Lanterns Episode 1's Ending Twist Raises All Sorts Of Questions About The Dc Universe

HBO

Spoilers for the "Lanterns" series premiere ahead.

"Lanterns" didn't waste any time delivering a twist. The series premiere ended with a bombshell when John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) found his former mentor Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) dead. That will no doubt come as a big shock to fans, not only because Chandler's hero is one of the stars of the show but because it raises some major questions about the larger DC Universe.

The DCU kicked off in earnest with James Gunn's charming crowd-pleaser "Superman." But the latest installment in the saga, "Lanterns," is a much more grounded affair informed by some of the best prestige dramas of the last decade — most notably, "True Detective" and "Slow Horses." In the spirit of both series, the "Lanterns" premiere has introduced its central mystery by way of a murder, only this time, it's one of the show's stars.

The new HBO series follows three separate timelines: 1996, 2016, and 2026. In the 2016 timeline, we see Chandler's Jordan training Pierre's Stewart as they head to Rushville, Nebraska, to investigate some strange events in the small town. The bulk of the show looks like it will be set during this timeline, but at the end of Episode 1, we flash forward to 2026 in a scene that looks like something straight out of the excellent "True Detective: Night Country." Stewart once again arrives in a snow-laden Rushville to rendezvous with Sheriff Kerry Kane (Kelly Macdonald) outside a high school football field. This time, he's traveling solo, and when he and Kane venture into the facility, we see why: Hal Jordan is dead.

HBO

After John Stewart arrives in Rushville at the end of "Lanterns" Episode 1, he asks Sheriff Kerry Kane, "Does anyone else know?," to which she replies, "Just the groundskeeper." Once on the bleachers, Stewart and Kane find Jordan propped up in the same spot he and Stewart sat 10 years prior. This time, however, he has a bullet hole in his forehead and is frozen solid. What's more, when Stewart reaches down and dusts the snow off Jordan's hand, his Power Ring is missing.

What are we supposed to take from this? After all, Episode 1 delivers a lot of information about Lanterns and the DCU more generally, so adding this shocking ending might seem a little bewildering at first. Indeed, Jordan's death raises several questions. First of all, why isn't Stewart a Lantern in 2026? Though he spends most of this scene with his hands in his pockets, we do see both his left and right hand briefly, and there's no Power Ring on either. Thanks to "Superman," which is set in 2025 (James Gunn seemed to confirm as much in a reply on Threads) and features another Lantern in Nathan Fillion's Guy Gardner, we know there are multiple Lanterns on Earth by 2026. So, why isn't Stewart one of them? Was his training in 2016 unsuccessful?

This gets to the biggest question of all: Who killed Jordan and took his ring? Consider that perhaps Guy Gardner isn't one of the many Lanterns on Earth. Maybe he has something to do with Jordan's death and is wearing his Power Ring. Is Guy Gardner — DC's angriest superhero — the bad guy of this series? Well, it's possible, but there could be other explanations.

Warner Bros.

"Lanterns" is DC's riskiest bet yet, and Episode 1 is the perfect example. The premiere suggests Earth only has one Green Lantern. In the 2016 timeline, we watched as Hal Jordan tells John Stewart how he got the Power Ring. A couple years into his Air Force test pilot career, Jordan got yanked out of bed and sent to Rushville, Nebraska, where an alien named Abin Sur had crash-landed. Sur is, as Jordan recalls, the Lantern "responsible for maintaining the peace and sovereignty of sector 2814," the sector of the galaxy where Earth sits. Sur was its protector. Solo.

In Jordan's retelling, Sur gave him the ring as it had "chosen" him to be Sur's successor. Again — one Lantern dies, one individual takes their place. In 2026, we know Guy Gardner is active as leader of the "Justice Gang" in "Superman." Did he get his ring prior to Jordan's death? If so, how? Or, did Jordan leave Earth to protect another sector, clearing the way for Gardner to take over? If so, why didn't Stewart take over?

This is to say nothing of the location where Jordan's body is found. Rushville is not only where Jordan was chosen to be a Lantern, It's where he and Stewart discover aliens in the 2016 timeline. The town is therefore a significant place. As the man himself says during his bar sit-down with Stewart, "My gut always told me that crash was no accident. It says there's a s***storm en route, I make sure there's a lookout to tell me when it's f***ing coming." Well, now that Jordan's body has been found in the same area, it looks as though a s***storm is indeed on the way.

"Lanterns" is streaming on HBO Max.