Abhiroop Das
The first episode of HBO’s ‘Lanterns‘ ends with the ominous revelation that Hal Jordan is dead in the year 2026, and from that point on, every narrative beat seems to build up to the event. While oftentimes Hal’s death feels like a red herring or a fakeout, the final episode of the season confirms it to be the sore truth. When John sets out knowing that Hal’s killer is almost certainly still in Rushville, the fact that the entire town hated the two of them only makes the investigation more difficult. However, after Halogram enters the scene and brings some unique discoveries forward, it doesn’t take long for the truth to be unveiled at last. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Kerry Kills Hal Jordan to Protect the Truth About Her Son
The season 1 finale of ‘Lanterns’ reveals that Hal Jordan was killed by none other than Kerry, in her desperate attempts to protect Noah, the last living manhunter. As it turns out, Kerry has been keeping this a secret from the very start, as Noah was never William Macon Jr.’s son to begin with. Shortly after Zoe used her blood to heal Kerry’s finger, she discovered that she had become pregnant without having sex. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, Zoe’s blood seems to have merged with Kerry’s to asexually reproduce, and the result is Noah. The story never clarifies whether he is a pure Manhunter or a hybrid, but that never stops Kerry from raising him as her own son, especially when there is such a dark secret behind his past. It is that very maternal instinct that leads her to take Hal’s life.
Hal first discovers the truth about Noah after he is miraculously brought back to life by the manhunter device. It is perhaps for this reason that his first instinct isn’t to attack or capture him, but to help him skip town. Instead of reaching out to him, though, Hal first makes his way to Kerry, only to learn that she has been holding on to this secret for all these years. More than that, she appears to have suppressed it so deeply in her mind that the very idea of this life being overturned threatens some core part of her psyche. Despite Hal’s best intentions, in that moment, Kerry cannot help but instinctively feel that Hal will ruin her family, and perhaps even get Noah killed, by making the truth public. Before she even realizes it, Kerry’s finger is already on the trigger, and just like that, Hal ends up dead.
Kerry Will Most Likely Get Away With the Crime, as Hal Would Have Wanted
There is a cruel irony in the fact that the last words to come out of Hal’s (not counting Halogram) mouth are “I love you,” as Kerry hardly even processes the words before she realizes what has happened, and how there is no going back from that. Despite feeling the same way, in that critical moment, she chooses her son’s life over Hal’s, and every action from that point onwards is not to escape the law, but to preserve her son’s perfect life ahead. However, some part of her subconscious still chooses to rebel all the same, and in doing so, she calls in the one person who can, and eventually does, discover what truly happened. Just like how Hal returns to Rushville to face his own guilt and writhe in it, Kerry, too, subconsciously desires to be punished for the worst thing she has ever done in her life.
Though it doesn’t take John that long to figure out who killed Hal, in a surprising move, he chooses not to turn her in. On some level, he understands not only why Kerry did what she did, but that Hal wouldn’t want her to go to prison for his own death. There is also Noah, who independently figures out that his mother is the killer and then tries to take the fall for it. John sees this as a mother and son desperately trying to protect each other and lead a normal, human life, something that Hal wished for them too. While we don’t know for certain whether Kerry confesses to the crime, the story definitely points towards this becoming her, Noah, and John’s deepest secret.
Read More: Is Zoe Macon Dead or Alive? Is Poorna Jagannathan Leaving Lanterns?
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