Lanterns Officially Explains How John Stewart Will Become Green Lantern Despite Guy Gardner

Lanterns has finally revealed how Aaron Pierre‘s John Stewart can get his hands on a power ring again, even with Nathan Fillion‘s Guy Gardner already protecting Earth. In Episode 5, John won Hal Jordan’s ring after taking down the Manhunter in Rushville, only to hand it back to the Guardians.

Episode 6 then goes back to the ten-years-ahead storyline, where Hal is murdered just as he tries to make peace with his former recruit. The big moment comes at the end of this episode. John asks Guy to bring Hal’s decommissioned ring and uniform to Rushville, claiming Hal deserves to be buried as a Green Lantern.

Guy agrees, but skips the funeral. It all turns out to be a trick. After the funeral, John quietly returns to the cemetery, digs up Hal’s grave, and takes the ring for himself. Guy would never have handed Corps technology to someone who quit, so John made sure he didn’t have to.

John Stewart Takes Hal’s Ring in Lanterns After Turning Down the Mantle

John Stewart did not dig up Hal Jordan‘s grave to become Green Lantern. He had already walked away from the job once. In Episode 5, after defeating the Manhunter, John met the Guardian Lianna, who praised him and told him the ring suited him.

But John felt he had been used as a pawn the whole time. His family and the Guardians had shaped him for this role since childhood, and he angrily rejected it. Ten years later, John has built a quiet life as an architect. He takes Hal’s ring for a very different reason.

Hal’s autopsy leads John to a storage unit with a vault that only opens to Hal’s voice. The ring holds a stored projection of Hal, aka the “Halogram,” which carries his voice, personality, and memories. That makes the ring the only key to whatever secrets Hal left behind.

John is currently on a murder investigation, and this is not a comeback yet. But it says a lot about John’s future. He is once again holding a Green Lantern ring, and he is once again tied to Hal’s world. This will most certainly be the inciting incident that pulls John back toward the mantle he tried so hard to leave behind.

Will Hal’s Decommissioned Ring Pull John Stewart Back to the Corps?

Aaron Pierre as John Stewart in Lanterns | Credits: HBO

After John Stewart turned down the ring, the Guardians needed someone else. Hal Jordan’s ring was decommissioned, and the Guardians handed a new ring to Guy Gardner, their next choice. That is how Guy ended up as Earth’s Green Lantern by the time of Superman.

But Hal’s ring may not be as dead as it looks. It still holds Hal’s consciousness, and if the Halogram works, other Green Lantern tech inside it will too. If the ring powers up again, it will do what rings do best in the comics and choose its own bearer. Instead of being recruited by an alien bureaucrat pulling strings, John will be chosen by the ring itself, letting him accept the role on his own terms.

This also opens the door for Earth to have two Lanterns. Hal has previously established that Earth gets only one protector at a time. But that is the Guardians’ rule, and a ring choosing John would sidestep it. With Sinestro now free from his prison, the Corps may need all the help it can get.

The bigger picture backs this up. Aaron Pierre is confirmed for James Gunn’s Man of Tomorrow, which will arrive in theaters July 9, 2027. Nathan Fillion is expected to return, and they will most likely both return as Green Lanterns.

Do you think John Stewart will embrace the Green Lantern role by the end of the show? Let us know in the comments below!

Lanterns is now available for streaming on HBO.