The season finale of Lanterns, "Dirt and Stars," finally answered the mystery of who murdered Kyle Chandler's Hal Jordan, along with whether or not Aaron Pierre's John Stewart would get his own power ring before the credits rolled. However, aside from those revelations, the real focus was on the bonds between Stewart and Shea Pritchard's Noah Macon, Kelly Macdonald's Kerry Kane and Jordon, but most importantly, Stewart and Jordan.
Of course, their dynamic was cut short when Jordan was murdered in modern-day, with only his less cynical backup consciousness, Halogram, left to pick up where Jordan left off with a disgruntled Jordan.
In a follow-up interview after the finale, Lanterns co-creators Tom King, Damon Lindelof, and Chris Mundy spoke with the Los Angeles Times, and one topic brought up was Hal Jordan's death and the lack of closure it left between him and John Stewart.
Mundy referred to their relationship "as a love story between these guys in a certain way," with Jordan's untimely death the only way for it to progress, even if it's from a new sort of beginning:
"We talked about this thing as a love story between these guys in a certain way, but one of them has to die in order for them to truly come together."
In the final moments of the show, after Stewart gave Nathan Fillion's Guy Gardner his veiled message to the Guardians of the Universe, Stewart and Halogram had one final heart-to-heart. After Stewart told Halogram Jordan's final words, "I love you," the backup consciousness signed off, saying, "I love you, too, Junior."
In this interview, Mundy acknowledged how Halogram, up to that point, had never called John 'Junior,' only ever 'trainee.' How it's "very bittersweet" that the two "don't fully have their moment together" due to the sci-fi circumstances:
"Even over the course of the Halogram being in the show, he never called John 'Junior' ever. He always called him 'trainee.' Until the last moment when he says...'I love you, too, Junior.' There's something very bittersweet about the fact that the two people we spent all that time with don't fully have their moment together."
After Stewart recharged his power ring using his newly crafted oath, it seemed to be the end for Halogram, the last living flicker left of Hal Jordan in the universe. But it doesn't have to mean the end for Jordan.
Doors Left Open for Hal Jordan's Return
As Stewart was interrogating Ulrich Thomsen's Shaal Sinistero, the former Green Lantern told him that "[Halogram] doesn't want you to charge [the power ring]. Because the moment you do...his entire existence is erased."
In another interview on The Midnight Boys, when asked directly about the possibility of resurrecting Jordan, showrunner Chris Mundy answered that, "I have absolutely no idea," before elaborating, "I mean, there's a million what ifs, that's the good thing about fiction, right?"
While not denying the possibility of Hal Jordan's return, Mundy explained their process for writing the show and how they wrote it "assuming there would be a Season 2," without deliberately setting up for it:
"We didn't write toward platforming for Season 2. We always wrote assuming there would be a Season 2. We didn't think of it as a limited series."
Mundy continued, saying there wasn't any elaborate planning for future seasons, but rather a step-by-step approach: "take a look at what you made...and then you go from there," implying that anything can happen at this point, including bringing Jordan back:
"We thought of it, 'this is a show that'd keep going on,' but...it wasn't like 'We've got a great idea for [Season] 2 and 3, so let's layer it in.' Some of it is just: you take a look at what you made...and then you go from there."
As for Lanterns itself and what it has potentially set up to facilitate Jordan's return, Sinestro claimed that he could get Halogram out of Stewart's head and that "If we have your ring, I could bring you back to life, for real." A likely ploy, but it puts the idea of Jordan's return in the air for the future.
As for Halogram's apparent deletion upon Stewart recharging the ring, one clue pointing to his potential survival is that he calls John 'Junior,' something he shouldn't possibly know. Unlike with John, Halogram was always dormant when worn by Hal, to the point it wasn't aware it hadn't been updated in a decade.
But with John, he never mentioned Jordan's nickname for him out loud. The only way Halogram could have known was if Stewart had subconsciously influenced it through the ring, which would imply that he might be unknowingly keeping Jordan alive through him, like the bird.
It wouldn't be the first time Jordan has constructed a sentient human life from a memory using his power ring, having done so before in the comics when he made a living construct of his dead sister, Ellie, in Green Lantern: War Journal. The new writers for Season 2 could easily write around Halogram's survival simply by Stewart willing it.
Whatever happens, be it a prequel, revival, artificial construct, or something to do with Parallax, DC Studios has to know that leaving Jordan dead would be a waste of Kyle Chandler's talents as the character.
