Lanterns quickly established that Hal Jordan has been the lone Green Lantern of Earth for years, and in the very first episode, we see a young John Stewart watching Jordan introduce himself to the world after already being a Lantern for years. We also know that Hal got the ring after Abin Sur died, but episode 3 of Lanterns throws a bombshell into the mix when it reveals that Hal wasn’t the first choice to become Earth’s next Green Lantern, and the fallout from that will be felt throughout the rest of the season.
Spoilers incoming for Lanterns episode 3, so if you haven’t watched the episode yet, you’ve been warned. While we knew Hal was the Green Lantern on Earth, episode 3 reveals that wasn’t always going to be the case. That’s because we see that John Sr. was actually approached by the Guardians to become a Green Lantern first, but when he was asked if he felt fear, he said yes and thus failed the test.
John Sr. then finds out that the new Green Lantern is Hal Jordan, and he’s devastated, but no one believes him about what happened, even his wife Bernadette. This sends John Senior down an emotional spiral, but when Bernadette realizes he’s telling the truth (thanks to a visit from a Guardian), it begins their journey in getting John Jr. ready so when he’s confronted with the test, he passes with flying colors.
It’s understandable that John Sr. would go a little crazy after not only going through such a surreal experience in the first place, but then not being believed by his own family that it ever happened. Granted, if you were to describe to someone that you were approached by a green orb that spoke to you about fear, they might give you some side-eye as well.
Once Bernadette is visited by the Guardians, she finally believes him, but also informs him of the potential the Guardians see in their youngest child, John Jr., who is just a baby at this point. With the Guardians’ agreement to consider John Jr., the events of what happened to John Sr. inform all of their decisions regarding their son moving forward, and for his father, there’s a second chance to get this right as well.
It’s also easy to see how this informs some of John Jr’s attitude towards Jordan from the very start of the series. In a different world, John Sr. would have been the Earth’s Green Lantern, paving the way for one of his sons to follow in his footsteps. That wasn’t meant to be though, as Jordan was then given the ring instead, but we’ve also learned from the series that the Guardians aren’t exactly fans of Jordan these days and see John as the best possible replacement.
It’s unclear whether Jordan knows he wasn’t the only one asked to become a Green Lantern back then, but given his attitude towards Stewart and anyone trying to replace him, he might not even really care if he did.
Lanterns episodes 1 through 3 are now streaming on HBO Max.
