[00:00] The Lanterns Episode 5 preview gave us a glimpse of the huge showdown in Rushville and the long-awaited confrontation between John and Hal. Hey, welcome back to Scream Crush, I'm Ryan Airey, and this new teaser gives us a lot of insight into the true state of this upcoming battle in Rushville.
[00:15] This whole season, we've been teased with this big mystery of Rushville. Why is it so special? What happened in 2016? And it seems like we're finally going to get our answers to those questions in this upcoming episode.
[00:27] The teaser opens with an alarm blaring throughout the town. Now we hear everyone start gearing up, even the people working in the bakery. Not only does this show how committed the whole town is to protecting their sanctuary,
[00:40] but it also makes us wonder if this has been practiced before. The alarm says, this is not a drill, so I imagine that this whole defend Zoe playthrough may have been walked through in the past. It also emphasizes the aforementioned trust that the people have in the Macons.
[00:55] And, after what Will told us last episode, it makes sense. No one is getting sick or dying while under Zoe's protection. So the least they can do is fight back for their town. He takes care of us in exchange for our protection.
[01:07] In the past, we had theorized that these Rushvillians may have been fellow Manhunters, but based on the bloodshed we see later, I think they're just people. There's no mind control, blackmail, or high-mind magic going on, just trust.
[01:19] Which is ironic, considering the lack of trust is what's tearing apart the so-called good guys. I feel like everybody is lying to me. Hal then says, Sorry about that, Junior, but I'm sure you understand my position.
[01:31] Referring to the crash, he purposefully put John in last episode. Now, as for the position Hal is talking about, he could be referencing a couple of different things. For starters, he feels like John has already double-crossed him.
[01:43] Before jumping out of the car last episode, Hal sarcastically said, Oh, you haven't told the Guardians? I haven't told the Guardians anything we've been doing because you asked me not to. He believes that John's already blown the Manhunter cover to the Guardians,
[01:56] and any leverage he could have had is now gone. Leverage? Yeah, remember at the beginning of last episode, Sinestro told Hal to But because John hid the identity of the Manhunter from Hal last episode,
[02:12] Hal's now questioning what else he's hiding from him. On top of that, Hal also found out that John's not only been talking to the Guardians, but also talking about Hal. Hold the tires.
[02:25] It's time to go. So, from Hal's point of view, the only person being honest with him right now is Sinestro, the guy with Sinister in his name. Right now, Hal is afraid that he's been betrayed by another person. But instead of allowing those fears to fester, he does the one thing he knows best.
[02:41] He drives headfirst into the action alone. And it looks like John is not the only person that Hal is at odds with in this episode. When Hal lands in front of Carrie's car, she pulls her gun on him. And man, his reaction is so sad.
[02:53] He looks completely taken aback. Last episode, despite Carrie blowing up at him, I'm in this shit with you now. the two of them shared a very tender moment. And it's clear that there are some shared feelings there. So it's interesting that Carrie would turn against Hal like this.
[03:07] However, she has stated that she's not on any one side. I'm on my side. So it's possible that she's not protecting Zoe here, but herself instead. Hey, 785, baby. What is that, like the new 6-7?
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[05:23] This was also the same moment he figured out that she was the Manhunter. Now, there's been a lot of parallels between the two this season, which is part of what makes Zoe's character so compelling. Both she and John were programmed with one purpose in mind,
[05:36] a directive that neither of them asked to have. John and Zoe were both flung by the Guardians, and both set up to fail. In the comics, the Manhunters are less complex than Zoe is here, but they still have the same binary thinking.
[05:48] The Guardians made them as enforcers of peace throughout the galaxy, But, because of this narrow definition of peace, they were able to be corrupted fairly easily. They carried out what they called justice. The entire species was lost.
[06:01] After the Manhunters began slaughtering sectors, like we heard Anton talk about, the Guardians shut down the Manhunters. The beings that the Guardians created were just as easily killed by them when they decided that things went too far.
[06:13] Similarly, the Guardians co-opted John's whole life to make him the perfect soldier. And yet, that's a destiny that ultimately has not happened, where Zoe and John were deceived and manipulated by the Guardians for their own personal gain.
[06:26] So, while Hal only sees the Manhunter as the monster he's heard about, John understands some of where Zoe is coming from. Now, as for how John makes it out of that car alive, well, I think Zoe is also the answer to that.
[06:38] We see how she's back to 100% after her own car fire, and Megan explained last episode, Zoe was my nurse. Kept me alive after Doc said I was a goner. So, Zoe may do the same thing here with John, using that magic to save him from death.
[06:51] It could also be what this scene is later in the trailer, this red liquid being dropped into John's eye. Now, we see John in hospital scrubs throughout this trailer, so we know that at one point he heals up, and he's not all burnt up in the 2026 timeline either.
[07:05] Now if that is John being healed by Zoe that would be an entirely new power added to the Manhunter lore In the comics they also been able to build tech from their bodies but it never been used for healing or anything other than annihilation So
[07:18] this is a very interesting take on a character who's mainly ever been known to destroy. Visually, it's very similar to the way the Red Lantern Corps spread the rage infection. In the comics, blood plays a powerful role in the Red Lantern's lore. Ingesting the blood of another Red Lantern
[07:33] is one way to spread the rage needed to become a Corps member, and this is a very fitting visual reference, as we then hear John say, I'm mad as all hell, and I'm trying to do something about it. This whole season, John has actually been very reluctant to say how he actually feels.
[07:48] I mean, in the first episode, his dad even told him to not feel anything. So breathe in, button down, and bottle up. So it means a lot that John has finally been pushed to that point, which makes me want to revisit a theory that we had in our episode 4 breakdown.
[08:02] Now, in John's introduction in that episode, the songs that play this title walk away. This entire season has been about John set up to step into the Green Lantern position, and the person we theorized that would walk away was Hal.
[08:14] After all, he's done so in the comics before. We think that that song is actually giving us a hint as to who is actually walking away, and who doesn't have a choice to. Towards the end of this teaser, we see the absolute carnage left in the wake of the Rushville battle.
[08:28] A family is in the street, crying over a dead body, and as John walks into town, the people of Rushville turn their guns on him. The entire town of Rushville has turned their anger and grief towards John. A rat has lived there.
[08:40] Well, we don't know yet, but it's also possible that he didn't do anything. Last episode, one of the guys in the gun store said, Package deal. Come with you and your body. It's possible that John didn't actually do anything, and rather the town blames the Lanterns as a whole.
[08:54] Now, we do see Hal shoot an energy blast at a car later in the trailer, so it's clear that he's fighting against the people in some capacity. But we haven't seen John fight anyone, except Hal. Now, of course, Hal just nearly killed John, and it's fair that he'd want to attack him.
[09:09] But I think their fight is about more than just the recent near-death experience. Maybe Hal did something so very comic Hal-ish him that it caused this huge fallout. See, in the comics, Hal has a tendency to be driven towards what he believes is right, and he sticks to that.
[09:23] And we've seen this come to extremes many times in the comics, like with Parallax or during Zero Hour. During that comic, while under Parallax's control, Hal wanted to reset the entire universe. He wanted to set the universe right under his image.
[09:37] So, on a smaller scale, when Hal has a task in mind, it's hard to stop him. And it's possible that he did something morally gray here as well. I can see John finally letting it all out on Hal. This whole season, he's defended his respect for his mentor.
[09:52] Despite Hal not showing any ounce of respect for John, his family, or his belongings, John remains steadfast in his deference for the Green Lantern title. But now, he's seen this bloodshed around him, the amount of upheaval Rushville is in,
[10:05] and maybe that sets him off. Not only has this guy countlessly disrespected him and tried to kill him, but now he's brought this whole town into this mess. All for what? And then Hal asks, Bringing us back to our theory, John walks away.
[10:19] When faced with that question, was it worth it? John realizes, no, none of this was worth it. As he's walking into town, he's holding the power battery. The last person who had the power battery was Hal, and it was in his motel room at the end of episode 2.
[10:32] So he had to have gotten it from Hal somehow. I don't think John would have stolen it, I mean, we saw how he was against stealing the ring last episode. I figured the same would be true for the battery. But regardless of how John gets it though he now holding onto everything he trained for in life And yet he is surrounded by rubble by death he has guns pointed at him like he the enemy I think he going to realize that Hal was right This job has only brought him angst and enemies
[10:57] The only person that he felt some kinship with was a species-annihilating manhunter, and everyone else treated him like shit. Hal walked all over him, the Guardians continued to play games with him, and his parents only ever focused on his training, not on him.
[11:09] Walking away from the core would be the first choice that John actually gets to make for himself that wasn't part of this big destiny that he was trained for. In fact, saying no to the ring would be more proof of indomitable will than if he were to take it.
[11:24] How? Well, John is a protector by nature, and his motivations come from the same protective values that he was brought up with. The only other time we've seen John lose this cool is when his family was threatened.
[11:39] He, above all else, wants to protect those he cares about. So, if he were to find out that the Guardian's intentions are not, and never have been, as altruistic as he was led to believe, it would be the right choice to walk away. And guys, I just have to remind you we have this brand new awesome Gary shirt
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[12:21] Links for those are down below. We already know that the Guardians are willing to lie to Green Lantern. He would be under the impression that you are simply his backup. So, who's to say that they're not comfortable doing the same to trainees?
[12:33] The honest interest in Jon Stewart is merely using him as a weapon. She may have chosen him since birth, but she's interested in his power and how he'll be useful to the Corps as opposed to him as a human being. So, Hal's
[12:45] could have also been about the Guardians. Was it worth following every word they said? Was it worth throwing away your life like I did mine? The Zero Hour comic we mentioned earlier starts with Hal saying,
[12:57] I used to be the errand boy for the Guardians of the Universe. It was a thankless job. Just like here, he's tired of being under the Guardian's thumb, forced to do everything they ask because of his oath. This question to John here could also be a warning.
[13:10] Is John willing to follow the Guardian's orders word for word just for the ring? Will he ignore his own values and obey the big blue bosses, even if he never gets anything in return, even when the Guardians make the wrong decision?
[13:22] See, Hal and John are similar in their beliefs about doing what's right. While Hal may take it to extreme lengths and act antagonistically, he ultimately makes those choices because he believes that he's doing the right thing.
[13:34] And the same goes for John. While he's motivated to protect and help others, he always chooses the right option. The option that will help the most people. If that means becoming the Green Lantern, he'll do so. But, if that means walking away from the Green Lantern, he might end up doing that instead.
[13:49] Either way, I can't wait for the next episode. We've just reached the midpoint of the season and we still have so many mysteries left to unravel. Big shout out to Lee Mazzio, who secretly lives under our school, who wrote this video. You can find his links below. Now, what do you guys think?
[14:01] Do you think that John is going to turn his back on everything he's trained for? Let us know in the comments below or in our free joint Discord server. And if it's your first time here, please subscribe. Smash that bell for alerts. For Screen Crush, I'm Ryan Airy.
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