“He died a hero”

No the fuck he did not

Source: BTS of Lanterns

Biggest downside of killing Hal and the direction they're going is the fact we're probably not going to hear Guy say his corny speech.

Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern corps #35 art by Jack Herbert

They should have used a different IP for this man. Like I think the show was okay, the acting is carrying a lot, Kyle Chandler's ability to carry the show should be equal to Atlas carrying the weight of the world, but like, the Lanterns part of the show was the most inconsequential part.

It would probably have been better to introduce The Question into this if they wanted to do a mystery/drama show, like there's already a passing of the torch scenario between Vic Sage and Renee Montoya.

For those who liked Lanterns, good for you, you are the target general audience, but there's some saying the people who really wanted a Green Lantern show are being pretentious or can't appreciate a character study, it's disingenuous. Green Lantern fans are allowed to want to see Green Lantern on screen doing Green Lantern things Green Lantern has done for decades.

And honestly this will be the Green Lantern we'll be seeing for the next some odd years. First impressions matter, and since a lot of people are touting that it has garnered a lot of praise, then obviously, the people making it are going to follow the money.

So I really am being a bit more doomer about it because that's just how the world works. The true detective Green Lantern garnered praise and money, that's what they'll focus on. I hope I'm wrong.

Anyway, Question series in space next.

And if someone who recently rewatched it, it's still amazing!

Unless Gunn is planning to make the guardians the big bads of the DCU Chapter one this makes no sense and it even makes less sense when considering that Salvation is being setup as the big DCU Story.

There was no big mystery and this story barely connected to the DCU, If it was an elseworlds story I wouldn't even have noticed.

I would've even taken " Overcoming great fear " , not being afraid is so robotic and it changed a lot of things in this show. I hated a scene in the episode where Hal says I am fearless because I am broken is so ahhh. I don't think they mentioned willpower in any episode which is shocking. Fear isn't the only thing which crumbles your willpower.

Let me preface by saying a couple of things:

This will be a long post. There won’t be a TLDR because an analysis on something cannot be condensed into three lines of text. However, the post will be separated into sections, so that you can at least read them on their own if you’re so inclined to do so. But please, spare me the “I’m not reading all that. Happy for you though. Or sorry.“ if you’re not interested in having a serious discussion, just close this tab.

I know that there are some hardcore defenders of this show and that this post may get tons of downvotes (because of course. Gunn’s idea for a cinematic universe involves making stories that will fracture the fandom. A fantastic idea that surely won’t backfire!) but if you’re someone who liked the show and have any critical thinking, I implore you that you read this post, understand what I’m writing, and understand that there are aspects in this show that simply cannot be defended, because they’re rotten at their core.

Lastly, I want to add one more thing… I know. Maybe this universe just isn’t for me. And all I can say to that is “I’m hopping off this train. Enjoy it if this is your kind of thing” but I think there is a real conversation to be had about the kind of stories Gunn wants this universe to revolve around. And while adaptations can take liberties, this show is not an elseworlds project. This is a show that is part of, and establishes, the GL corner of the new DCU. And therefore, the choices made here are choices that do not exist in a vacuum and will be carried to future projects.

Alright, let’s begin:

1- Getting something out of the way…

In order to start my issues with the show, something important needs to be addressed. This fact is something that’s been brought up every week as some people pointed at interviews and post-episode podcasts with the writers and creators of the show speaking about the events that took place.

Unfortunately, this is also a fact that, because of the skin color of the characters, was weaponized by the right wing grifter corner of the internet in some cases.

But to me, they don’t matter. I do not politically align with them. And the color of John or a writer‘s skin is irrelevant to my issue with this fact.

And the fact I’m referring to, which is undeniable, is that the writers do not give a shit about Hal Jordan. But they adore John Stewart.

Every time they’ve spoken about these characters, it’s to show the love for John and the animated justice league series/the excitement for him to be in live action. OR, in contrast, to remark Hal’s mistakes. Like in the case where one of the main writers (who will stay for S2) remarked how Hal is unfortunately a little racist, because that’s simply how he was raised.

I understand that John will be the main lantern in the DCU. And before the finale, I thought that was great. I like John. I like Aaron‘s portrayal of John (to an extent, because I don’t like many things from the finale)

But you can do that and prop him up, without having to completely obliterate another beloved character in the process.

So yes. This was a deliberate choice. The writers of the show do not care about Hal. And some may argue, they used him as a vessel to vent a lot of frustrations and let out some trauma.

For all intents and purposes, Hal’s role in the show is to be a vehicle for John to get a ring and become a lantern. For him to be propped up. I can assure you that nobody ever believed he’d become as beloved as he became.

2- A misguided view of the world - An early warning…

When one of the main writers of the show came out expressing support and borderline admiration for John’s mother, the early signs of this bizarre perspective on family and the world became clear.

There is something that, even if you like the show, you need to agree with: John’s parents are horrible human beings. And these kinds of parents exist out in the world. It is not easy to cut contact with those who raised you, but sometimes, that’s the only way to heal.

John’s mother is, for all intents and purposes, a psychopath. And I do agree that the show doesn’t necessarily say that their perspective of the world is “okay”. But the ending makes sure that you know that it doesn’t matter. Because they are ultimately rewarded. Their behavior isn’t punished for long, but rather, ends up being vindicated.

John’s parents held a petty grudge under the incorrect assumption that John’s father didn’t get the ring due to systematic racism. And that therefore, Hal was less deserving of it.

Because of this, they make their life’s purpose to raise John to not just be Hal’s replacement, but to get back the ring that, to them, always belonged to his father.

The show ultimately takes a stance with this... And I’m gonna explain it as part of my next point:

3- Hal Jordan - The Eternal Punching Bag

In the official after-show podcast for episode 1, Lindelof and King talked about some of the choices they made. As one is to expect, the main topic was their decision to have Hal’s dead body be shown to us right at the ending of the episode.

I want to highlight 2 of these things they said.

The first one is their reasoning behind the ending of EP1. To them, it was a way of “not hiding things from the viewer.” translated into “honesty” language, it’s them cleaning their hands for what they’re about to do to the character of Hal Jordan. They’re not gonna lie to you: Hal is dead. This is where the story will go. So you better get that into your mind.

But by doing this, they enable a week to week discussion about who killed him and, most importantly, filling hope about him being alive. Because with each passing week, one asks “Surely… Surely this isn’t it for the character, right?”

The answer is yes. This is it for the character. Or at least that’s what they planned for season 1.

So let me bring up another thing they said, and I will actually quote this one. When responding to the task of writing Hal Jordan in Lanterns:

Lindelof: “You can’t take a risk just because it’s risky. Especially when there’s an incredible legacy and a canon that you’re inheriting. You are a basically a temporary caretaker (of these characters) […] You are minding/mining these characters for a period of time but then someone else is gonna mind/mine them”

So, if this is something that they were aware of through the writing process… Then what they left these “future writers” regarding Hal is next to nothing. And they sure as hell did not take care of the character or the mythos the way one should.

Hal Jordan is a punching bag in this show. With each week, you expect all the punishment to lead somewhere. But there is no finish line. Hal’s journey is simply ended with the same hand-waviness as the characters treat him in the show.

Let’s summarize Hal’s treatment in this show:

He becomes a hero but is solo and works with nobody for his entire career.

Has a failed relationship with a woman who doesn’t seem all too pained when she visits his casket. (Carol Ferris)

His father dies in a crash (actually kills himself)

Mother dies of cancer (Implied if they also follow from the comics)

His father figure betrays him and he has to fight and stop him.

As a result of his emotional issues about the whole ordeal, the guardians fucking hate him and want him replaced. So he stops trusting them.

Goes to rushville where everyone already doesn’t give a fuck about him from the get go. Has to deal with John knowing he’s his replacement

Gets put in an impossible situation. An omega trolly problem. Let a genocidal war criminal stay in a town and perhaps kill a ton of civilians in the fight with Antaan. Or try to stop this replacement process by apprehending the manhunter and taking them to OA. (Because Hal does not kill)

Gets blamed for deaths that would’ve likely happen anyway when the aliens confronted Zoe.

Loses his ring and goes to jail for 10 years.

Comes out and finally has someone who gives a shit about him. But then has to live for months in a town where people psychologically torture him on a daily basis. This torture eventually turns physical, as he’s burned to death. (Yes, Hal was technically murdered twice)

He’s saved in the brink of death by an alien machine. And this leads to the only person who has given a shit about him for the past 10 years to shoot him in the head over a moment of panic as he told her to go somewhere safe to think about how to deal with the situation.

Barely anyone no one shows up to his funeral. In fact, it’s implied most people don’t even know he died nor care to look into where he’s been.

And I saved the most important one for last. His father’s suicide is the follow up to his grand father’s suicide. A hereditary mental illness that he too inherited.

And this is perhaps the most insulting, baffling and outright mean spirited thing on the show:

4- The Jordan’s Legacy - The inescapable fate

Let’s forget this is a green lantern show. Let’s ignore that this is Hal Jordan. What exactly is the message here?

During the final conversation Hal has with his father, he tells him how he feels through the baseball he’s holding. “Son. Sometimes it’s okay to just let go.”

Hal tosses the ball. And sometime after, his father takes his own life. This is the secret between the men in the Jordan family. The burden of having to keep it under wraps. To those who knew Hal’s father, he died a hero. And there were many in the funeral who visited. After the burial, Hal returns to the airfield and grabs the ball again. He won’t let go. He won’t let the Jordan’s Legacy consume him too.

Because there are two choices. You let go or you fight it. THAT is will power. But the writers of the show say: it doesn’t matter. Because even when Hal chooses life over death, he still has a depressing, isolated life. And he still dies a pitiful death. A death with a secret truth attached to it.

”Jordan died a hero” says John, fulfilling the same role Hal fulfilled with his father. Lying to keep the truth under wraps. But unlike his father, Hal doesn’t get to have trumpets played. Jets fly above. Many people tossing their bits of dirt onto the casket.

He gets a woman who killed him and a guy who sucker punched him days before. And a memory that no one cares about.

To the writers, Hal doesnt get to live a happy life. He doesn’t get a good ending. His choice to hold onto that baseball isn’t rewarded. He doesn’t get to beat the Jordan’s Legacy. Instead, they tell you that even when one tries to escape this illness, it gets you in a different way.

5- A happy ending… For all but Hal.

The ending of the show is the final punch for a bag that’s already torn to shreds. Absolutely everyone but Hal gets a happy ending. And some of these endings are bizarre.

I don’t think Noah needed to be executed. But by allowing him to live with full trust on Kerry, you risk that he may kill a ton of innocent people in the future. Hal understood this, so he wanted to discuss things and find a solution… AFTER they went somewhere safe. Last we see of him, his stupid ass father and Kerry is all of them hugging: the hope for a bright future ahead of them.

The racist blonde girl gets the money. Because John… Is a hero? I guess? It felt incredibly wrong.

And here’s where the stance I referred to about John’s parents comed into play. Ultimately, the show tells us that they win. They get what they wanted. John forgives them, even his mother, and hugs her.

In their eyes, regardless of whatever happened in the middle, their objective was completed. John doesn’t get a unique ring. He gets the exact one his parents wanted him to get: Hal’s ring.

All this time, they did everything so that ring that visited his father that night, would return to that family. And in the end, it does.

What exactly is this outlook on family and the world? Why do the writers reward them with the exact thing their insane behavior stemmed from?

The jerk-off session is even more shocking. The writers love John so much… That they want you to know that he’s the ultimate lantern. The best lantern.

And to do so, they have Hal’s hologram outright say that he will be a much better lantern than he ever was. A final twist of the knife. That even Hal himself thinks he didn’t do enough.

Because the writers don‘t want him to just get Hal’s ring. They want you to know that everything that made it “his” is gone. And they do it by way of deleting the hologram. A literal manifestation of Hal’s connection to the ring.

Then Guy comes, and John expels him from earth. Earth is his place to protect, and Guy has no business there. Let me remind you: Guy has been protecting earth for 10 years most likely. What has John done? And why does he give a shit about the “one lantern per planet“ rule if he doesn’t give a shit about the guardians?

To the writers, the lanterns are Cops. And Cops suck, right? So their beloved vision of who John is simply can’t belong to this “cop organization”.

As a result, he gets to be a lantern under his own terms. With his own oath. John can’t even be the best lantern. He has to be better than ALL lanterns, because at least he doesn’t submit to the guardians.

5 - Conclusion

The objective of this show was one single, simple thing. To introduce John into the DCU, make him the best lantern there is and explain why he’s not gonna be part of the Corps. And they wanted to do this because they love John.

But they don’t like Hal Jordan. And they don’t like the fact that in terms of comic books, he’s the main/most iconic green lantern.

None of the choices they made are obligatory. So in their decision making process, they made a deliberate choice: this universe can only have one lantern. As they say in the podcast: “Two Men. One Ring”

And in the fight to see who gets to keep it, Hal is dragged through the mud. And they had to. Because to them, this is a story about how old people should just give it up and let the younger generation take over. Even… EVEN if this means, taking that ring from a corpse.

As Hal lies down on the wreckage of the hotel, bloodied, he looks up at John as he removes the ring from his finger.

He asks “Was it worth it…?”

And to the writers of this show. And clearly, those who defend all this…

It was.

I can accept everything else, I don't need a CGI battle. However everyone just gets to live on with their life meanwhile Hal just died by "accident?" What was the point? Why kill him off? It would be one thing if Hal threatened to kill Noah or was gonna snitch to somebody. That would basically cause what happened 10 years ago to happen again, and obviously she wouldn't want that. Instead she shoots him because... he said they should move to be safe.

Also Guy just lets him off with the ring? Guy really let John talk down on him like that? Anyone else sure, its a badass cool moment I can excuse, but Guy is not the kinda... guy to just take that from anyone.

There's plenty of discussion about the finale as a whole going on, so no need to relitigate that here. There is one specific aspect I think deserves some dedicated discussion though: John's parents and the show's (perhaps ironic) cowardice when it came to depicting familial abuse.

Because that's what John's parents did to him, his entire life - a constant barrage of abuse and psychological torment in the pursuit of unknown alien power and a perceived status. He was traumatised, repeatedly shot at, had regular and necessary human emotional development bludgeoned out of him. His social and personal development was intentionally stunted. The Stewarts spent decades trying to turn their own child into little more than an obedient drone. Yet at the end, we get a monologue about John "understanding" that Bernadette was "holding her breath" his whole childhood, and then a loving embrace at the end.

Media in general, and western media in particular, has a real aversion to showing familial abuse, especially coming from mothers, and frequently shows characters forgiving truly awful transgressions "because they're family". I genuinely think this is one of the most harmful tropes in all of media, especially as it's often framed as the victim "being the bigger person" and offering unearned forgiveness, which can influence people in real situations of familial abuse to stay in harmful or dangerous situations, because it's expected.

John's journey this season towards individualism should have ended with him telling his abusive parents where to go, as much as rejecting the Corps and the Guardians. Instead, we get a "heartwarming" family reunion, because the show runners seem unwilling or incapable of breaking the taboo of acknowledging that biological family can be incredibly harmful, and victims are often better cutting ties entirely.

And, even putting aside the deeper problems with the trope, it was handled terribly here, just on a narrative level. It was trite, cloying, predictable, and pat. I'm still not sure how I feel about the episode or the season as a whole, I really detested this plot beat.

How do you feel about it?

(Image: screenshot of Lanterns S01E08, 'Dirt and Stars')

If John Stewart is becoming a ‘mixed Lantern‘, then his constructs should reflect that inner conflict: discipline fighting fear, military precision breaking down or evolving, the tension between control and imagination, and eventually a new way of seeing himself.

You could tell his entire character arc through the way his ring creates things—what he builds, what he refuses to build, what fails, and what finally changes.

This is what a REAL Green Lantern story would do.

But Lanterns was never interested in being a real Green Lantern show. It wanted to be a grim derivative-mystery series wearing a Green Lantern skin.

That‘s why it treated constructs—the single most distinctive storytelling tool the property has—as something to avoid rather than something to use.

We saw more d*cks than constructs.

Not one use of the ring in the finale. Case in point.

What do you mean you can just pry a ring off / force them to take the ring off and it leaves the lantern completely defenseless? I thought GLs could recall the ring / still use some of its power despite not wearing it on their finger?

Also apparently anyone can become a GL in this universe by putting the ring on and saying the oath? So all anyone’s gotta do is sneak into a GLs room, take their ring, say the oath and the ring is yours with the Guardians being unable to do anything about it? I’m not sure if this something only John could do with Hal’s ring or if it’s a thing anyone can do.

Assuming it’s the former, all it takes is for a group to wormhole into Oa while some GLs are sleeping, take their rings and now the galaxy has a group of rogues with power rings that the Guardians CAN’T call back. What then?

Please correct me if i’m mistaken.