DC Studios and HBO's Lanterns Season 1 just had its finale twist clarified by showrunner Chris Mundy. After eight weeks of theories, rumors, and speculation, Lanterns has officially wrapped up on HBO, ending with Kyle Chandler's Hal Jordan dead and Aaron Pierre's John Stewart becoming a Green Lantern. He did so by embracing his fear, reciting a brand-new tailor-made oath, taking a dead ring off Jordan's corpse, and charging it with a power battery forged by Sinestro.
Mundy confirmed that, "Yeah," the Lantern that Sinestro forged for Noah Macon and was later taken by John Stewart to begin his rogue Green Lantern career was a classic willpower one infused with fear. The DCU creator added that the infusion happened due to the toxin contamination on Antaan's homeworld:
"Yeah. It wasn’t intentionally infused with fear, but because all the water there is contaminated water, there are traces inside of it that do contain it. So yes."
The fear-based nature of Stewart's power battery had been widely theorized by fans, especially after DC Studios officially labeled it the Dark Lantern. That said, the fact that the lantern remained mostly green, not yellow, raised some confusion, which likely won't be addressed until Lanterns Season 2.
This concept has never happened before in DC Comics, and Mundy explained to Entertainment Weekly that it was born from the series' central theme that "true heroism [comes] from understanding that things are frightening and then overcoming them:"
"We talk so much about fear in general over the course of the season, for obvious reasons. Part of John’s realization and even Hal’s through the Halogram was that you need to accept it and embrace it a little bit. Don’t pretend like it doesn’t exist. True courage and true heroism come from understanding that things are frightening and then overcoming them. So it all was born of that."
He described the Dark Lantern as a "physical manifestation" of the message that they touched on "a bunch of different times" throughout Season 1:
"It became a physical manifestation of the thing we were talking about. There’s a Bernadette line in [Episode 3] where she says like, 'Courage is just fear that said its prayers.' We bounced around and touched on it a bunch of different times over the course of the season. Hopefully not in a preachy way, but we tried to layer it in where we could."
Fans will finally see John Stewart in action with his Dark Lantern and Hal Jordan's old Power Ring when he returns on July 9, 2027, in Man of Tomorrow. His solo storyline is expected to continue in Lanterns Season 2, which is now in the works as HBO and DC Studios hope to renew the show.
How John Stewart's New Dark Lantern Could Shape Lanterns Season 2
Co-creator Tom King clarified shortly after the finale that John Stewart was "not a hundred percent a Green Lantern anymore" because his unsactioned lantern had "a bit of fear in it," making him some blend of green and yellow. However, Mundy was the first to confirm that the lantner "wasn't intentionally infused by fear" and that it was merely a consequence of the contaminated water.
That seems to debunk theories that Sinestro was secretly plotting to turn Stewart into one of the first Yellow Lanterns, who seemingly haven't been established quite yet in James Gunn's DCU. In fact, there is reason to believe that Sinestro is actually aiming to resurrect Hal Jordan as one of the first Yellow Lanterns.
Only time will tell how Stewart's use of will and fear will affect him as he moves into Man of Tomorrow and a potential Lanterns Season 2. It stands to reason that it may ultimately corrupt Stewart for the worse over time, leading him to give it up and become the true member of the Green Lantern Corps he is in the comics.
Audiences only spent a few minutes with Sinestro in Season 1, as he was locked away in the Guardians' space prison and later isolated on Antaan's desolate homeworld, but his role was still impactful. Perhaps Season 2 could elevate Sinestro to main villain duties as he realizes what he inadvertently created for Stewart and uses it as the basis to create an entire Yellow Lantern Corps.
