HBO Officially Unveils a Grim DC Plot Point in Its New Sci-Fi Detective Series

One shocking discovery leaves John Stewart with several mysteries to solve From the very beginning, HBO’s Lanterns has been playing around with multiple points in time, fueling easy comparisons to neo-noir series like True Detective and Watchmen. While most of the series’ action takes place in 2016, Lanterns opens on a sequence from 1996 when Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) is a relatively new Green Lantern and John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) is still just a young boy. Hal lost his father at a young age, and that made him fearless enough to accept the Green Lantern ring. We also learn that Stewart was essentially programmed by his parents to be completely fearless so he could one day become the Green Lantern. After a tense episode ends with a literally explosive moment, what’s ostensibly an epilogue takes us further into the future for a shocking cliffhanger set in 2026. Let’s break it down. Spoilers follow for Lanterns season 1 episode 1. In 2016, Hal has been training John as a backup Green Lantern for about two months when the show begins. Quickly, they wind up in Rushville, Nebraska, to investigate a mass shooting at the local football stadium. One of Hal’s notorious gut feelings indica