Some Thoughts on Last Night's Episode: Hal Jordan's Sad Ending, Rushville's Victimhood, and the Coming of the Sinestro Corps

I saw the latest episode of Lanterns last night, and wow, that was really fucking depressing if you're a Hal Jordan fan. The dude lost everything and was utterly abandoned by everyone who should have been by his side. Look, I'm not saying Hal is blameless or that he didn't fuck up a ton, but Jesus, it felt genuinely mean-spirited at times.

Hal served the Guardians for nearly four decades, and how did they reward his loyalty? They didn't. They just tried to replace him, even though it was their own tech that chose him in the first place. Worse, none of the other Lanterns seemed to give a single shit that a guy they worked alongside for forty years ended up dead. Sure, they mention Hal had trouble connecting with the others because they were aliens, but it feels impossible that someone as charming as Hal didn't have any friends in the Corps. If this was following the comics, Kilowog and Tomar-Re should have been devastated.

And speaking of the Guardians, based on what we've seen so far, Sinestro honestly feels justified in trying to overthrow them. They built the tech that picks candidates, then get pissed off when it doesn't choose who they want. Their whole training pipeline revolves around being fearless, which basically translates to no long-term relationships, no personal life, and barely any friends. Of course that breeds resentment and depression. Then, the second they get tired of a Lantern, they replace them without blinking. Did they speak up for Hal when he went to prison, or push for a lighter sentence after decades of service? Nope. They happily let him rot in federal prison for ten years, then turned around to hand his ring to the next guy. Sinestro is definitely a villain, but the Guardians are hypocritical, sociopathic assholes who aren't half as noble as they pretend to be. Honestly, as wild as it sounds, part of me is actually rooting for Sinestro right now.

Also, fuck the people of Rushville. What a bunch of entitled brats. No, they didn't deserve what happened to them, but they're acting like Hal was the one who launched the attack. Did he handle things poorly and deserve disciplinary action? Absolutely. But Rushville was sitting on a ticking time bomb the second they took Zoe in. Antaan and other vengeful aliens would've tracked her down eventually anyway, and the body count would've been way higher—or the whole town flattened—if Hal and John hadn't stepped in.

I've seen people online claiming Zoe deserved to live in peace and that Hal ruined everything. Are you kidding me? Zoe's own paranoia sealed her fate. Abin Sur brought her to Earth so she could get a fresh start, and she murdered him out of pure paranoia. That was her undoing. None of those alien hunters would've found her because Abin Sur was actively covering her tracks. By killing a Green Lantern, she practically signed her own death warrant, ensuring the Corps would hunt down Abin's killer forever. She's a tragic character, but she brought this on herself.

That said, the town's reaction is painfully realistic. The episode captured how people will do anything to dodge accountability. Zoe literally dropped satellites on the town just to kill Hal, while he was doing everything he could to minimize casualties. She's the reason Rushville got wrecked. But the townsfolk have two options: either admit they harbored a dangerous war criminal who didn't care about slaughtering them to save her own skin, meaning they share blame for the fallout, or blame the cocky superhero who rolled in and botched the job, giving them a scapegoat so they can stay pure victims. Naturally, they took option two. A decade ago I might've called that unrealistic writing, but now? It's the most believable part of the episode. People really are that selfish.

On a brighter note, I'm glad John Stewart managed to build a real life for himself. He seems to be thriving as an architect. The resolution with his parents was oddly satisfying, too, and circles right back to that theme of victimhood. His dad fell into a bitter, self-pitying spiral after losing his shot at a ring, ruined his relationship with his sons, and wound up in a nursing home where nobody likes him. Meanwhile, Bernadette finally realized her obsession with the ring just made John resent her and that it was all for nothing. There's a real lesson there: don't obsess over lost chances, because mourning what could've been will only torture you and your family while life passes you by.

Still, Hal's fate hurts. The guy gets out of prison and what does he do? Moves straight back to the town where he fell from grace to try and make amends, even though everybody despises him. The only silver lining was having Kerry and Noah around. Surprisingly, Guy Gardner seemed the most broken up over his death. I love when Guy shows genuine emotion. He puts on the hardass act, but his best moments are when he admits he knows he's the least liked Earth Lantern and that Hal, John, and Kyle were always his superiors. Injustice handled that dynamic really well, too.

Hal is routinely called the greatest Green Lantern, yet he ends up dying cold and alone in the snow with nobody by his side. The Guardians didn't care, his peers didn't care, Rushville hates him, the government locked him up without hesitation, and he seemingly lost all his supporters. It just feels unnecessarily harsh. It reminds me of what the Star Wars sequels did to Han, Luke, and Leia—erasing their wins and leaving them to die lonely, unearned deaths. Seeing his tiny funeral was brutal for a hero of that stature, and his line, "I hope I mattered," genuinely stung.

Normally I'd assume this was a permanent send-off for Hal, if not for that one line from Guy about Sinestro escaping custody. If Sinestro is just back in a cell by the finale, then yeah, Hal is probably gone for good. But my bold prediction is that the season finale ends with Sinestro forging the yellow ring of fear. If that happens, Kyle Chandler has to come back. You simply can't do a recurring Sinestro storyline without Hal Jordan.

I've also seen the theory that Hal's murder was a setup between Kerry, Noah, and some townsfolk after Hal realized Noah was part Manhunter and confronted Kerry, forcing her hand. I really hope that isn't true since I actually like Kerry. But if it plays out that way and my fear-ring theory holds up, I'd love to see Sinestro come to Earth and level Rushville to avenge Hal. It'd be the perfect launchpad for the Sinestro Corps, give some catharsis for Hal's death, show that Sinestro legitimately cared about Hal, and establish him as a massive threat going forward. Total fan-wish on my part, and I'm probably dead wrong, but a guy can dream.

Anyway, sorry for the massive rant. Hope it was an interesting read, and have a great rest of the week!