After seeing John maintain a construct of a seemingly living sentient bird while miles away from the ring, I think there might be some switcheroo happen where the body of Hal we see in episode 1 is just an elaborate construct (maybe merged with the consciousness backup we saw earlier) as a way to relieve Hal of the duty of Green Lantern. Hal is clearly miserable and not living a satisfying life, but is carrying the burden of being Earth’s protector, so they might have been able to fake a way out, eventually revealing to the public that Hal is dead while he’s able to quietly slip away without anyone knowing.
I know there’s an element to this theory that has holes like “wouldn’t the guardian

