Lanterns theory: Will Hal Jordan-Parallax appear before the Season finale? Exploring possibilities

Only two episodes of Lanterns are remaining, and as that happens, the internet is filled with fan theories about what we can expect from the upcoming two episodes. While some theories are plausible, other fan theories are far out there, given that the HBO series hasn't hinted at the more cosmic side of the Green Lantern lore.

Even though Lanterns includes shoutouts to things like other Green Lantern Corps like Ch'p (squirrel-looking Green Lantern) and Mogo (a planet, which is also a Green Lantern), the Guardians, and Sinestro, the HBO series is mostly grounded. Shoutouts to these aspects are why the upcoming two episodes might also include a reference to, or an appearance by Parallax.

Parallax's history with the Green Lanterns explained:

Before speculating if Parallax appears in HBO's Lanterns, it makes sense to understand the origin of the character. Parallax first appears in the last issue of the controversial Green Lantern storyline, Emerald Twilight. Published in 1994, the controversial comic was set right after The Death of Superman, which revolved around the death and subsequent return of the Man of Steel.

The last issue of The Death of Superman was titled "Reign of the Supermen", which ties into Emerald Twilight. In Reign of the Supermen, two supervillains, Cyborg Superman (who had pretended to be Superman) and Mongul team up and plant bombs across Coast City, Hal Jordan's city. This event breaks Hal, who tries to bring back Coast City using his Green Lantern.

However, the Guardians summon Hal Jordan to Oa, as they describe Hal's actions to recreate the destroyed Coast City as a violation of nature. Hal, who usually respected the Guardians, decides to go to Oa, not out of respect but to gain more power. As Hal flies towards Oa, several Green Lanterns try to stop his advancement.

However, Hal easily overpowers them, takes their rings but does not kill them. As Hal lands on Oa, he encounters his mentor turned arch nemesis Sinestro. Before the events of Emerald Twilight, Sinestro was already imprisoned inside the giant central power battery of the Green Lantern Corps.

For those who don't know, the central power battery looks like the Green Lantern that the Green Lanterns across the galaxy use to recharge the ring. The only difference is that the central power battery is huge. This central power battery is the source of power for all the rings. The Guardians let Sinestro out because he is the only one who has a chance to defeat Hal.

As Hal approaches Sinestro, the latter manipulates his former mentee into giving up the rings he forcefully acquired from other Lantern Corps members. Despite an epic duel, Hal emerges victorious in this fight, and he executes his former mentor. After this, Hal enters the central power battery and absorbs all the power he needed to restore Coast City.

But this absorption results in the death of countless Green Lantern Corps members who were left floating in space. After this, Hal emerges in an armor rechristening himself "Parallax". As that happens, the Guardians transfer their energy into the Guardian named Ganthet, an act that kills them. But this also results in the creation of a new power ring.

Ganthet travels to Earth and hands over the last Green Lantern ring to freelance comic book artist Kyle Rayner. Thus Emerald Twilight establishes that Parallax is a villainous Hal Jordan who killed countless Green Lantern Corps members after the destruction of his city. Something similar happened in the HBO series as well, as Hal tries and fails to save Rushville in the fifth episode.

Will the HBO series adapt this storyline?

I think, no, the HBO series will not adapt the controversial storyline. That's because there is more to the Parallax storyline. Just eleven years after the publication of Emerald Twilight, DC published Green Lantern: Rebirth, which was written by Geoff Johns. In Green Lantern: Rebirth, Johns retcons Parallax's origin.

This comic confirms that while Hal Jordan did wipe out the Green Lantern Corps, he did so under the influence of the entity called "Parallax". The entity version of Parallax takes the form of a yellow bug, representing fear itself. Over the years, Parallax has controlled several DC heroes like The Flash.

While Lanterns does mention "fear" and "afraid" by name, the idea was still based on the human idea of fear, rather than the cosmic idea of Parallax. In fact, the HBO series has not even confirmed if this version of Sinestro has formed the Yellow Lantern Corps or not. In the comics, Sinestro and Parallax have allied on several occasions.

However, it must be noted that even if Parallax and Yellow Lanterns share the same emotion, i.e. fear, the Yellow Lantern Corps rings are not powered by Parallax. The HBO series has not done the legwork to establish Parallax and Yellow Lantern Corps, to adapt the Hal Jordan Parallax storyline from the comics.

What can we expect from the HBO series?

Ever since its announcement in January 2023, Lanterns has been described as a pastiche of another HBO hit, True Detective. The True Detective influence became clearer last month as the first episode of the DCU series premiered on HBO. But one surprising element of the series is its inclusion of several things from the Green Lantern comics.

Even if we don't get the classic android Manhunter look, the classic Green Lantern villains are involved in the HBO series. Lanterns showrunner Chris Mundy even addressed if we are getting any more references to the comic book lore in the upcoming two episodes this week in the Collider interview:

"We talked about it, but I don't think there was ever… In retrospect, a lot of times there are things in a writers’ room they talk about that they're like, “Oh, wow,” things that have legs for a long time that you just didn't end up doing, or even things you wrote that just there was too much tonnage of stuff and you pulled."

Addressing Sinestro, Mundy continued:

"So, we talked about it, but we felt like our story was full enough, and we felt like we just wanted to keep burrowing into John and Hal. And we knew we were using Sinestro in the season, so we knew people that were waiting to really feel those kinds of presences, that was coming. You get a hint of him early, and more of him a little bit later, so we felt like that was enough. And the other, it wasn't going to serve the drive; it was going to take away from the emotional stuff that we were doing with Hal and John."

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Do you think Parallax will appear or be mentioned in any one of the remaining two episodes of Lanterns?

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