What if General Hospital’s Ethan is against Sonny? 5 signs he’s playing a dangerous game (and 5 ways he could take him down)

General Hospital fans saw Ethan Lovett returning to Port Charles on Friday, April 17, 2026. While he was discovered by his half-sister, Lulu, at the pier, he next visited Sonny to ask for a job as the temporary replacement for Jason. Both Sonny and Kristina preferred to trust him as Luke’s son, while Lucy was delighted to see him back.

Soon, Sonny entrusted Ethan with Lucy’s protection from Sidwell, while Ethan suggested Sidwell’s elimination. Sonny held back on any bloodshed for the time but tasked him to stay alert. On the other hand, Ric suspected that Ethan was infiltrating Sonny’s organization to ruin the mob boss from within.

5 cues about Ethan’s moves in favor of Sonny on General Hospital

1) Offering to fill Jason’s void

Steve Burton as Jason Morgan on General Hospital | Image: ABC

Ethan Lovett (Nathan Dean) arrived in Port Charles and at Sonny’s door to ask for a job. He told Kristina (Kate Mansi) about his assumption that Sonny’s organization was facing a void due to Jason’s absence. He asked Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) for any appropriate employment for him. While Sonny needs an enforcer, Ethan showed willingness to handle such matters for the mob boss.

As GH fans witnessed, Ethan’s direct approach and his connection with Luke Spencer (Anthony Geary) endeared him to Sonny and Lucy. While Sonny did not let him fill the vacuum created by Jason (Steve Morgan), the mob boss agreed to employ him despite misgivings from his brother, Ric Lansing (Rick Hearst).

2) Claims about Sidwell's vendetta

Carlo Rota as Jenz Sidwell on General Hospital | Image: ABC

Ethan gained Sonny’s attention by naming a common enemy. He claimed to have a serious dislike for Jenz Sidwell (Carlo Rota) since the latter had targeted his mother in the past. He even offered to do Sonny’s dirty job of eliminating the mobster for both of them. With this, he made his reason deeply personal.

While Sonny stalled any plans of killing Sidwell, he looked shocked to find Ethan eager to cross the line. As longtime GH fans may remember, Ethan was not connected to brutal bloodshed in the past, something Sonny is likely to remember as well.

3) Leveraging Luke’s name and reputation

General Hospital's Ethan takes advantage of Luke's reputation | Image: ABC

Despite Ric’s warnings, Sonny insisted on trusting Ethan as the latter is Luke’s son. Lucy Coe (Lynn Herring) shared a similar sentiment when she expressed delight at Ethan’s return to town. Since Sonny has immense respect for Luke and Laura, he extended his trust to Ethan.

Ethan was seen letting Sonny express Luke’s name and the familial connection. While Sonny wanted to look out for his late best friend’s son, Ethan used this advantage to leverage his closeness with Sonny.

4) Involvement with Lucy’s protection and Kristina’s friendship

Lucy and Kristina from General Hospital | Image: ABC

As fans saw, Sonny tasked Ethan with Lucy’s protection, explaining the latter’s mission to expose Sidwell. Since Ethan had already expressed his enmity with Sidwell, Sonny felt it right that he should look out for Lucy’s safety when she is around the mobster.

Earlier, Ethan had met Kristina at Sonny’s house and welcomed him back. They alluded to their past relationships and complications, while Kristina advocated in favor of Ethan’s employment under Sonny. As a Spencer, Kristina trusts him. As such, Ethan currently enjoys the confidence of Sonny, Lucy, and Kristina.

5) Coincidental timing and inexplicable actions

Ethan's timing is coincidental on General Hospital | Image: ABC

Ethan’s arrival in town surprisingly coincides with Cullum’s (Andrew Hawkes) need for more operatives. He arrived after Sonny lost Jason to the WSB, while Cullum and Sidwell are on the verge of an impending fallout. His sudden need for a job in Port Charles at this time seems questionable.

GH fans may have also noted that Ethan made some calls to unknown receivers. At the pier, he promised someone that he'd be there every day. Later, after securing his position, he seemed to realize that Sonny was testing his loyalty and played it right. As such, he might have a secret handler yet to be revealed. That may land Ethan in a double-edged danger.

General Hospital: 5 ways Ethan can destroy Sonny

1) Gain trust to get inside intel

Ethan receives Sonny's trust on General Hospital | Image: ABC

As fans have seen, Sonny seemed intent on trusting Luke’s son despite Ric's warning him. Moreover, Ethan passed Sonny’s test of the quick funds and secured his new employment. So far, Sonny has trusted Ethan with Lucy’s safety when she meets Sidwell.

After discharging his duties as Lucy’s protector, Ethan may get closer to Sonny. This may help him get access to more information about the mob boss’s business, strategies, and associates. Gathering intel on the mob boss will secure Ethan’s position and make him powerful.

2) Pass on information to his secret handler

Nathan Dean as Ethan Lovett on Gnereal Hospital | Image: ABC

In an extension to the previous point, Ethan may gather vital information on Sonny and his organization and pass it on to the people for whom he may be truly working. As mentioned before, he was seen calling someone to confirm his meeting location.

As such, he may soon be in a position where he takes advantage of Sonny’s faith, and he would access intel about the Corinthos business. He may then leak this to the person he called to meet. Fans may wonder whether Ethan was planted by Cullum to derail Sonny.

3) Get close to exploiting Sonny’s weaknesses

Maurice Benard as Sonny Corinthos on General Hospital | Image: ABC

Armed with Sonny’s faith in him and his reputation as the late Luke’s son, Ethan may get too close to Sonny. He may make a plan to take down the mob boss by exploiting the latter’s weaknesses. Since family is Sonny’s weakness, Ethan may target any of them.

As Ethan has had a history of a love-hate relationship with Kristina, where the latter had a crush on him but framed him for crimes, he may find Kristina easy to manipulate. Since Kristina trusts him and likes him, she may become Ethan’s first target as Sonny’s weakness.

4) Eliminate other trusted members close to Sonny

Rick Hearst as Ric Lansing on General Hospital | Image: ABC

Another way to destroy Sonny would be to isolate him from his trusted aides. On one hand, the WSB has removed Jason from Port Charles, leaving Sonny without his most-trusted hitman-cum-friend. With more people leaving his side, Sonny will be vulnerable to attacks.

Currently, Ric does not trust Ethan and has been warning his brother. This may challenge Ethan’s position at Sonny’s organization. If Ethan can eliminate Ric or distance him from Sonny, he may secure his position. That may make his plans easy if Ethan wants to target Sonny.

5) Commit a crime and framing Sonny

Sonny may lose by trusting Ethan on General Hospital | Image: ABC

As mentioned before, Ethan played up his dislike for Sidwell and secured the task of having to oversee Lucy’s safety from Sidwell. He displayed an intention of killing the mobster, which Sonny talked him out of doing. If Ethan plans to ruin Sonny, he can kill Sidwell, claiming Lucy’s danger, and let the authorities know that Sonny employed him.

In such a case, PCPD will take the enmity between the two mobsters as the motive, and Sonny may be put away for a long time. This will leave Port Charles free of both Sidwell and Sonny, for Cullum to take over the town.

While Ethan’s position as a Cullum aide or working against Sonny is a conjecture, watch out for all-new episodes of General Hospital weekdays on ABC and Hulu.