Lanterns Episode 3 fleshes out John Stewart's backstory after that shocking first five minutes of the first episode. It seems that John doesn't hail from an abusive household but rather a supportive one. Turns out the Stewart adults were training John to be fearless so that he could be recruited into the Green Lantern Corps. He is finally recruited to be Hal Jordan's replacement by the end of the episode.This episode is important, as it gives John a backstory, which the comics haven't done since his first appearance in the 1970s. While comics did provide broad strokes of his life before his recruitment into the Corps, Lanterns expands upon the fan-favorite character's backstory9 pm.Lanterns - What is John Stewart's backstory in the DCU? View this post on Instagram Instagram PostThis week's episode opens with Abin Sur's ring choosing John Stewart Sr. as a candidate before it selected Hal Jordan. A disembodied voice asks Stewart Sr. if he is afraid, and he answers with a yes. Thus, the ring leaves the house, and the Stewart patriarch suffers a mental breakdown after that. A few days later, one of the Guardians visits the Stewart household and speaks with Bernadette.Bernadette informs the Guardian that their recruitment process is disturbing for humans. But this interaction does reveal something: the Guardians are regretting welcoming Hal Jordan, and Lianna, the Guardian, interacting with Bernadette instructs her to train baby John to be fearless. This is why Bernadette is fine with John Stewart Sr.'s extreme training methods for John Jr.The idea of giving John Stewart a detailed backstory makes Lanterns different from the comics. When John was introduced in the comics, he was an unemployed architect from Detroit who stood up to police brutality and other unjust systems. However, it was Bruce Timm who made John Stewart a Marine9 pm for the DC Animated Universe in the 2000s.The more recent comics have introduced the idea that the Guardians always considered John Stewart an ideal candidate for the Green Lantern Corps. HBO's Lanterns combines different elements of all these comic storylines for John's backstory. But this episode establishes one thing: the ring may have made a mistake by choosing Hal Jordan.The preview for episode 4 sees Sinestro manipulating Hal: View this post on Instagram Instagram PostHBO released the preview of the fourth episode, which will air this Sunday. In that short clip, we see the mentor and protégé turned rivals discuss John Stewart, who is Hal's pupil. Sinestro asks Hal if the latter believes that John is just a backup, to which Jordan responds with a no. Thus, Sinestro is just playing up Hal Jordan's insecurities to use him as a weapon against the Guardians.Moreover. Sinestro also advises Hal to kill John, clearly trying to push his former mentee to a darker path. Thus, the HBO series might be adapting the controversial comic storyline, Emerald Twilight. That storyline ended with Hal Jordan destroying the Green Lantern Corps when the Guardians tried to stop him from restoring Coast City, which was destroyed.What do you think about the DCU giving John Stewart a backstory?