The final moments of Lanterns Episode 4 revealed Zoe’s true nature, that of a fearsome Manhunter that had long been hiding in rural America on Earth. This news of course came as a shock to John Stewart, having struck up a love affair with the wife of William Macon. While they may have wanted us to believe Zoe died after the impact of a laser from space, John and Hal Jordan quickly realize they’re getting played with the fifth episode of the show finally fully pulling back that curtain and plunging Rushville into all-out war.
The Man Hunt(er)
The presence of the Green Lanterns in Rushville has made its citizens uneasy and its local militant group ready to strike. The first moments of the episode revealed the details of how Zoe and Sheriff Kane met, with Kerry quickly indebting herself to the Manhunter and revealing just how Zoe had managed to rally the town behind her.
Much of the show did its best to throw you off of the Manhunter’s scent, at one point even throwing a reference to Hector Hammond into the mix to shake things up and send fans down a crazy detour. This detour eventually leading both the Lanterns and us to the reveal that its all been a ruse.
Hal Jordan becomes public enemy number one, with half of Rushville searching for him as he tries to double-cross Antaan and take the Manhunter in for himself. This plan goes awry when Antaan learns of the double cross and Hal is unable to stop Zoe, leading to a confrontation between him and John that leads to his using Hal as bait. This concludes with John being the one to take Zoe down, just before cutting out her heart to reveal a crystalline imitation.
A Lingering Threat
Episode 1 introduced us to the Macons, a family married into by Sheriff Kane to their son Billy, with William at the head with his wife, Zoe. When Hal and John go to visit William after a gracious gesture of bailing the veteran lantern out of the slammer, we meet Noah Macon, their grandson. Hal talks to Noah who he finds throwing around a football, to which John asks, “Offense or defense?,” cryptically all the boy replies with is that he simply followed the teams plan.
The fifth episode took a second to put a spotlight on the boy, with the mobilization of Macon’s militia imminent, Zoe stops to speak with her grandson where she warns him that a lot of people are going to die and that the most useful thing his father can do is to protect him. To ease the boys worrying she kneels down to remind him “don’t forget everything I’ve told you.”
Knowing now that Zoe is a Manhunter and thinking back to the first episode, we can recall the reunion between John and Kerry. John asks about Noah and she tells him that he’s all grown to be tall and has made his way to becoming the quarterback of the high school football team.
This may sound a bit nuts, but it feels like the show has just painted a bright red circle around the boy. While we’ve yet to meet this grown-up Noah, the pieces start to fall into place when you think about the people in Rushville who’d be holding a grudge for killing the Manhunter, especially if that Manhunter was your grandma.
It remains to be seen what exactly Zoe told Noah, but based on all the alien technology laying around Rushville, is it possible the Manhunter enhanced the boy in anyway? Could he be the one who struck down Hal Jordan? Is it a coincidence that Hal Jordan just so happened to be found at the high school football field? Is this just another crackpot fan theory or is this teenager truly capable killing a Lantern? In a show that is hiding another red herring around every corner, could this be another one?
Check out the midseason trailer for Lanterns below and make sure to stay tuned to Popped News for all series coverage!
