The fourth episode of Lanterns delves into the mystery of the Manhunter and, in parallel, the conflict between Hal Jordan and John Stewart. Hal returns to encounter Sinestro, who reveals that the Guardians are highly interested in the possibility that the Manhunter may still be alive. Meanwhile, John receives from the Guardians the order to take Hal’s ring and become the new Green Lantern. The two investigate William Macon’s complex, convinced that the enigmatic criminal is hiding there. Macon reveals that he works for the Benefactor, a figure who would have cured his cancer and guaranteed the health of Rushville’s inhabitants in exchange for their loyalty. The investigation therefore leads John and Hal onto the trail of Hector Hammond, owner of a series of modern slaughterhouses, convinced that he is the Manhunter they are seeking.
Lanterns 1×04: The Identity of the Manhunter Revealed
During the fourth episode, titled The Weenie and available for streaming on HBO Max, Hammond threatens to strike John’s family with his satellites. Hal (Kyle Chandler), however, senses that he is lying and manages to force him to confess: Hammond (Jason Manuel Olazabal), actually Hector Gutiérrez, is a human being and falsely claims that the real Manhunter is William Macon (Garret Dillahunt). Meanwhile, Zoe (Poorna Jagannathan) tells John that she possesses information capable of completely changing the situation, but shortly after she appears to be killed by an attack from space. Hal and John (Aaron Pierre) continue to investigate as new tensions arise between them: Hal admits that he has met Sinestro and asks John to arrange a meeting with the aliens who are hunting them. When Hal wonders why John does not seem particularly shaken by Zoe’s death, the decisive revelation arrives.
John confesses that he knows Zoe’s death was staged: she is the real Manhunter. The young Lantern had sensed something about her and had chosen not to inform the Guardians immediately, continuing to gather clues. The revelation thus overturns the entire mystery and suggests that Zoe manipulated events much more than it appeared. Hal, stunned by the discovery, reacts impulsively: while the two are in a car, he suddenly abandons the vehicle, leaving John aboard as the car continues out of control. The episode ends with a new dangerous conflict between the two leads, right at the moment when the true identity of their enemy is finally revealed.
The Manhunter Speaks
The mysterious android at the center of Hal and John’s investigations is thus a… woman. Jagannathan herself was surprised when she read the episode’s script. “I hadn’t been told. I had to read the script to find out,” she revealed to Entertainment Weekly. “I was completely stunned, as they had never shown me before. I was in shock. I think one of the reasons I was so surprised is that I assumed it was a man. And when I died in the car, I thought: ‘Oh, okay. Yes, that makes sense. I died in worse ways. No problem. Goodbye. Thanks for having me.'”
“I was really struck by the fact that they chose me for a role like this or that they pictured me in that way,” the actress added. “The truth is they tried to humanize this Manhunter, who is a victim of what the Guardians created, a victim of his programming, a victim of others’ perception. They wanted him to experience human emotions, and yet his programming will always prevail over him, even when he does not want it. So I was struck by how much humanity they managed to infuse even into the character who should be the vilest.”
In the first episode of Lanterns we saw Zoe for the first time in the bar, strategically placed in the background of the conversation between John and Hal, before her surprising entrance into action. “Basically, she identifies her main threat and she goes after it. Do you know what I mean? It’s her modus operandi,” Jagannathan explained. “She has the most intimate relationship with a person who is dealing with her extinction and she manipulates him. In hindsight, everything gains strategic meaning. And along the way, Aaron becomes more than just a strategic chess move on the board. He becomes something more to her, to the point that, not sure if you noticed, but in episode 4 she reveals to John who she really is.” It happens in the motel, when Zoe admits that she was the one who saved Macon’s life. “It’s her way of showing John that it’s her, that there’s nothing to fear and that she does not pose a threat. It made me see things from a completely different perspective.”
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