HBO’s Lanterns is taking a very grounded approach to its portrayal of DC’s galactic peacekeeper Green Lantern. The TV series is mostly set in the dusty town of Rushville, Nebraska, and it’s more focused on buddy cop dynamics and True Detective-style mystery than superhero action. But showrunner Chris Mundy and writer Vanessa Baden Kelly start digging into Green Lantern’s complex mythology in episode 2, introducing two very dangerous villains. If you still have questions after the episode’s cliffhanger ending, we’ll break down what’s going on.
Spoilers follow for Lanterns season 1, episode 2.
Who are the Manhunters?
In episode 2, Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) sends his trainee John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) back to his home in Coast City to recharge his power ring and feed his carnivorous alien plant. John is abducted outside Hal’s home by aliens, part of the same group involved in the mass shooting that brought the Green Lantern to Rushville. Their leader, Antaan (Paul Ben-Victor), says they are looking for a Manhunter, which he describes as “one of the most dangerous beings to ever exist.”
Antaan explains that Manhunters are synthetic beings who can build new bodies and use them to infiltrate any society. They can also create powerful technology well beyond the capabilities of most species. The Manhunter’s twisted version of justice can mean wiping out entire species. Antaan drives home this point by stamping John with the memory of how a Manhunter orchestrated a holocaust on his planet. A Green Lantern took the Manhunter into custody and said that he would be executed, but Antaan traced his unique radiation to Rushville. That Green Lantern was presumably Abin Sur. Something went wrong during the prisoner transfer, and Sur’s ship crashed on Earth, killing him, which led to Hal becoming Earth’s first Green Lantern.
Since the Manhunter has taken human form, Antaan explains he can be killed as a human. Antaan plans to blow up the whole town in 48 hours if John doesn’t find the Manhunter before then. Antaan is disappointed by John’s education as a prospective Green Lantern, pointing out Hal should have told John how impressive it is that he can maintain his bird construct without even wearing the ring. He’s also surprised he doesn’t know who the Manhunters are. “You think the Green Lanterns came first? You really don’t know?” Antaan asks.
The Green Lantern Corps was established by an ancient, powerful alien species living on the planet Oa who call themselves the Guardians of the Universe. They crafted power rings that allow people to create energy constructs with their willpower. The rings typically choose worthy wielders to serve as an interstellar police force. But the Green Lanterns weren’t their first attempt at maintaining order.
That was the Manhunters, androids programmed to combat evil throughout the universe. But as the Manhunters grew in power, they began to question their creators and also the value of organic life, whose emotions they saw as the seed of all the crime they were created to stop. They massacred entire planets before the Guardians destroyed them, though some survived by disguising themselves. Even Hal doesn’t seem to know much about this dark chapter in the history of the Guardians, so he goes to his own former mentor for help.
Who is Sinestro?
After Hal is shot for trespassing, he spends some time under anesthesia in Rushville’s hospital. Sheriff Kerry Kane (Kelly Macdonald) tells Hal he said Sinestro’s name in his sleep. While Hal won’t explain why, apparently some of the basic details are common knowledge. Sinestro (Ulrich Thomsen) was a Green Lantern who attempted a coup, killing one of the Guardians before Hal took him down. At the end of the episode, Hal puts on his Green Lantern uniform to visit a highly secure extraterrestrial prison and ask Sinestro what he knows about the Manhunters.
In the comics, Sinestro is a lot like Lucifer. He was considered one of the greatest Green Lanterns before he rebelled against the Guardians, who disapproved of the heavy-handed tactics he used to dispense justice and protect his home planet. Sinestro created his own opposing organization called the Sinestro Corps, whose members wield yellow rings powered by fear.
Sinestro trained Hal before all of this, and it’s likely that his betrayal was a big factor in how miserable the hero has become. Hal was far more optimistic and proud of being a Lantern in 1996 and in 2006, when he last backed up his consciousness as the Halogram. Now, Hal doesn’t want to get the Guardians involved in the investigation in Rushville, and he mutters the Green Lantern oath as he recharges his ring in a way that makes it clear he no longer really believes it. While the Halogram is excited to have a trainee, 2016 Hal hates the idea, probably because of how his own mentor-mentee relationship turned out. Given the Halogram is meant to be updated weekly, it’s possible that Sinestro’s rebellion happened sometime in 2006 and Hal hasn’t wanted to copy his consciousness since then.
Sinestro fans those fears when he calls the Manhunters “the second greatest threat” Hal is facing and asks to hear about John Stewart. The Manhunters are evidence that the Guardians are far from the infallible, benevolent peacekeepers they position themselves as. If they want Hal to have a trainee, breaking standard protocol where the ring would choose its next bearer, their plans for Hal can’t be good. We’ll learn more in episode 3.