The 2016 arc of HBO’s Lanterns reached its explosive conclusion in episode 5, and Lanterns episode 6 picks back up in 2026. When Rushville sheriff Kerry Kane (Kelly Macdonald) calls John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) to let him know that Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) was found dead in the same football stadium where the chaos in Rushville began, John drops everything and heads straight to Nebraska.
This article contains spoilers for Lanterns episode 6.
Hal didn’t have any friends in the Green Lantern Corps before Rushville, and he was stripped of his ring and imprisoned as punishment for the carnage he caused trying to stop the Manhunter. John is the closest thing Hal had to next of kin, so he pressures the current Green Lantern Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion) to retrieve Hal’s old uniform and ring so he can have a proper burial and funeral.
Hal wrote his own eulogy, assuming his death would bring a big crowd of Lanterns and other dignitaries, but almost no one shows up. Aside from Kerry, John, and Guy, the only notable guest is Carol Ferris, who implies she used to date Hal. While the show keeps the relationship vague, it’s been part of Green Lantern comics for nearly 70 years. Here’s everything you need to know about Carol Ferris and her connections to Hal Jordan.
Who is Carol Ferris?
Before he became Green Lantern, Hal Jordan was a test pilot working for Ferris Aircraft, a Coast City company founded by Carl Ferris. Hal worked directly with Carl’s daughter, Carol, who went on to run the company. Carol and Hal become romantically involved, though Hal initially hides his secret identity from her. But then Carol winds up with secrets of her own.
While some of the blue aliens on Oa declared themselves the Guardians of the Universe, another group split off and became known as the Zamarons. Laura Linney is the face of the Guardians in Lanterns, but in the comics, the Guardians are almost entirely male while the Zamarons are all female. The Zamarons abducted Carol and used a gem called the Star Sapphire to give her psychic powers. They also control her mind and compel her to try and kill Hal, all just to spite the Guardians.
Carol and Hal fought and reconciled many times over the course of DC Comics history, with Carol losing her powers or gaining a way to maintain them without being controlled by her villainous Star Sapphire persona. Carol eventually becomes part of a group of Star Sapphires akin to the Green Lantern Corps, fighting both Sinestro and the Black Lanterns with a power ring that allows her to use the power of love to create constructs.
It’s unclear if Lanterns’ Carol Ferris ever became Star Sapphire, but as usual, her relationship with Hal didn’t pan out. The characters never really get a happily ever after in the comics, with both having other relationships that also don’t last. Carol was in love with the Green Lantern Kyle Rayner while Hal fell for another pilot, Jillian Pearlman, who also became a Star Sapphire. Carol’s appearance at Hal’s funeral is just the sad culmination of another part of Hal’s tragic story, one of the many broken relationships that turned a superhero into a pariah.