Hal and John's fallout in Lanterns Episode 5 might be a deception

The fifth Lanterns episode, "Lights Out", could easily serve as the series finale. The episode wraps up the 2016 portion of the HBO series. The official promo for the sixth episode confirms that the series will return to 2026 after the last frame of the first episode. The latest episode ends with John Stewart walking away from the Green Lantern Corps.

Now, a new fan theory is suggesting that John and Hal's brutal fight in the last act of the episode was faked. But this Lanterns theory is inaccurate, because there is one detail that fans have missed.

The latest Lanterns fan theory explained:

Before we go into the fan theory, let's look at the one scene that fans are pointing at, early in this episode. Hal Jordan finally brings out the ring's backup consciousness, which looks like his younger self from 2006. The old Hal from 2016 asks his younger self to survey Rushville for Zoe. The last time we hear the ring's consciousness is through a voiceover, as the backup locates the Manhunter.

According to this theory, Hal and John resolve their differences, and decide to investigate Lianna, whom they suspect is Sinestro's ally. While this theory is still viable, this is not where the fan theory stops. The fan theory suggests that the Hal Jordan who fought John Stewart in the motel room at the end of the episode is the ring's consciousness and not the real one.

They point at the Spanish subtitles that describe the Hal in the fight scene as "clone". According to this fan theory, this "clone" dies in 2026, as the real Hal Jordan is out there alive. But this fan theory is inaccurate.

We already know what the Lanterns' construct looks like:

There are two pieces of definite evidence that prove that the Hal Jordan we saw fight John Stewart in the motel room is the real one. Firstly, Hal in the motel scene is old, while the ring's backup consciousness looks young. The first episode reveals that the consciousness is from 2006.

The episode also makes a point to show that Hal's ring is drained of power as he reaches the motel by flying a helicopter. Thus, the consciousness should've withered away like the construct we see in the image above, as the ring has low power. Thus, John did fight the real Hal Jordan in the motel room and overpowered him.

What does the ending of episode 5 mean?

The fifth episode marked a pivotal moment in the series, as John finally recognizes the corrupting influence of the ring on Hal Jordan. John sees the carnage around Rushville and finally decides to reject the offer to become Earth's Green Lantern. Geeta Vasant Patel, who directed the episode, broke down John's decision in TheWrap.

According to her, John taking the long walk to the bar to meet Lianna was him looking at the wreckage of the town, and reflecting back on his life. Patel went on to say:

"So when he’s walking through the wreckage, and then he has this moment where he turns around and looks back, and there’s only half of his face there. That is the moment where we were thinking, he is a broken man. This is all that’s left of him. He’s looking back – ‘No, I’m not going back. I’m not becoming the person I’ve been. I’m going to be someone else.’”

This week's episode also finally clarifies why neither John Stewart nor Hal Jordan is wearing the ring in the 2026 portion of the first Lanterns episode.

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