‘Lanterns’ Penultimate Episode Trailer Arrives With Hal Jordan’s Murder Still Unsolved
HBO’s ‘Lanterns‘ has spent its run tightening a murder mystery around two ringless heroes and a very dead Green Lantern. As the season heads into its final stretch, the ‘Lanterns’ penultimate episode trailer arrived to remind fans just how many questions are still hanging in the air. Here’s what the new footage suggests and what we know about where the story goes next.
One Reactor writer pointed out that last week’s episode played like a season finale, yet only one of the season’s big mysteries had actually been answered. We know who the Manhunter was in the 2016 timeline, but nobody knows who put a bullet in Hal Jordan’s (Kyle Chandler) head in the present day. That question is now what drives John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) forward.
“Bad Optics” ended with John digging up Hal’s ring and summoning Hal’s holographic backup, nicknamed the Halogram, to open a voice-locked vault. The Halogram’s first reaction was an irritated groan, which set up a very odd new partnership between John and a version of the man he can’t forgive.
DC Film News shared the new trailer on X on September 21, with the post passing 561,000 views. The tweet confirms the next episode premieres on September 27 on HBO Max. No official synopsis has been released, so specifics remain unconfirmed until it airs.
SuperHeroHype and ComingSoon both describe the new promo as building on a midseason preview HBO released on September 17. That earlier teaser confirmed the Halogram returns for the final episodes and pushes John to investigate the apparent murder in Rushville, Nebraska. In that footage, John shrugs off Hal’s suspicion by saying the whole town hated him, and the Halogram replies that being murdered allows for a little paranoia.
The midseason footage also shows Nathan Fillion’s Guy Gardner visiting John behind bars. Guy tells him he can’t help solve the murder because it’s “bad optics,” and John insists that Guy owes him a debt. Fillion first appeared as the character in ‘Superman’, so this is a big step up in his role.
Then there’s Ulrich Thomsen’s Sinestro, who offers a cryptic line that Hal didn’t have to die in vain, adding that he knows a way. TechRadar notes that Sinestro isn’t in the space jail seen earlier in the season, which suggests someone broke him out. Fans can place their bets on who did it.
The trailer for 'LANTERNS' Episode 7 has arrived!
— DC Film News (@DCFilmNews) September 21, 2026
Premieres September 27 on HBO Max. pic.twitter.com/29VKRBR8Gd
The midseason trailer also teases that John and the Halogram travel to alien worlds and that Hal’s backstory will surface at some point. Bleeding Cool points to possible ties to Abin Sur’s murder, Kerry Kane’s Gotham past and even a Hector Hammond twist. Fiction Horizon adds that Sinestro, Guy and the mystery surrounding Noah Macon are moving to the foreground.
Some fans are going further. Soap Central reports a popular theory that Lianna may be Sinestro’s ally, or even a Manhunter herself, and that she could be the one who told him about John in the first place. Those ideas are pure speculation for now, but a penultimate episode is usually where a series starts narrowing its focus.
Episodes this close to the finale tend to stop widening a story and start moving the pieces into place. With the vault still unopened and Hal’s backup consciousness on edge, the next chapter could deliver real answers about who wanted him dead.
It also raises the stakes for John. He violated a grave to get that ring, and Guy Gardner’s warning about optics suggests the fallout will follow him into the finale.
The new episode arrives on Sunday, September 27 at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max. Until then, fans have a Halogram with a paranoid streak, a possible Sinestro scheme and a killer who is still out there.
Who do you think killed Hal Jordan?
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