I keep thinking about this shot of John checking Halās hand.
Thereās no reason he shouldāve expected to find the ring. He knows Guy is the new Lantern, and after John rejected it, thereās no way Lianna was just giving the ring back to Hal.
Kerry killed Hal. The Episode 8 preview already drops several clues pointing to it.
One shot shows Halās house being firebombed with him still inside, possibly burned like John was. We also see him being healed with Manhunter technology, which only works with Manhunter blood. That leads straight to Kerryās biggest secret: Noah has Manhunter blood. She tells him Zoe gave her a miracle (Noah). Kerry loves Hal, but sheās already proven sheāll do almost anything to protect the people she cares about. When Hal needs that blood to survive, she has no choice but to reveal the truth.
The problem is Hal doesnāt let things go. After heās healed, he realizes Noahās secret is too dangerous especially with Noahās political ambitions. He canāt risk Noah ending up like Zoe. So he confronts Kerry, possibly at the stadium where it all started, and tells her heās going to expose Noah or hand him over to the Guardians.
This mirrors Zoe and Abin Sur. Zoe didnāt necessarily want to kill him; once she realized he was the only one who knew her secret, she chose the safest option. Kerry faces the same choice. She loves Hal and doesnāt want to kill him, but she believes she has to, or heāll never stop.
That would explain the preview scene of Kerry āfindingā Hal and putting her hand on his shoulder a quiet apology rather than pure grief. It also fits her asking John in the diner, āAsk me if I killed Hal,ā nearly breaking down, and the hologram of Hal jokingly telling John that Kerry did it.
Hal may have even met John one last time and told him not to tell anyone, possibly because he already sensed danger and didnāt want John caught up in the secret.
So why did Kerry call John at all? Probably because of the safe. She needs to know whatās inside it maybe a message from Hal revealing Noahās secret before she can feel secure.
This scene in Lanterns had me crying š John really sat there listing every reason he hates Hal, and Halās immediate response was just, āAlright, take it easy.ā š
Okay so this theory actually tracks more than people want to admit.
Liannaās been in Johnās life since he was a baby. Thatās not acoincidence.
The Guardians supposedly picked him as Halās replacement years ago, but the way she talks to him is not how a distant cosmic boss talks. She pokes at his dad, his pride, his need to prove himself. Same playbook Sinestro uses on Hal. Two different rooms, same exact move: turn them against each other.
Thatās why John being the ābackup planā makes sense. Not backup for Hal. Backup for them. If Hal stays useful, great. If he starts asking the wrong questions or going off-script, they already have a younger, hungrier Lantern theyāve been grooming since childhood. John thinks the ring was always his. Thatās the line they wanted in his head.
Now the part that actually bothers people: how the hell does Sinestro know Johnās name?
Heās locked up in the middle of nowhere. No visitors except Hal. No internet. No Corps briefings. And the first thing he does is go,Tell me about John Stewart.Hal even asks where he heard it and Sinestro just slides past the question. That is not a guy who overheard something in the yard. Somebody told him. And the only person whoās been moving between Earth, the Stewart family, and the Guardians without Hal knowing is Lianna.
Which brings us to why she lost it when Hal visited him.
It wasnāt because Hal ābroke an oath.ā Green Lanterns talk to prisoners. Thatās part of the job. She got mad because Hal went to the one person who could connect the dots. Sinestro already knew the name. If Hal started comparing notes, the whole John is just a trainee the Guardians are disappointed take the ring next time story starts looking like a setup. So she immediately uses the visit as an excuse
What made John's reply here very relatable was that irl most teachers don't teach their apprentice the trade most of the timeš
Who could blame Hal thoš it was a realistic teacher-apprentice relationship they had even though it wasn't a healthy one.
This is what a Manhunter is capable of.
After what we saw in Lanterns Iām starting to understand why the Guardians eventually needed a different approachš
Since the Halogram doesnāt have Halās usual defensive walls up, they can finally be completely honest with each other.
The dialogue in this episode was incredible.
The fact that the Halogram is basically the version of Hal that John always dreamed of and looked up to, while John is the son Hal never got to have⦠that parallel is so damn good.
And āgood arm, kidā hitting the same way Johnās father used to say it? š