Lanterns Episode 5 Raises A Major Question About The Guardians Of The Universe

"Lanterns" Season 1 has set up one mystery after another. Who's the Manhunter? Why is Rushville, Nebraska so significant? Who kills Hal Jordan in the 2026 timeline, and why isn't John Stewart a Lantern by that point? It seems the "Lanterns" writers have taken their "True Detective" inspiration perhaps a little too seriously. Now, following Episode 5, we have another new mystery: Who the heck is the real villain here? It's looking increasingly like it might be the Guardians of the Universe themselves.

Episode 5 sees pretty much every possible candidate for Season 1's big bad killed. We learned Zoe Macon (Poorna Jagannathan) was the Manhunter in "Lanterns" Episode 4. Episode 5? She dies. As does Paul Ben-Victor's Antaan, who's sent into the troposphere by Hal Jordan's (Kyle Chandler) Power Ring only to explode. Prior to that, Garrett Dillahunt's William Macon also dies a horrific death when Antaan cuts out his heart. That really only leaves Sinestro (Ulrich Thomsen), who's currently imprisoned, as the season's main villain. Unless, that is, the Guardians of the Galaxy aren't quite as upstanding as their title would suggest.

In Episode 4, Laura Linney's Guardian Lianna started to seem a lot more sinister, telling John Stewart to effectively steal the Power Ring from Hal Jordan and recite the Green Lantern Oath in order to assume the mantle of Earth's Lantern. When John reacts with uncertainty, Lianna emotionally blackmails him, pointing to his parents training him for this moment his entire life and suggesting his family might have been wrong about John's lack of fear and his inherent integrity. It wasn't a great look for Lianna. Now, after the events of Episode 5, she and her fellow Guardians are starting to seem downright evil.

In the "Green Lantern" comics, the Guardians of the Universe have always been emotionless, detached, and authoritarian. As such, while they aren't seen as traditional villains, they're not exactly heroic, either. We see that same aspect of the Guardians on display in "Lanterns" Episode 4, with Lianna seemingly thinking nothing of emotionally manipulating John Stewart. In Episode 5, however, we learn that the Guardians were responsible for creating the main villains of "Lanterns," the Manhunters, in the first place, and in that sense are also responsible for the suffering those creations brought upon the universe. Still, for those familiar with the comics, that's not a major revelation. The really interesting part comes afterwards.

In Episode 5, Zoe Macon tells John that The Guardians wiped out the Manhunters when they became "too brutal," adding, "I don't know why, but everyone but me was exterminated." That's hugely significant for a number of reasons. For one, in the comics there's no precedent for one Manhunter miraculously surviving the Guardians' wrath. Several do survive, but not in the same way Zoe describes. The "Lanterns" Manhunter claims the Guardians "flipped a switch," which essentially wiped out every Manhunter — except her.

What's more, in "Lanterns" Episode 2, Antaan tells John that the Manhunter (Zoe) hiding on Earth is enjoying the protection of the Guardians. In Episode 5, Zoe tells John that this isn't the case. But considering she also tells him that she was the sole survivor when the Guardians "flipped the switch" it's hard to ignore the possibility that the Guardians may have spared her for some reason and may indeed have been interested in keeping her alive on Earth. The question is, why?

"Lanterns" Episode 5 ends with John Stewart refusing to wear the Power Ring and essentially rejecting the mantle of Green Lantern. It's a shocking development, as the character has been training his entire life to take on the role. But his reasoning is solid. Throughout his ordeal in Rushville, Nebraska, and even earlier than that, John has been manipulated by everyone around him, including the Guardians. By the time he manages to take the ring from Hal Jordan, John is completely disillusioned.

He meets Lianna in a bar and delivers Zoe's heart as proof that he killed the Manhunter. When Lianna asks what's in the bag, he replies, "Your sins, and consequences." Clearly, John is well aware of the Guardians being complicit in the slaughter of entire species due to them creating the Manhunters. What's more, he's finally able to see how manipulative they've been. But with Zoe's revelation that she was the sole survivor of the Manhunter eradication, the Guardians start to seem even more sinister.

All of which suggests that they might even become the main villain of this series for the final three episodes. "Lanterns" did tease the arrival of a major villain in Episode 4, but it was a misdirect. Now, with every other candidate wiped out, the Guardians are the only ones who have something to atone for. They are responsible for all the misery wrought by the Manhunters, including the chaos in Rushville that played out in Episode 5. They are responsible for manipulating both John and Hal, and in the case of the former, have dramatically altered the trajectory of his entire life. John has turned his back on the Ring, but someone is going to have to make the Guardians pay.