Lanterns Episode 5 Review and Ending Explained: Why Does John Give Up the Ring?

Lanterns Episode 5 gives John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) what he has been working toward, then makes him wonder why he wanted it. After Hal (Kyle Chandler) abandons him to a car crash in Episode 4, John finds himself dependent on Zoe (Poorna Jagannathan). She is, of course, the Manhunter. His mentor has betrayed him and his lover wants something in exchange for saving him. Oh, and the Guardians have given him plenty of reasons to question their intentions. Becoming a Green Lantern is beginning to look like a terrible career move.

Rushville turns into a war zone. The episode reaches its bloody climax as a result of these opposing loyalties. There is a lot of spectacle, but the most intriguing question here revolves around the future of John’s ambitions after the battle ends. Getting the ring was supposed to imbue his life with a sense of purpose. But a variety of factors, including watching Hal’s actions, has changed this significantly.

Lanterns Episode 5 Review: When Victory Feels Like Defeat

Aaron Pierre in Lanterns Episode 5 | Credits: DC Studios

An opening flashback from 2007 establishes that someone can save your life and spend years making you pay for it. We see Kerry (Kelly Macdonald) arriving in Rushville. We see there are men pursuing her from Gotham City. Zoe intervenes and makes sure there will be no reprisals (Kerry has to lose a pinky, but Zoe restores that too). Zoe threatens the men instead of killing them. The miracle comes with an agreement that Kerry will protect Zoe in return.

All of this explains the sheriff’s devotion to her. While she claimed ignorance of the Manhunter, in this episode, she is ready to shoot Hal for her. Oh, and she does shoot, but Hal conjures a shield in time. However, Kerry is also afraid of Zoe. Zoe may have done something that few would be capable of,, but this obligation takes on a dark turn when we learn the Manhunter has an extreme case of self-preservation. She may be a sort of god to them, but it is a cruel god. Soon enough, the town comes under attack by both Zoe and the aliens led by Antaan (Paul Ben-Victor).

John learns how that system works when he experiences Zoe healing his burns (after she calmly watched him burn). As always, she wants something in return. Always an even trade with her. The humanity of Zoe works in practice. There are solid reasons to defend Zoe other than stupidity or malice. This episode illustrates them while making clear just how easy it is for her to manipulate people and their gratitude.

The violence here is not as effective. Suicidal attackers led by Antaan, the death of Will Macon (Garret Dillahunt), and all the destruction create a constant dynamic for the entire hour. While I did welcome the action, there were times when I wished the pace would slow for us to focus on one moment before jumping on to the other.

The way Hal behaves in the Lanterns episode elucidates the kind of hero he is. He risks his life to save strangers hours after treating John with appalling cruelty and basically leaving him to die. The inconsistencies make the character. He does want to be back in the good graces of the Guardians by delivering Zoe to them, but he also does not want innocents to die. His heroism makes it difficult to disregard him. But his selfish behavior makes it impossible to consider him the uncomplicated hero that he strives to be.

Overall, an action-packed episode that is a little too short for my taste.

Lanterns Episode 5 Ending Explained

By the end of Lanterns Episode 5, John has obtained Hal’s ring and the lantern (we saw this shot in the Lanterns Episode 5 trailer). This was after Hal and John engaged in a scuffle. John uses Hal as bait and kills Zoe. In the final moments of the episode, he meets the Guardian and gives her Zoe’s crystallized heart, calling it their “sins and consequences”. It is proof that the Manhunter has been killed. However, he says he felt empty when he put on the ring. There was no sense of triumph or power or pride or anything remotely positive. He gives up the ring.

His decision follows what he has witnessed in Hal. The man became so attached to the ring and his position that he was ready to kill to preserve it (even after assuring himself that he is not evil while talking to Sinestro). The ring should represent a responsibility. But like the One Ring from The Lord of the Rings, it instead acts as a corrupting influence.

There is little consolation to be gained from the Guardians. The secrecy behind replacing Hal has undermined John’s trust. He has been led into pursuing a future that has been decided by others who have kept secrets from him and doubted his value.

From my interpretation of this move, John has come to realize that there will be little satisfaction for him in achieving his goals. The ring will do nothing to help mend his relationship with Hal, erase the deaths at Rushville, or make the Guardians more reliable.

The fact that he takes the ring off is a significant act of self-reliance. John has wasted so much time proving himself worthy of the role that posing a question of whether he wants it or not is revealing enough.

Hal’s Murder Still Hangs Over the Story

We still don’t know who killed Hal Jordan | Credits: John Johnson/HBO Max

The battle in Rushville settles the Manhunter hunt, but the mystery introduced in the premiere episode of Lanterns remains: how does Hal end up dead a decade later? The opening episode’s jump to 2026 showed his body in the football stands, with a bullet wound to his head and his ring missing. In an interview, the creators explained that this development helped establish John as the story’s emotional center (via Entertainment Weekly).

That distinction between the two timelines of Lanterns matters here. Zoe’s prediction that Hal will die creates an immediate threat during the 2016 confrontation. His survival resolves that particular danger, but it does not explain the death awaiting him in 2026. The episode leaves ten years of intervening history to account for.

For me, that gap is now more interesting than another concealed alien identity in Lanterns. What brings these characters back into one another’s lives? What happens to Rushville after the destruction? And how does Hal eventually become vulnerable enough for someone to kill him and take the ring?

The earlier investigation has supplied a history of secrets and damaged relationships for the later one to examine. Whoever killed Hal, the answer will have to contend with what happened here. Episode 5 gives that eventual revelation more emotional weight without yet supplying a culprit.

Did John make the right call by giving up the ring in Lanterns? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Lanterns Episode 5 is now streaming on HBO Max.

Lanterns Episode 5 Review and Ending Explained: Why Does John Give Up the Ring?