Lanterns Officially Modifies Green Lanterns’ Oath That Changes DC Forever

The season finale of Lanterns changed many things for the DCU, but one of the biggest changes it made was to John Stewart. After getting to know who Hal Jordan’s killer was and what it takes to be a Green Lantern, Stewart decides to put his own spin on the oath and becomes an independent protector of Earth. His new oath states,

In brightest day, in darkest night. I embrace my fear, I’ll do what’s right. I choose this ring, I choose this fight, in service to this lantern’s light.

The revised oath replaced the Green Lantern oath of willpower with fear, which is a key change to the iconic DC character. The decision might not sit well with the fandom, and even the writers and showrunners have acknowledged the fact. However, the revision has definitely changed DC’s hierarchy and the DCU’s world-building.

John Stewart’s Oath in Lanterns Takes Him Closer to Sinestro

Sinestro in Lanterns | Credits: HBO

In Lanterns, John Stewart spends the entire runtime learning how to be a Lantern. In the dual timelines, Hal Jordan mentors him to become something he was chosen to be and has been training all his life for. However, in the mid-season, we see Stewart letting go of the ring as he begins to make his own decisions.

But another solid theme that is explored in the show is fear. Stewart is afraid of most of his decisions, coming from a military background and with a definitive purpose in his life. He struggles between following orders and making his own decisions. By the end of the show, he decides to come into his own, even if Guy Gardner, the current Green Lantern, threatens the might of the entire Green Lantern Corps.

That is why his Green Lantern oath puts fear above everything. It reflects the advice given by the Halogram near the end of the episode: ‘Don’t be afraid to be afraid’. Fear is also the key driving force behind Sinestro’s Yellow Lantern Corps. While the importance given to fear by John Stewart effectively makes him a Yellow Lantern, there is some difference.

Stewart is embracing his fears, while Sinestro operates on them with negativity. Stewart prefers protection, while Sinestro prefers his enemies to ‘burn like his power’. It is a key difference and two schools of thought. It is probably why Sinestro himself features in the episode, showing how he devised his own lantern through the fear on his dead planet.

Lanterns Writers Knew the New Oath Would Divide the Fandom

Aaron Pierre in Lanterns | Credits: HBO

While the comics have seen John Stewart take on other mantles before, he is primarily a member of the Green Lantern Corps. His most popular iteration sees him as a Corps member and one of its most disciplined ones. DCU’s Lanterns just changed this entire definition of him with the season finale, where he becomes his own Lantern.

While the oath is a spin on the Green Lantern Corps oath itself, it puts him more in the mold of Sinestro as an individually operating, rebellious force against the Green Lanterns. It is an interesting direction, but purist fans will no doubt have issues with it. Fortunately, this is something the creators of the show were aware of, and in line with the theme, did it anyway with fear.

Co-creator Damon Lindelof said the team was nervous about messing with one of the core tenets of DC lore and how the fandom might react. He told THR,

We were definitely nervous and scared about doing it, but we started to say, ‘If we’re not afraid of doing an idea, then we probably shouldn’t do it’. It just felt right, and we understood that it’s probably going to be the thing that divides the fandom, et cetera.

Co-creator and showrunner Tom King compared John Stewart’s identity as an unsanctioned and independent Lantern to that of the Yellow Lanterns or Orange Lanterns, and mentioned that the creative license they took with Stewart honored what the creators of Green Lantern and the oath intended with the story.

What did you think of the Lantern finale? Comment below.

Lanterns is available to stream on HBO Max.