Who killed Hal Jordan in Lanterns? Decoding the murder mystery at the heart of the series

It seems that DC Studios has another hit in its hands with Lanterns. Just like Peacemaker Season 2, the HBO Green Lantern series pulls in viewers who want to solve the central mystery in the heart of the series: Hal Jordan’s murder. If you remember, the first episode had one of the most compelling hooks, a flash-forward to 2026, which reveals that Hal Jordan has been murdered mysteriously.

After that flash-forward from episode 1, the HBO series doesn’t return to this plot-line until episode 6. That’s because episodes 2, 3, 4, and 5 were set in 2016, and the sixth episode returns to 2026. This week’s seventh episode only further added to the mystery as John teams up with Hal’s Green Lantern ring’s backup consciousness, which takes Hal's appearance to investigate the former Lantern’s murder.

The latest Lanterns episode also reveals another possible suspect: Sheriff Kerry Kane. While Kerry does seem to love Hal, we think that she killed Hal out of compulsion, rather than malice. We think that she may have killed Hal to protect her son Noah. Here are the possible events leading to Hal’s death.

Lanterns theory – Here are all the events that we believe happened before Hal Jordan’s death:

One of the earliest scenes in the midseason trailer is Hal walking out of prison as Kerry Kane waits for him. This scene will possibly occur in the finale. The sixth episode already confirmed that Kerry and Hal were dating. But the couple’s happiness is short-lived as Hal suspects that Kerry and Billy’s son Noah could be a Manhunter.

Thus, Kerry might be the one who pulled the trigger on Hal, but she wasn’t involved in every event that led to his death. Here is the possible timeline about how Hal Jordan’s murder could play out in the upcoming Lanterns finale:

Hal’s house is attacked

The official episode 8 preview includes a scene of Hal’s house being firebombed. We believe that this attack is the first step in Noah’s plan. He teams up with some Rushville residents to firebomb Hal’s place. This event could burn Hal’s skin, much like what happened to John Stewart in the fifth episode.

Hal is healed

After this attack, Noah takes Hal to a mysterious building to heal his mother’s new boyfriend, much like Zoe healed John. He could heal Hal using the same machine that Zoe used for John Stewart. We can even see the same mark on Hal’s arm as the one we saw on John’s arm in the fifth episode.

Noah expects that this act would serve as a reminder for Hal to stay out of his way. However, Hal is too stubborn.

Hal is not ready to let this go

The closing minutes of episode 7 establish that Hal is someone who never lets go of anything, sometimes to his own detriment. The HBO series sets this up with the ball young Hal holds on to even if he is beaten up by other players in his baseball team.

The need to hold on even applies to the way Hal clung to the ring in the 2016 portion of Lanterns. Hal even broke his oath and almost killed John if it meant that he got to be the Green Lantern of Earth.

Therefore, it would not be surprising if Hal continued to find ways to bring Noah to justice, with Kerry Kane in the crosshairs.

Kerry kills Hal to protect Noah

The third act of episode 7 was set in a desolate alien planet that’s filled with a fear toxin. It seems that the toxic gas can impact the inhabitants through the rainwater which can make them experience their worst fears as soon as the water touches their body. This is why Hal has a poncho: to protect himself from the rain.

The terror suspect from the first episode, "Waylon Sanders", turned out to be an alien and even mentioned climate change. Hal realizes that Noah could do the same to Earth that the Manhunter did to the desolate alien planet. This is why Hal is determined to stop Noah from achieving his political ambitions.

But Kerry, who loves her son, would be forced to shoot Hal. We even see her hand on dead Hal’s shoulders in the Lanterns Episode 8 preview at the 22-second mark. This act could be her apologizing for shooting him. As for why she calls John, there are two possibilities.

The two reasons why Kerry needs John:

John has been blackmailed by a waitress since the sixth episode named Maggie, because she saw John punch Hal in the café at the start of Lanterns Episode 6. John has not revealed to Kerry that he punched Hal. But we believe that Kerry is someone aware of this contentious interaction, and she intends to somehow trap John.

There is another possible explanation of why she called John: Kerry wants to know what’s inside the voice-activated safe. The safe can be opened only if Hal commands it to open. This is why John uses Hal’s Green Lantern ring’s backup consciousness in Lanterns episode 7. She wants to check if Hal had written any note exposing Noah as a Manhunter.

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As of now, this theory should be taken as speculation. We will get the exact answer only when we catch the Lanterns finale this Sunday.

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