The new Lanterns trailer may have just provided fans with real confirmation of one of the show's biggest Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) theories. The HBO series is entering the final three-episode stretch of its first season, and five episodes in, it's already wrapped up most of the story it was telling back in 2016, Rushville, Nebraska. That leaves the 2026 present day, and the mysterious decade in between, still very much unexplored. Hal is shown dead in that present-day timeline, but fans have cooked up a bevy of theories about how he might still be alive, including one where he's actually a clone.
The latest Lanterns cloning clue comes about a minute and a half into the midseason trailer that just released. At the 1:23 mark, Hal is shown lying on the ground (not in his normal attire), breathing heavily, while someone stands in a doorway behind him.
It's not clear who that second figure is, but the stature, the shoes, and even the jacket all look a lot like Hal's, which has fans wondering if it's some version of Hal himself standing there. The other main hint is the new marking on Hal's arm.
Fans online immediately started lining up screenshots side by side, showing the circular mark on Hal and how it looks nearly identical to the one John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) was left with in Episode 5, "Lights Out."
That mark on John came from Zoe (Poorna Jagannathan), the secret Manhunter, who came from a line of robotic beings who served as intergalactic peacekeepers long before the Green Lantern Corps existed in DC lore.
In Episode 5, Hal traps John in a burning car wreck, and his skin burns off before Zoe "saves" him, restoring the damage with her own alien technology. It's not a simple heal, either. The show makes a point of showing Zoe regenerating John's flesh from a sample of his own tissue, and that process is what seemingly leaves the circular scar on his arm.
Upon reflection, it would be more odd for these two marks not to be connected, rather than some type of coincidence. One (non-clone) theory is that this is simply the mark of a Manhunter, and maybe Hal had a similar experience over his 30 years as Green Lantern.
But this marking, above all else, goes back to the idea of Hal being a clone. If there's been any form of alien manipulation to his body, there's no way to rule out that there are multiple Hals.
The reason for Hal having a clone being such a popular theory to begin with is because, in Episode 5, when a character tells John, "They replaced me, they'll replace you," HBO Max's Latin American subtitles labeled the speaker "Clon De Hal," while the English version just said "Hal."
This theory also leans on something the show calls the Halogram, a backup of Hal's consciousness stored in his ring, which can act as an independent sentry. The Halogram was summoned in Episode 5, but audiences didn't actually see him much, or at least that's what the showrunners want them to think.
Put it all together, and the idea is that the "Hal" John actually fought wasn't Hal at all, but the Halogram construct standing in while the real Hal slipped away. This calls into question so much, including where Hal goes from here and whether the dead 2026 version is truly him or not.
Is Hal Jordan Truly Dead in Lanterns?
If the body Kerry (Kelly Macdonald) and John found really does turn out to be a clone or Halogram double, it changes the entire shape of how Lanterns will end and even the future of the DCU.
At this point in the story, Hal is no longer the Green Lantern in 2016, but neither is John, who turns down the ring, despite his whole life being dedicated to one day wearing it. Part of the next three episodes will surely fill in those gaps between 2016 and 2026.
In the present, a living Hal walking back into that story would be an immediate reckoning: who deserves the ring, and what does it mean that Hal let everyone, John included, believe he was gone? At this point in time, Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion), confirmed to pop up soon, is Earth's Green Lantern, and there's no doubt he could be impacted by Hal (and John) returning.
The bigger question is: what has Hal been hunting for ten years, and did he ever plan on coming back?
If the Hal that's presented dead is truly gone, though, the show has already sneakily planted a leading suspect. Noah Macon (Cary Christopher), Kerry and Billy Macon's "son" and Zoe's own "grandson," might secretly be a Manhunter finishing the job Zoe started, and Hal's death might be the assignment she left him.
