New Look at Hal Jordan and John Stewart Emerges in ‘Lanterns’ Episode 4 Images

HBO’s slow-burn approach to ‘Lanterns‘ has turned nearly every episode into a puzzle box of new lore and shifting alliances. What started as a straightforward buddy-cop mystery between two intergalactic officers has steadily revealed itself to be something far more layered, with betrayal, manipulation and generational trauma woven into its central mystery.

That complexity only deepened with the show’s third episode, which rewrote John Stewart’s origin story entirely. Viewers learned that Stewart’s parents weren’t passive bystanders in his path to becoming a Green Lantern, but active participants in a decades-long plan orchestrated by the mysterious Guardian known as Lianna.

Now, ahead of the fourth episode, HBO and DC Studios have released the first official images from the installment, giving fans new looks at Hal Jordan, John Stewart and Lianna in her human guise. The episode, titled “The Weenie,” finds the story returning to 2016, reuniting Jordan and Stewart at a point where their relationship was far more complicated than it initially appeared on screen.

By this point in the timeline, John already understands that his training under Hal is little more than a formality, with the Guardians secretly planning to eventually replace Hal with him once the time is right. That dynamic adds a heavy layer of dramatic irony to the new stills, given that Hal remains unaware of the plan unfolding around him.

Adding to the tension is the show’s ongoing flash-forward structure, which has already revealed that Hal dies in 2026, a full decade after John’s recruitment into the Corps. Earlier episodes showed John visibly emotional upon finding Hal’s body, while Guy Gardner appears to be the one wielding the ring afterward, raising questions about what pushes John to eventually step away from the mantle himself.

The Episode 4 trailer, released by HBO Max, leans hard into that unraveling mentor-mentee dynamic. In the preview, Sinestro dismisses John as “a contingency plan, a backup” while speaking with Hal, a characterization Hal pushes back against. Sinestro then escalates the conversation considerably, warning Hal that he will need to kill John Stewart, a directive that hints at just how far Hal’s manipulation could go before the season is through.

Interestingly, the newly released image gallery doesn’t include any shots of the anticipated Hal and Sinestro confrontation teased in the trailer, despite that face-off appearing to be a major turning point for the episode. Instead, the stills focus more on the 2016 timeline and Lianna’s continued presence in the story, fueling speculation among fans about her true motives given her comic book counterpart’s complicated history with the Guardians.

John’s path to earning the ring has also taken on new emotional weight following Episode 3’s revelations. His father, John Stewart Sr., had originally been chosen by Abin Sur’s ring years earlier but turned the opportunity down out of fear, a decision that ultimately sent the ring to Hal instead. That backstory adds another layer to the tension building between the two Lanterns heading into this new chapter.

‘Lanterns’ stars Aaron Pierre as John Stewart and Kyle Chandler as Hal Jordan, with a supporting cast that includes Kelly Macdonald, Garret Dillahunt, Poorna Jagannathan, Nicole Ari Parker, Jason Ritter, J. Alphonse Nicholson and Jasmine Cephas Jones. The series is executive produced by Damon Lindelof, Chris Mundy and Tom King, with Episode 4 specifically credited to writers Justin Britt-Gibson and Lindelof.

New episodes of ‘Lanterns’ air Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max, with the first three episodes already available to stream. With Hal’s fate already confirmed and John’s true purpose now out in the open, the countdown to their inevitable collision feels closer than ever.

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