Spoilers below for the latest episode of Lanterns for those who haven't yet watched on HBO or via HBO Max subscription.
Lanterns delivered its deadliest and most emotional episode yet with Episode 5, “Lights Out,” and while I fully believe that the vast majority of the corpses littering Rushville are indeed legitimate, I have having serious trouble buying into Manhunter Zoe allowing John to kill her as bait, at least without deeper ulterior motives at play. And that’s even assuming she’s actually dead.
As I try to often do, I took the episode's scenes at face value while watching, and only afterward did I start to question why this Guardians-created being would spend 30 years turning a small town into her protective army only to give it all up over being outsmarted in one particular instance. So let’s dig into exactly why I don’t think that death was so straightforward, using evidence from earlier in the episode, and what her grander plans might be.
Zoe's Already Cheated Death Once, So I Don't Totally Buy That She's Dead
Perhaps the biggest reason audiences were able to figure out that Zoe was the Manhunter is that she blew up her own car with the knowledge that she would be able to survive it. So it stands to reason that she stood there and allowed John to snipe her because she knew it wouldn't lead to her ultimate death.
Did anyone else think it was weird that John seemed convinced that the brain and heart were the most vital organs to a Manhunter, despite the fact that they're non-organic, tech-based entities? And wouldn't Lianna have asked what she was looking at when John brought her the heart, considering no other Manhunters took human form? If I dress up as a cow and someone tries to milk me, it doesn't mean I'll produce milk. (Not my best analogy.)
I wouldn't be that surprised if Zoe's body was missing from the motel rubble when Hal is discovered by others. But it doesn't sound like the show will be returning to the 2016 timeline.
Antaan's Comments Before Killing Will Macon Sr. Seem To Prove It
Lanterns trio of co-creators are well-versed in the idea of Chekov's Gun and other storytelling principles that involve hint-heavy foreshadowing. (Case in point is Zoe's biggest advice to Noah, "See without being seen," being exactly how John gets the jump on her.) With that in mind, let's jump back to what Antaan said right before he flung his knife into Will Macon Sr.'s chest and ripped the dude's heart out of his chest. This was his reason for not buying Macon's "I'm the Manhunter" ploy:
You've mastered my tongue, my memories, my past. Yet one thing betrays you. You would never welcome death.
This idea stems back to the idea that Zoe not only killed Abin Sur on the off-chance that he might ever alert others of her existence, but that she also put decades worth of effort into maintaining her survival within Rushville and the fortified borders of the Macons' ranch. So I fully believed her plight in wanting to kill Hal by any means necessary, and that she was probably using John as a means to that end, as opposed to having only genuine feelings for him.
So with all that in mind, what sense did it make for Zoe to just stand there after Hal made it obvious she was bait? She most certainly did not need to turn around and catch John's eye through the scope. Her survival instinct should have had her diving behind a wall or whatever obstruction was closest. I do not buy that she gave it all up for this random dude she's known only a few days longer than the number of times she's banged him.
I Think Noah's Connection To Zoe Is Key To What Went Down
Just as vital as Antaan's "never welcome death" comment was Zoe's quick chat with her quasi-grandon Noah before the attacks started. Their relationship is on another level, and she's able to be pretty candid with him about all the imminent death and turmoil that will tear the town up. Counterpoint: his parents didn't even tell him "goodbye" as they made their angry exits. So that bond is strong.
She plays into the idea there that she may not survive the day, but follows that up with:
No matter what happens, don’t forget everything I’ve told you.
Which wouldn't be that important if she was only referring to advice about football and schoolwork. No, it seems like she's got some kind of a secret contingency plan happening where she's trusting Noah over anyone else to carry on with her guidance. But what could it be?
Could she have told Noah how to revive her seemingly dead body if it looked like she died in the carnage? Could she possibly have used the alien tech she supplied to Macon and the slaughterhouse dude to clone either her body or her "brain," as it were, and then told Noah how to retrieve it? Or could she have set up some kind of a revenge plot against the Guardians and Lanterns that could only be enacted after her death?
Or could she have implanted in Noah a murderous seed of hatred against Hal Jordan (and possibly John) that leads up to him being the one responsible for putting a bullet in Hal's head? (Not that I think that's the real Hal, but still.)
I can't wait to see how Lanterns picks up on all the 2016 story threads a decade later in the 2026 timeline, or if there will be a gradual sprinkling of events from the years in between. Whichever way it goes, somebody hopefully tells Guy Gardner to get a haircut.
Lanterns airs Sunday nights on HBO and streams on HBO Max at 9:00 p.m. ET.
