of this last episode, I genuinely had no idea where it would go next.

I’m going to do a quick recap of the last episode, so if you aren’t caught up, maybe stop here. Additionally, if you are caught up and would rather remain in the dark before this weekend’s new episode, which I kind of wish I did, you should probably stop now as well.

The fifth episode of Lanterns saw the 2016 storyline come to a close. The identity of the Manhunter was confirmed; William Macon died fighting Antaan, Antaan died fighting Hal Jordan, and Zoe (the Manhunter) was killed by John Stewart as she was trying to kill Jordan. A lot of folks were croakin’! Our titular Lanterns were split up in a way that feels like there’s no coming back, and Stewart gave up the ring, leaving it and its lantern with the Laura Linney Guardian. Got all that?

I left that episode very unsure about what would happen next, and that was a very exciting feeling. But dammit, I’m only human, and when I saw that a midseason trailer was released, I clicked on it without thinking twice. I’m usually someone who won’t watch the “Next Week On” segments on HBO shows, but I love Green Lantern, and there are so many questions I’m excited to get answers to. After the new trailer, I… have even more questions (not that that’s a bad thing, mind you)!

Right off the bat, we get lots more Guy Gardner. It seems that he did get Hal’s ring after all. I was uncertain how that would happen, given that Guy referenced finding him in a jail cell in an earlier trailer, but it seems like the answer to that was a simple one: Hal went to jail after the destruction of Rushville. So, it appears Guy does have his ring and will be forced by Stewart to help investigate his murder. That investigation looks like it will take them to the far reaches of the universe, and back to Sinestro (who I am very excited to see return).

While some questions remain about Hal’s murder, one thing seems certain, and that is that he is most sincerely dead. I’ve seen people theorize the dead him would have been the hologram/backup of him stored in his ring, but I don’t think you can have a funeral for a hologram. That said, stranger things have happened, so let’s maybe not close Hal’s casket just yet. At the very least, we’re going to see more of his backstory, given that we see him as a kid in the new trailer, so there are still things left to learn.

While I still have lots of questions (what is that structure Guy and John are venturing to? How did Sinestro get out of his sciencell??) my main one involves Rushville. It seemed like Zoe was the one keeping that town running, to the point where she seemingly had a hand in making Kerry Kane sheriff. If the Manhunter is gone, how has the town kept operating, and how is Kane still in that position? Could it just be that they found ways to move on without the powerful alien, or is there more going on with Kane than we realize?