A decade of aftermath and new ventures
Episode 6 of Lanterns, titled "Bad Optics", advances the narrative ten years past the Rushville catastrophe into the year 2026. Hal Jordan spent most of the intervening decade serving time in human prison after shouldering the blame for the town's destruction and loss of life. John Stewart, who rejected the Green Lantern ring after holding it for only five minutes, left both military service and galactic policing behind. Combining his architecture background with tactical experience, John teamed up with his brother Marcus Stewart to build high-end panic rooms. Their company pitches Midway City officials on investing federal funding into 40 state-of-the-art protective shelters, marketed as arks to protect clients against supervillain mayhem. John remains estranged from much of his family, with his brothers mockingly calling him "chosen" and his father John Sr. reaching out from an elder care facility.
Guy Gardner takes the ring
Following John's refusal to keep the power ring, the weapon passed to Guy Gardner, an image-conscious former athletic director played by Nathan Fillion. Gardner, who previously appeared in the 2025 film Superman, balances superhero duties with commercial appearances on billboards advertising cheap energy drinks. Operating with flashy tactics to compensate for personal insecurities, Gardner installed a Lantern signal in Rushville directly beside the memorial for the town's disaster victims. When John contacts Gardner to ask him to attend Hal's funeral, the replacement Lantern recoils and refuses to associate with a disgraced predecessor.
Confrontation and murder in Rushville
John travels back to a still-decrepit Rushville for the first time in a decade after his mother, Bernadette, claims that Hal wishes to make amends. Hal relocated to the damaged town to seek redemption and pursue a relationship with Sheriff Kerry Kane, whose son Noah is now preparing for college. When John meets his former mentor at a local diner, he realizes his mother fabricated the apology, prompting an argument over who bears responsibility for the past catastrophe. The bitter encounter ends with John punching Hal in the face. Shortly after the altercation, Sheriff Kane alerts John that Hal has died, his frozen corpse discovered at the Rushville high school football stadium.
The Hal-o-gram joins the investigation
With the local motel still not rebuilt from the disaster ten years prior, John stays at Hal's house while dealing with the homicide. Sheriff Kane deputizes John to assist with the inquiry, unaware that John was the last person to see Hal alive at the diner. The investigation takes an unexpected turn when Hal's backup consciousness, portrayed by Kyle Chandler, awakens upon viewing Hal's freshly exhumed body. This digital persona, known as the Hal-o-gram, steps in to replace Hal's deceased physical self. The revived avatar joins John as an investigative partner to uncover who killed Hal Jordan and unravel the broader Manhunter mystery.